After only 48 hours in the jar of water, my honeyberry cuttings are getting sprouts of roots already. I was going to see if I could find any thawed spot under a leaf pile or somewhere else outside before the subzero temps predicted in a couple days, but have decided to just leave them in the jar in my dining room and see how they do. It will give me something to keep life interesting while housebound this winter.
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I suggest not to leave them in water for too long. As soon as roots reach 1" I would plant them in the pot with soil, I doesn’t have to be big. If they stay too long in water the roots will start to degrade.
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Okay, thanks.
Really, wow! Maybe I did something wrong. I have three cuttings and none of mine have roots. Well, I’m glad to hear that it’s working for you. 
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What is a Honey Berry?
To me, they are slightly sour blueberries that ripen around the time of the first strawberries of the season.
In theory they get much sweeter, but you are supposed to pick them several weeks after the skin turns blue and the birds eat them within a day of color change, so I’ve never had a “fully ripe” one…I may net them one of these years.
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Which cultivars do you have that are productive? I am researching them and may plant some later in the year.
I planted 8-9 varieties about 7 years ago, but I haven’t paid enough attention to say which ones produce and have it eaten by the birds, vs which don’t produce at all.
aurora is the biggest sweetest most productive honeyberry i grow. i also have indigo gem and treat but they arent as productive and more sour. i also have a honey bee but it hasnt fruited yet. supposedly a good producer that pollinates well with aurora. the boreal series beauty/ beast is supposed to be good as well. i have 2 of them coming in spring. honeyberries are great because they are so hardy and dont have any bug or disese problems. im lucky the birds leave them alone here so far.
I will consider aurora when I decided to grow more. I have two un-name plants which one had lots of flowers and one had a handful this past season. But both didn’t not have a lot of fruits. This may be pollination problem.
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aurora is partially self fertile. its one of the few cultivars that is but of course will produce bigger berries and more of them with another early pollinator. i like the earler producing honeyberries as they are my 1st fruit in the summer and get done as the strawberries start ripening. i think thats why the birds dont touch them. they ripen when there isnt any native berries to be had so the birds dont know what they are.
I got a couple dormant sticks of gooseberry to root in April…but had quite a bit better results using black currants.
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The gooseberries and currants I just poked cuttings into the ground in October or so all did great and are now nice bushes transplanted into my orchard. The honeyberry cuttings in water indoors got 1/16 inch roots, then all fizzled. The honeyberry cuttings put in the ground in late fall also did nothing. Stool bed would be my next choice, but I don’t really need any more bushes. Another way I have had some success is bending an attached branch to the bare ground and putting a rock on it about a foot from the end. Maybe scratch the bark a little at that point. Just protect it from rabbits and deer.
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October cuttings.
So, unheated, outdoor, cuttings of currants and gooseberries make it and grow next spring? Or, are you talking about in a greenhouse or grow room?
ive just stuck them where you want them before ground freezes, bury with mulch so only 1 bud shows and they usually root and grow come spring
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I didn’t even bury them with mulch, just buried 6- to 8-inch sticks upright about thee-quarters into the ground. The currants and gooseberries nearly all grew. No success with the honeyberries, but it was a different year, so maybe weather was a factor.
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honeyberries are harder to root. better to bury a branch. i put down mulch so frost doesnt heave them up. not necessary but i find it works. keeps weeds from moving in also while the plant is establishing itself.
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An update: I did root the Ribes in Dec and most rooted and are doing fine now in containers. I plan to overwinter them in containers in ground.
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I’ve never had much success
rooting the Crandall Black currants.
The one with yellow
trumpet-shaped flowers.
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me neither. crandalls are harder. best to bury a branch in the fall and dig in the spring
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