Cranberry Bushes?

Question

Does anybody know if cranberry bushes thrive in Nevada? I live in Nevada and want to plant some cranberry bushes in the spring. I don't know where to find them or if they would even thrive here.

"Cranberries grow on bushes and require sandy, damp, peaty soil to thrive. Very sensitive
to cold, cranberry bushes consist of ligneous branches that grow vertically from the roots,
like the raspberry bush. After three years, they finally yield fruit…berries resembling small
cherries. In the autumn, the cranberries are harvested by flooding the fields, causing the
mechanically detached berries to float to the surface."

http://www.christinacooks.com/produce/cranberries.html

Now someone that KNOWS about cranberry bushes please answer!

Answer 1

Growing Information

Select an area of interest.
"Why Grow Cranberries?
About the Plant
What Varieties to Grow
How to Purchase Plants
When to Plant
How to Plant the Garden
Caring for the Garden
Protecting your Plants
Harvesting
Cranberries in the Home



Why Grow Cranberries?
Cranberries are one of the healthiest sources for getting your vitamin C and protecting your body against urinary track infections. More studies are showing other beneficial effects because of their high antioxidant content. Each cup of these little red and tart berries are easy to grow, becoming popular as a health food choice, and render a unique addition to the home garden.

About the Plant
The cranberry is a groundcover plant with two types of growth habits; runners (rhizomes) trail and spread the plant as long as two feet in one season. Uprights are born on the runners and bear the flowers and fruit. The goal is to get the numerous runners to spread quickly in the first two years to cover the ground, and then to produce strong uprights (up to 200 per sq. foot) to produce flowers and fruit. The plant has a fine root system that only grows in the upper 4 to 6 inches of the soil.

What Varieties to Grow
Many cranberry varieties exist. Most are wild selections although Stevens is a hybrid bred by USDA. Cranberries are distinguished by harvest season, size, and color. Ben Lear’s dark color is prized for processing into sauces, whereas smaller fruited Early Black and Howes are brighter red and can be stored for long periods for fresh sales. Stevens has large red fruit and is disease resistant.
Variety Season Fruit Size Color
Ben Lear Early Large Burgundy
Early Black Early Small Deep Red
Stevens Mid Large Red
Howes Late Small Red


How to Purchase Plants
Cranberry plants can be purchased as one year rooted cuttings or three year ready-to-fruit plants in 6" pots. Six, 6" pots will plant a 5x10 garden plot. One year cuttings will take two to three years to fruit. Three year old plants should be ready to flower and fruit in the first season. We like to sell the three year old plants with berries on them to show you what type of fruit you will get, and the plant will start fruiting in the year you purchase the plant.

When to Plant
Cranberries can be planted in the fall through October and early November or in the spring between April 15th to May 31st. Summer planting of 3 year old rooted plants is also possible, so long as plants are shipped two day air.

How to Plant the Garden
Soil Preparation:
If you want a large plot, then follow the instructions below. If you want a specimen plant in a single location, give each plant about a 2 foot by 2 foot spacing and still follow the directions for prepping the soil. Either way, you will be able to get a plant to spread into the area you want to have it grow.
Sandy Soils - If your soil is already sandy remove topsoil down 8 inches, add a 6 mil plastic liner, poke plenty of holes in the plastic, and add 4 bales (3.8 cu.ft) of peat moss for every 50 square feet. Mix in bone meal (1/2 lb), rock phosphate (1 lb) and bloodmeal (1 lb) for every 50 sq. ft. Wet peatmoss with garden hose, or wait until natural rain moistens the peat. Wetting the peatmoss will be hard. Be patient and add water in a mist, slowly. Mix the pet often to help absorb water.
Clay or Silt Soils - If your soil is clay or silty, dig out a garden area 8 inches deep, directly add the peat without the plastic liner. Follow directions as above for adding peatmoss, fertilizer and water. Space one year plugs 1 ft x 1 ft, or closer, with root ball two inches below surface. Four inch pots can be spaced 2 ft by 2 ft, and six inch pots 3 ft x 3 ft.

