Haskaps, baby!
- Thread starter Figgin' A
- Start date
BucksCountyFigs
Well-known member
Awesome. What varieties do you grow & how old are your bushes?
Figgin' A
Well-known member
These were planted in 2023 and 2024. Borealis, Boreal Blizzard, Boreal Beauty, Aurora, Indigo Gem, and Boreal Beast.
snarfing
Well-known member
damn, my fruit set is terrible. i got 4 new ones. right now I have aurora and tundra and get no fruit. both planted in 2023. I just placed an order for fall for Blue banana, Indigo gem, honeybee, and boreal blizzard. I think i just dont have enough. Do yo uirrigate/fertilize much?
Figgin' A
Well-known member
That's unfortunate. Haskaps are propagated just like figs, and what you are planting is typically a one-year old plant, so you should be getting some berries in the first year. I did get a few on some of my new plants in 2023. None on the ones planted in 2024, though, but they were very tiny and came quite a bit beaten up. They came to me late, too, mid-June, and may have been in the greenhouse during blooming. The next year, I'd get a good cup per plant, some would give more. Then the harvest kind of grows exponentially.
Aurora and Tundra bloom at the same time, so they overlap 100% and should cross-pollinate quite well, unless at least one plant is not doing well and not producing pollen, or there was a lack of cross-pollinators at the time of blooming, which is usually a short period of time. So, adding more plants, especially with good bloom overlap, should definitely help with the first issue.
As far as lack of cross-pollinators, did you see any? My haskaps were blooming in late April while it was still quite cool outside, but I saw quite a few bumblebees on them... I have tons of them around my garden... if you don't see many in summer, maybe try adding something that will attract them, and they start settling nearby.
I fertilize my haskaps twice a year, early Spring and mid-summer, usually a cup of Holly tone per 20-gallon container. I may add some compost on top if I come by any, or a handful of worm castings, or some chicken poop, but I don't do it regularly... I think I should, though.
snarfing
Well-known member
So I had carpenter bees out but I never saw them on tje haskap. They were always hanging g out next to it. They definately bloom at the same time and one was absolutely loaded and I had extremely small fruit and no real fruit set. Not sure why. Aurora got 2 fruits this year snd the other one had about 10 cm long fruit. Here is the tundra in bloom.That's unfortunate. Haskaps are propagated just like figs, and what you are planting is typically a one-year old plant, so you should be getting some berries in the first year. I did get a few on some of my new plants in 2023. None on the ones planted in 2024, though, but they were very tiny and came quite a bit beaten up. They came to me late, too, mid-June, and may have been in the greenhouse during blooming. The next year, I'd get a good cup per plant, some would give more. Then the harvest kind of grows exponentially.
Aurora and Tundra bloom at the same time, so they overlap 100% and should cross-pollinate quite well, unless at least one plant is not doing well and not producing pollen, or there was a lack of cross-pollinators at the time of blooming, which is usually a short period of time. So, adding more plants, especially with good bloom overlap, should definitely help with the first issue.
As far as lack of cross-pollinators, did you see any? My haskaps were blooming in late April while it was still quite cool outside, but I saw quite a few bumblebees on them... I have tons of them around my garden... if you don't see many in summer, maybe try adding something that will attract them, and they start settling nearby.
I fertilize my haskaps twice a year, early Spring and mid-summer, usually a cup of Holly tone per 20-gallon container. I may add some compost on top if I come by any, or a handful of worm castings, or some chicken poop, but I don't do it regularly... I think I should, though.
Aurora has much fewer blooms but did have some
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Yours look quite small for 3y old bushes. Maybe need some organic fertilizer? I plant mine in the chicken free range area, so they take care of the weeds and fertilizer for me. I share some berries with them, mostly black raspberries. I have to put netting on honey berry bushes when they have berries, but chickens would like me to pick black raspberries for them instead of getting them theirselves.
Figgin' A
Well-known member
The plants look healthy... a little small for a 2-yo plant compared to what mine looked at 2 years... but that may have to do with the fact that I grow mine in large wooden containers... I noticed that my grapevines grow much faster in containers than in the ground.
