Small fruits in the home garden 9781003075196, 1560220546, 1560220570, 9781560220541, 9781000111811, 1000111814, 9781000131772, 1000131777, 9781000156621, 1000156621, 1003075193

Table of contents :
Cover......Page 1
Half Title......Page 2
Title Page......Page 4
Copyright Page......Page 5
Table of Contents......Page 6
Growing Small Fruit in the Home Garden......Page 10
Blackberries......Page 42
Blueberries–North and South......Page 80
Currants, Gooseberries, and Jostaberries......Page 116
Growing Grapes in the Home Garden......Page 152
Raspberries......Page 198
Strawberries for the Home Garden......Page 236
Index......Page 268

Citation preview

Small Fruits

in the Home Garden

Taylor & Francis

Taylor & Francis Group http://taylorandfra ncis.com

Small Fruits

in the Ho01e Garden

Robert E. Gough, PhD

E. Barclay Poling, PhD

Editors

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Boca Raton london New York

CRC Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Small Fruits in the Home Garden has also been published as Journal q(Sma/1 Fruit & Viticul­ ture, Volume 4, Numbers 1/2 and 3/4 1996. © 1997 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilm and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.

Reprinted 2009 by CRC Press Cover design: Donna M. Brooks. The development, preparation, and publication of this work has been undertaken with great care. However, the publisher, employees, editors, and agents of The Haworth Press and all imprints of The Haworth Press, Inc., including The Haworth Medical Press and Pharmaceutical Products Press, are not responsible for any errors contained herein or for consequences that may ensue from use of materials or information contained in this work. Opinions expressed by the author(s) are not neces­ sarily those of The Haworth Press, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Small fruits in the home garden/Robert E. Gough, E. Barclay Poling, editors. p.cm. "Has also been published as Journal ofsmall fruit & viticulture, volume 4, numbers 1/2 and 3/4 1996 "-T.p. verso. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 1-56022-054-6 (alk. paper).-ISBN 1-56022-057-0 (pbk.: alk. paper) I. Berries 2. Grapes 3. Fruit-culture. I. Gough, Robert E. (Robert Edward) II. Poling, E. B. (Edward Barclay), 1953­ SB381.S63 1996 634'.7-dc20 94-41094 CIP

Small Fruits in the Home Garden CONTENTS Growing Small Fruit in the Home Garden R.E. Gough Blackberries

E. Barclay Poling

Blueberries-North and South R.E. Gough

1 33 71

Currants, Gooseberries, and Jostaberries Danny L. Barney

107

Growing Grapes in the Home Garden M. Ahmed Ahmedullah

143

Raspberries

189

Marvin P. Pritts

Strawberries for the Home Garden E. Barclay Poling

227

Index

259

Taylor & Francis

Taylor & Francis Group http://taylorandfra ncis.com

ABOUT THE EDITORS Robert E. Gough, PhD, is the former President ofthe Northeast Re­ gion ofthe American Society for Horticultural Science and a leading specialist in small fruit and viticulture. Dr. Gough is now Associate Professor of Horticulture at Montana State University in Bozeman. He has a diverse background, having earned a BA in English, an MS in Horticulture, and a PhD in Botany. His experiences as a county agricultural agent, state and regional extension specialist in small fruit, and a senior research scientist have provided him with a great deal of insight into the needs of growers. Dr. Gough has published extensively-nearly 300 articles-in the area ofpomology (fruit science) in both scientific journals and popu­ lar magazines, including the Journal ofthe American Societyfor Hor­ ticultural Science, HortScience, Scientia Horticulturae, Journal of Small Fruit & Viticulture, New England Gardener, Harrowsmithl Country Life, Country Journal, Fine Gardening, National Garden­ ing, New England Farmer, American Fruit Grower, Proceedings of the New England Small Fruit Conference, and Proceedings of the Ohio Fruit Congress. He is the author or editor ofseven books on fruit culture and gardening. He also maintains an active interest in all areas relating to general horticulture, agriculture, crop science, soil science, and community gardening/landscape architecture. A member of nu­ merous professional and honorary societies, Dr. Gough served as an Associate Editor for the Journal ofthe American Societyfor H orticul­ tural Science and HortScience from 1985-1988. Currently, he is Edi­ tor ofJournal ofSmall Fruit & Viticulture, Senior Editor for horticul­ ture, and a consultant for Food Products Press imprint. E. Barclay Poling, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Horticul­ tural Science at North Carolina State University, where he has re­ search and extension responsibilities for strawberries, grapes, and brambles. He is also the Director of the university's new Small Fruit Center. The author of numerous scientific and popular articles on strawberries and blackberries, Dr. Poling recently coauthored a book

