What's the verdict on Honeyberries...are they tasty?

Where do you find those?

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Was at a local nursery to get some other cuttings, and saw they had some discounted honeyberries (said they didn’t do well in their pots during the June heat wave), so decided to give them a chance. Got Blue Moon and Blue Forest, since they looked the healthiest of the choices:

They’ll be going in the ground soon. Looks like they could use a little fertilizer, too.

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Never seen that un-branched…but not the fault of any ‘heat’.
Somebody should have pinched the top and got them to spread some.
I’d buy some more if I could find them around here reduced in price…nobody here has them in inventory. Mine usually practically defoliate in August…(but they look pretty good)…then put a fresh flush of leaves Sept/Oct.

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Hi Steve, I am just finishing up harvesting my nine Aurora bushes now. They are almost falling off and are prime for flavor. Blizzard and Beast are also ready, Beauty is quite a bit tarter then Blizzard and Beast, but the fruit is about 3 times as heavy. I am hoping it will get a milder flavor with some more time, but I think they are about as ripe as they will get. I rate Blizzard right there with Aurora as my favorites of the 10 various varieties I have kept. So far with the two Blizzard bushes I have they are about 1/3 smaller than the Beauty and Beast bushes planted at the same time (they are three years old).

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thanks for the ratings Terry. wow, youre about 3 weeks behind me even though we are in the same growing zone. my aurora and honey bee were done july 20. indigo gem/ treat was done around july 15.

We have had a very cool summer this year. Only a couple days in the low 80’s, and not that many above 73-75. Kind of like the old days…

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So far none of my Keiko, or Solo are ripe either, the Blue Hokkaido (Japanese) is getting close to ripe. I have Solo and Keiko that are 3 years old, have not seen any powdery mildew at this point. Hopefully it doesn’t develop in this rainy cool stretch we are having now!

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from what ive read, most of these newer cultivars are immune to powdery mildew. my indigo gem/ treat can get it but so far i havent seen it in the 5 years ive had them and our summers are generally cool and wettter than yours. i have beauty and beast i put in this spring with blizzard coming in sept. that should extend my crop another 2-3 weeks.

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I took some weights and Brix numbers today on my late Boreal series haskaps. The Boreal Beauty was not as purple inside, but they are naturally dropping. Not sure they will ever hold on until full ripeness here.

Updated info on Aurora from U Of Saskatchewan. https://research-groups.usask.ca/fruit/documents/haskap/Aurora2019.pdf

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are all the bushes the same age? which was the bigger producer for you? only my indigo gem/ treat are fully mature. need another year or 2 for my oldest aurora. last year i put in 2 more auroras and a honey bee. thinking of converting my 2 4’ x 12’ raised beds to honeyberries as the strawberries in them now are a pain to keep thinned properly and slugs are having a hay day in there.

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My Beast, Beauty, and Blizzard … acquired in April … look ok. Borealis and Indigo Gem are going simi-dormant in the heat. (But less so than last season.)

Thanks for the information/analysis of these fruits. Encouraging. Especially the size of the fruits.

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Of the 3- blizzard, beauty, and beast- do you recommend all three, or are blizzard and beast clearly superior?

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Mine are still green and lush this year, since we have watered them well and they are mulched well. The area they are in was officially in drought until last week. July.and August have stayed mostly under 90 F. I have numerous varieties. It’s a low area with pretty good soil.

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mine are still green as well even though we are in moderate drought. yesterday is the 1st water theyve had in 3 weeks. mulch saves the day.

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Blizzard and Beast are superior IMO, Beauty has a much tarter taste but is clearly the size champion. I will leave them all in as I have plenty of room. The taste and size seem to change during the first 3 years. In my experience it seems like a two or three year old bush always has the biggest fruits. I probably need to prune the older bushes (5 yr+) more though.

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The new series bushes are all in their third year. (the Beast I did the Brix test on above was not the largest, it was the ripest.) Others on the bush are approximately the same weight as Blizzard. Beauty would be the biggest producer, I would guess at least twice the weight/plant. They are very vigorous and weigh a bunch more. I have a 3 year old Honey Bee as well, they have a very nice flavor, that plant is suppose to be quite large.

I have 9 Aurora of various age the oldest is 6 or 7 now, I removed all the metal tags as they grow so fast they get embedded. I am noticing smaller berries on it now, probably not correct or enough pruning on my part. The 3 year olds are considerably bigger, I should have weighed some…they were approximately the same size as Blizzard and Beast.

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I’m sorry to ask this question if it has already been covered, but I just don’t have time to go back through almost 900 posts! Did we have any one review the size/taste/brix of Strawberry Sensation and Giant Heart?

Ok… no one knows about Strawberry Sensation, I’ll take it. Well, what’s your favorite honeyberry and why? :slight_smile:

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I don’t have enough experience yet to reply.
(I did though…)…

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Actually, I find most of the newer varieties very similar in flavor. Size and harvest time vary. Some of the older varieties like Berry Blue are small and astringent. Solo is pretty tasty.

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