If you didn't see any pollinators on the blossoms, that could very well be the problem. Carpenter bees are good pollinators, but I rarely see them on my haskaps... I did see them on my cherries, though. I think perhaps because your haskaps are still small, they do not attract a lot of pollinators yet, but as they grow and more blossoms become available, that will attract many more of them. And, as I mentioned above, if you don't already, plant something that attracts bumblebees in spring, like chives, sage, gooseberries, currants, clover, etc.
If you didn't see any pollinators on the blossoms, that could very well be the problem. Carpenter bees are good pollinators, but I rarely see them on my haskaps... I did see them on my cherries, though. I think perhaps because your haskaps are still small, they do not attract a lot of pollinators yet, but as they grow and more blossoms become available, that will attract many more of them. And, as I mentioned above, if you don't already, plant something that attracts bumblebees in spring, like chives, sage, gooseberries, currants, clover, etc.
Figgin' A
Well-known member
Just posted my post and noticed yours about the size of the plants
Figgin' A
Well-known member
Netting is a must here for me, or else the birds will strip ripe berries clean within a day, even hours. Happened to my blueberries one year. Lesson learned.
snarfing
Well-known member
The problem is they bloom so early nothing is even close to awake. That photo is from april 6th. Only thing awake then are crocus and only a few are.. Not my lupine, definately not clover, sage is months behind.
They are planted right next to spicebush which are also 2 and might start blooming soon which I believe will have a similar bloom time.
I also have some gooseberries new this year not too far
I think some more will help either way.... and I will try the hollytone I use that on my azalea so I have it already
These were planted in the spring of 2023
I should say I see dozens of different species of bees and hoverflies constantly. I leave the leaves, I jave over 100 species of native plants to support and attact them. Still nada.
TorontoJoe
Administrator
I really need to find room for these. These need two different types for pollination, yes? So I’d need room for two?
snarfing
Well-known member
yes but there are at least one new varieity that are self fertile from japan, known as "Yezberry® Solo" though i think the yield is not great. since i have bad pollenation if you have 2 id consider getting this as one of the two you get. honeyberries usa has aa good list of pollenizers for each varietieis. They suggest a late one like boreal beauty, strawberry sensation, maxie, giants heart, tana, keiko, kawaii, or willa
TorontoJoe
Administrator
Ok… I’m going to take the risk of sounding foolish here. Since they are deciduous shrubs…. If one were to graft a different, compatible variety to a plant…. Could you not in essence make a self fertile bush?
snarfing
Well-known member
So I think its like blueberries whwre you want to remove canes ever 3 or so years because they become less productive. So its doable but youre going to need to regraft
Figgin' A
Well-known member
Yes, you need two to cross-pollinate. You also need two that are compatible, where said compatibility is based on the blooming period, categorized as very early, early, mid, late, and very late. So, you need two that bloom at the same time. You can technically have an early and a mid variety, as their blooming time will overlap. But the more overlap you have, the better, and the more berries you will get.
Here is a very good resource on that from UofSK:
https://gardening.usask.ca/documents/Haskap-bloom-ripe-charts.pdf
Figgin' A
Well-known member
Damn, that's such a foolish question, Joe!
Kidding. Good question. I've never heard of haskaps being grafted, but I did look it up and technically it's possible. My only concern is that the branches are so thin, and there are so many of them... you'd have to graft quite a few to get a 50/50 balance of two varieties on one bush... may not be easy... basically a huge PITA... also, you don't get that much from one bush.... you NEED more bushes...
TorontoJoe
Administrator
i say foolish things all the time. I’m used to it! 
I’m thinking I have way too much turf here. Perhaps some major landscaping is in order
I’m thinking I have way too much turf here. Perhaps some major landscaping is in order
snarfing
Well-known member
I cut a new gardening bed every year s this point loli say foolish things all the time. I’m used to it!
I’m thinking I have way too much turf here. Perhaps some major landscaping is in order
Figgin' A
Well-known member
Sounds like an awesome idea!i say foolish things all the time. I’m used to it!
I’m thinking I have way too much turf here. Perhaps some major landscaping is in order