I went from drought and hot to like no real sunshine for a week and just pure clouds and sporadic small rains. Crawdads have been making holes all round the planting… i have them planted in a pretty damp area which is one of the reasons i never have to water them…they are doing really well and vigor and overall health looks really good on them.
So basically i have them in front of Elderberries that also like damp moist soil.
It will be interesting if they actually produce ripe edible fruit. Try to remember to come back here and post the end result.
Yep, I’ve given her a couple ‘reports’ from KY.
You’ll perhaps be happy to hear about 1/10th of my winter rooting of honeyberries succeeded. Not great, but stuck out in the elements under some trees.
That’s great! 
Did you stick them directly in the ground or where they in a raised bed?
Has anyone tried some of the varieties from Berries Unlimited? If so, how do they compare to what seems to be the standard for fresh-eating with Aurora?
Varieties:
mine are about a week away from harvest and have a huge load of berries. just picked indigo gem/ treat. no comparison!
Well, make sure they are covered. I’m sure you already know that it doesn’t take birds very long to pick off every one of them. That’s what happened to me this year. 
that’s how i knew they were ready. saw a few grackles in them. put up the nets on aurora right after.
I wasn’t quick enough, too busy. But they didn’t get my Carmine Jewels. 
Hi Drew!
Good sound logic approach to the question, It is a multivariated which I agree to whole heartedly; following the Josephus Quadrilogic Hypothesis (JQH):
(A.) If Ripe & Sweet… Then (i) Eat fresh out of hand or (ii) Process into beverage.
(B.) If Ripe & Sour/Tart… Then (i) Process into beverage or (ii) Process making a Perservative: Jelly or Jam
(C.) If Unripe & Sweet… Then keep the seeds, you have truly discovered a variant, then most importantly contact me, so we can propagate that. (lol)
(D.) If Unripe & Sour/Tart or Bitter… Then come back another day but leave it alone, you’ll have to throw into your compost.
Very good and entertaining hypothesis! I have noticed with time once established and mature, produce larger and slightly sweeter berries. I’m very impressed with Dr. Thompsons Japanese cultivars. It seems I let them hang longer each year. I still have not harvested all of them yet.
This is the 2nd leaf for my bushes in the ground. Solo, Maxie and Boreal Beauty have the best growth. Solo produced the most berries. So far they taste pretty similar regardless of cultivar. I feel that all of the berries regardless of cultivar taste exactly like sour strawberries. I love the taste. I think they are great for fresh eating.
Strawberry Sensation produced quite a few berries. The berries were smaller and less sweet than solo which is a similar size bush. I liked them well enough. Too early to make any conclusions.
I have had Maxie and Solo since released and I’m impressed with these cultivars. Large consistent berries. Production is decent too.
``I just picked 17 or 18 gallons of my various kinds. Just had a few blue banana ones. They were pretty good, as were solo. Borealis were good, too Maxie and Giant’s Heart were huge, but tasted about like the rest. Was disappointed with the flavor of tundra, after hearing good things about them. Leave them on the bush until they start dropping or shriveling for fresh eating. For cooking it doesn’t matter so much. And netting is a must.
Aurora are about ready. they are huge and the bushes loaded this year. so is honeybee but smaller berries. in 3rd. year so not in max production yet the Boreals are starting to color up. strawberry sensation is only a couple years old and hasnt started to color up the few berries it has. solos still a little thing. i got from hirts for $16 w/ shipping as a 4in. plug last summer. about 12in. now.
The growth of seedlings in 90L containers on sawdust and ash surprises me. They are planted in compost and I also separated the ashes from the roots with the compost. There is about 35 cm of sawdust and about 5 cm of ash. I drilled an 8 mm hole about 15-20 cm from the side of the container so that the water can stand there. The Aurora seedlings were cuttings rooted for a year and I planted them in containers this spring. The growths were 80-90 cm and they are robust. I still have to deal with the ants coming in through the hole in the side of the container.
I can compare with the seedlings that I planted freely on the plot and it is a difference. As for sustainability, Vostorg, for the second year, has brought me an incredibly large number of fruits
no other nutrients? Ive not heard of growing plants in sawdust before… I would think the wood would soak up all the nitrogen?
Maybe I translated it wrong
I do not write in sawdust, but on sawdust with a layer of ash. Sawdust serves as a moisture absorber. So that the sawdust does not absorb nitrogen from the beginning, some nitrogen fertilizer can be mixed into the sawdust.
At the bottom of the container, there is water up to the level of the drilled hole on the side of the container. That is around 15-20 cm. The sawdust is fine and the substrate is constantly moist due to fluffing.
The seedlings are planted in the compost in the elevated part, and I also used the compost to separate the ashes from the roots, so that there was no direct contact with the ashes from the beginning.
Of course, in the beginning it is necessary to water more often so that the substrates are connected and the capillary forces start to work. But the effect is amazing.
It has been tried and tested for years and works great. For some reason, someone does not have the opportunity to plant plants directly on the plot, or has a sloping - hilly plot where these plants do not want to grow well. Well, grown in containers like this is an alternative, but the main thing is that it works.
I also posted a photo of the Vostorg variety giving birth to me. I also planted the Aurora variety and it is doing great and has produced a crop as well.
