. Not a lot of information can be found on the growing methods in a nursery context online, and the information that I have gathered suggests they don’t transplant that well, I don’t know if this is because they were grown in pots and become root bounded, or because soil requirements did not satisfy the plant, hard to say. I’ve read most Heath plants tend to have rhizome like root systems and propagate themselves underground with sprouts emerging eventually, a defence mechanism for surviving fires, not a lot of images online to see the root system of huckleberries; except one,
I have also read that they may take 10-15 years to produce, but also read from Washington State University that they can produce within 5-7 years, would love to know anyone’s observations and or experiences with these plants, growing them from seed, and transplanting them and how well they took, thanks in advance!
I don’t have any experience growing them myself, but they do grow wild in pretty much all established forests around here. I don’t find the fruit very tasty, it’s slightly tart but otherwise insipid. My kids like them more, but I’ve never considered growing them.
Do you mind if I ask what your reason is to want to grow them? I’m sure they’d fit well in a native plants collection, and probably some birds eat them, but there are so many better-tasting, larger fruits out there.
Propagation: Seeds require no special treatment, but in nature the digestive processes of animals may hasten germination. After sowing on a peaty, high-acid soil, seedlings begin emerging after one month and may continue germinating for a long time thereafter. Warm days (14 hours @ 82ºF (28ºC)) and cool nights (10 hours @ 56ºF (13ºC)) enhance germination success. Seedlings are small and may take a few seasons to mature before plants are large enough to plant out in the garden. Softwood cuttings may be taken in June, treated with IBA and stuck in a peat moss/sand media (2:1).
My reason on growing them is partially a native plant collection, I eventually want to grow a food forest with them in it, but also to possibly sell in the future once I open a nursery of my own. The goal of this nursery is essentially to celebrate the history and culinary uses of native edibles found here in the pacific northwest, and how indigenous peoples used them. Personally I have a big interest in berry plants, Rubus, Ribes, Elderberry, Empetrum Nigrum, to name a few, compact plants that can look great in a landscape but can also net food for yourself and or wildlife.