Caring for the Garden
Watering:
Water the cranberry plants like you would other garden plants. It is a common myth that cranberries need to be in very saturated conditions. Peatmoss does need to be moist to the touch, but not saturated.
Fertilizer:
Apply a fish emulsion fertilizer (2-4-2) at a rate of ½ gallon every 4 weeks or one ¼ lb application of a complete fertilizer (10-10-10) in late June every year. If the bed is overrun with runners, cut them back on fertilizer and trim back the runners. Test the soil every other year by contacting your Extension Office.
Contact the soil lab here or call 581-2945 for a soil test kit.
Weeding and Sanding:
Weed the garden every month. Every two years during the spring, add a ½ inch of sand over the bed; this will help root the runners and produce more uprights. Sanding also helps reduce the germination of weeds.
Pollination:
Cranberries are self pollinating; two varieties are not needed. Bumble bees and honeybees benefit pollination, so while you are protecting your plants from frost, be sure to allow them to do their work during the day. [See Protecting your Plants]
Pruning:
In the third year of the cranberry plant's life, prune the runners and the older uprights as needed in the spring before growth begins; this will ensure coverage of healthy uprights and minimize the long runners.

Protecting your plants for the winter and frost
Be sure to protect your plants in during frost and winter seasons. You can achive this by mulching the plants with pine needles or leaves in late November (this will protect against the drying effect that winter brings). Another method is to use polyspun row covers or opaque plastic first, then add the mulch. You will probably want to mousebait under the plastic to keep rodents from nesting and damaging your crops. Uncover the plants on April 1st but continue to protect the plants against frost by covering them back up during frosty nights, mainly after the shoots start to grow in early May. .
We recommend that you do not use any form of pesticide. Pesticides are unsafe to human contact and will make the cranberries inedible. If you have any problems or with to know more about cranberry pests, you may purchase the Maine Cranberry Grower's Guide at your local Cooperative Extension Office. Or you may contact the Massachusetts IPM Notebook:

Cranberry Experiment Station
P.O. Box 569,
East Wareham, MA 02538
[phone]


Harvesting
Harvest berries by hand when red, from late September to late October. Berries cannot stand a frost below 30°F so it is best to pick them before a hard frost or protect them with covers. One 5ft X 5ft bed may yield up to 5 lbs of fruit in the third and forth year of production.

Cranberries in the Home
If you hold one of our special arrangements, the Nantucket Basket or the Acadia Bog Centerpiece, you can care and maintain them by following these instructions.
If you receive this gift in the fall, wait until the end of November or December to water the plant thoroughly and remove it from the pot. Water the rootball and place the plant in a sealed plastic bag. Store the plant in a crisp area of the refridgerator. If this is not an option, fulfill the cranberry plant's cold temperature requirement by keeping the plant in a cool cellar area or outside the barn. The plant will remain dormant for the winter in this state and will get the chilling requirement to be able to flower and fruit the next year. Without the chilling, it will only grow shoots the following season. In the spring (March-April), take the plant out and either pot it in a container in a sunny location in the house, or plant outdoors. [Be sure to follow the gardening instructions on this page]. If you leave it in the house, make sure it has plenty of water. We like to put a deep vinyl saucer under the pot, and keep the liner filled with water. Plants, if left in the house, may not fruit due to lack of sunlight or pollination of flowers. Provide the plant with fertilizer like you would any house

Cranberries can be grown in this zone.

http://www.cranberrycreations.com
sells cranberry bushes they are located in Maine, but they do mail order and they accept major credit cards or pay pal.
If I can find any other place I will let you know.


I hope this helps you. Good luck, honey.

Answer 2

Google! Cranberries grow in water!

Answer 3

I thought cranberries grew in water.sorry I'm no help but best luck to ya

Answer 4

i would think if you can have a pool in nv. you could grow cranberries. they need to be kept wet at all times. this, i think, would be expensive in nv. not to mention i think they need warmth at night. doesn't it get cold in parts on nv. in the night?

Answer 5

are you sure you arent talking about the cotoneaster cranberry bush?