Hardy Berries and Currants: Winter Field Notes

another way to easily remove sea buckthorn, I let these dry on the branches slowly since they were just for seed. surprised that now just brushing over the fruit and they fall off, probably similar to freezing them. now I wonder if you set them in a dehydrator when fresh so you get some more pristine dried fruit. when I dry tomatoes I'll do them at 35c for.a day, so like the temp of a hot summer day, until they're crispy. Then I'll bag them and add a teaspoon of water to rehydrate evenly back to a just gummy texture, which seems perfect for storage. I wonder if the same would work to make sea buckthorn "raisons"

black currants waking up under grow lights

Ribes odoratum seedlings of Crandall currant, one of the largest fruiting tastiest currants, but unusual because it's a clove currant. I started them early into stratification, and at 5 months they just germinated in the fridge. Better timing would be start them jan/feb and plant in May. I have these seeds on our shop!

some highbush cranberry germinated early so they got potted up under grow lights. usually this Viburnum genus needs some extended stratification to overcome dormancy, but sometimes they don't - these woke up at 90 days into just the warm stratification. this is one species that you can also propagate from cuttings, but seed might be easier. #highbushcranberry

gooseberry plugs waking up. rooted plugs are similar to how I have then in 2.5" pots, though I think the pot has a bigger root system. brought in a new batch of cultivars for this summer, if all goes well this plant will get a trim in june and we'll be on the way with softwood cuttings.. gooseberry hardwood can be slow to root.

time to start seeds stratifying. wild american black currant, wild raspberry, wild sarsaparilla, and ribes aureum - a bush I think was crandall with huge berries. these soak overnight then go in the fridge with some damp peat moss until april. many perennial seeds need to go through this cold conditioning for a few months before they’ll germinate. for these berry bushes, I’m going to try plug trays so this is enough seed for half a dozen trays of each.

sea buckthorn cultivars root with softwood. it takes two growing seasons or 18 months to grow them. the first year the cutting roots, and then go on to harden off and get established in a bed. In the second year they’ll put on some growth and root mass, then they’re big enough to ship. these orange energy from summer 2023 will be ready for spring 2025. #propagation

some seeds need a while, these rocky mountain elderberry need some cycles of cold and warm stratification to germinate, they’ve been stratifying for about a year now and are still healthy seeds, after a few more months in the fridge they should be ready to germinate. Another option would have been plant them outside and just watch for germination over a couple of years. #elderberry

excited about these elderberry cuttings from @haomaselections . they’re about one week after sticking. I soaked them overnight, set into deep pots with a perlite/peat/vermiculite mix, had them covered for humidity, used some iba talc, and adding bottom heat today, the tops are at room temp. surprised at how fast they wake up and grow, hoping they root as quickly. has anyone else rooted elderberry indoors like this? #elderberry #hardwoodcuttings