thats good to know. there are a few farmers up here that have 20-50 acres planted of them. i talked to one of them at the local store and he grows 80% aurora and 20% indigo treat. he said he would grow all aurora if he didn’t need pollinators. his plants are 5 yrs. old and in full production.
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I don’t find berry blue that great for fresh eating. Aurora is a winner, though.
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tundra and the indigo series are good pollinators for aurora. i have indigo treat and tundra. i like the indigo treat better. sweeter and bigger than the tundra.
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friend of mine has a berry blue and blue belle. i think they’re russian varieties. lots of small fruit but better for jams as they’re on the tart side. they sun scald easily in hot dry summers.
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That’s good to know. My Berry Blue is edible but nothing special. So far I am unimpressed with honeyberries. Production is low . It could be that they don’t like zone 7 climate. Mine were purchased in 2012 and 2014 so I don’t have the latest varieties. I have berry blue, Borealis and Honey Bee. Blue Sky and Sugar Mountain died. Pollination was low this year due to bad weather. If production isn’t better next year I’ll remove or replace some of them.
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Who and where? I’m very interested in learning about commercial producers around…
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I think folks dissapointment with these fruit comes from unreal expectations set by the hyped up catalog descriptions… …traditionally they were not for fresh eating at all. Growing them south of zone 6 might be setting yourself up for faliure too-but I will happily provide a zone 5 refuge for any and all unwanted southern honeyberry refugees😀! Interestingly enough, the brix can be higher than raspberry, blueberry, but the ascorbic acid, astringency masks that sweetness so they don’t taste as sweet or anything like a 'honey’berry.
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luckily i like tart and astringent. ive been eating my consort black currant off the bush
. most people find them too strong tasting to eat fresh. honey berries are real sweet compared to them.
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I have Aurora, and I picked the super sweets aka Sweet plus.
Blue Banana, and Honey Gin, other super sweets are
Honey Delight
Zojka
Honey Joy
Japanese (above are Russian)
Giant Hearts
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My blue banana is looking like crap for some reason. I flushed it really good with rain water yesterday, might have added too much organic fertilizer to that area this spring when I had it tilled. Its got leaves but they are very small and dark. Might need to get a cutting from you next year if it doesnt make it!
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Mine was very slow to start compared to Honey Gin which is taking off. It finally started growing. I want to get some of the others. Chills has Giant Hearts. I ordered it for him, it was the biggest one, but you need a Japanese pollinator. I’m waiting till next year, as I have so much going on now. If mine is big enough, sure no problem.
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I planted four blue bananas this spring and they looked very poor with tiny dark lacy leaves. The weeds were getting tall around them. Then after I mowed, they took off and leafed out. I have several other varieties, but only this one variety looked poor like that.
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wood mulch is your best friend with honey berries. they quickly get out competed w/ weeds.
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my auroras are the most vigorous. planted them in late may. they have put on 12in. of growth set 6 flowers which i have 5 fruit ripening quickly. my tundra and indigo treat are 2 years old and still smaller than aurora. were planted at 12in tall.
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I grow mine in pots here, and in ground at my cottage. They do well in pots, but they may soon cover the pot and look like a jungle! I need to spread them a bit.
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Mine are grown in pots too. About 4 years old, maybe 5. Not producing a lot and they’re not good unless very ripe. Noticed the birds ate the ones on top so I sorta panicked and picked all the rest I could find. None of those were sweet or tasty at all. I’m giving them one more year and letting the fruit ripen longer. If they’re still only providing a handful of fruit from the 6 large plants, I’ll probably sell some off to make room for more productive, tasty edibles. Really, IME, the only thing “honeyberries” have going for them, at least my varieties, is they are the first fruit of the season.
Anthony
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Those pictured by me are 2nd leaf, I’m very impressed with growth and production.
Your low production is because you’re in zone 8. I would not try them above zone 6.
The new cultivars too, are much sweeter.
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I tested a few of my black currants last week and they were in the 17-23 brix range. My honeyberries were under 15.
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Blackberries can be lower, so not bad. This document reports Navaho at 9 brix
http://nassau.ifas.ufl.edu/horticulture/fruit/blackberry.html
I tested my tayberries at 13.
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I don’t think I’d enjoy fresh fruit at 9 brix unless it were something very mild like watermelon. I was responding to moose71 suggesting that black currants make honeyberries seem sweet. In fact I think generally ripe black currants contain significantly more sugar than ripe honeyberries.