on winegrape production in the Middle Atlantic States. He has taught university courses in small fruit production and has given numerous workshops on small fruit growing to homeowner groups and master gardeners. His entertaining videos on pruning blackberries and grapes are among the most popular titles in the Agricultural Communications video library at North Carolina State University. While he is recog­ nized internationally for his research in 'strawberry plasticulture' and plug propagation of strawberries, his secret passion is for growing blackberries! His chapter "Blackberries in the Home Garden" will surely stir considerable new interest in blackberries.

Growing Small Fruit in the Home Garden

R.E. Gough

Too often, commercial varieties of fruit have been selected for their shipping and storage qualities, and not necessarily for their flavor. This allows them to be harvested at some early stage of ripeness, shipped to your local grocery store from distant fields, and to arrive in reasonably good condition. But these fruit often don't taste very good. There are many new varieties that have wonderful flavor but that are not suitable for commercial production. They are well suited, however, to planting in your home garden. For example, 'Herbert' blueberry is very dark-skinned but has excellent flavor. Because the market demands blueberries with light blue skin, this variety is rarely seen in commercial plantings. Some fine-flavored varieties of seedless table grapes produce plants where only 50 to 75% of the clusters are suitable for use. These are fine for the home garden, but not for the commercial grower. Growing your own small fruit will let you harvest the tastiest varieties at their peak flavor. Small fruit take up little space when compared to tree fruit, and are well adapted to planting in the landscape. Strawberry plants make great perennial borders along walks. Grapes and the brambles form effective hedges and screens to hide unsightly areas of the R.E. Gough is Associate Professor and Extension Horticulture Specialist, De­ partment of Plant, Soil, and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University and Editor, Journal ofSmall Fruit & Viticulture. [Haworth co·indexing entry note]: "Growing Small Fruit in the Home Garden." Gough, R.E. Co-published simultaneously in Journal o(Smal/ Fruit & Viticulture (Food Products Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc.) Vol. 4, No. 1/2, 1996, pp. 1-31; and: Small Fruits in the Home Garden (ed: Robert E. Gough, and E. Barclay Poling) Food Products Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc., 1996, pp. 1-31. Single or multiple copies of this article are available rrom The Haworth Document Delivery Service [ 1-800-342-9678, 9:00a.m.- 5:00p.m. (EST). E-mail address: [email protected]].

© 1996 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

I

SMALL FRUITS IN THE HOME GARDEN

2

landscape, or to divide the lawn area from the vegetable garden. They also make fine property markers. Currants, gooseberries, and blueberries are often used as "edible" hedges and are particularly attractive when laden with colorful fruit in summer. Sitting beneath an arbor laden with juicy grapes is a pleasant way to pass an early autumn day, and a strawberry barrel, laden and splotched red with fruit, makes an attractive conversation piece.

WHAT FRUIT TO PLANT, AND HOW MANY? Don't waste your time and money on fruit that no one in your family wants. Gooseberries are delicious, but if no one likes them, why bother with them? Plant only what you and your family enjoy, and only enough to satisfy your needs (Table 1). Remember that just a small planting can produce an abundance of fruit to eat fresh, to TABLE 1. Approximate yields from a planting of small fruit in the home garden. Fruit

Ave. Annual Yield

Strawberry

70 quarts per 100 feet of row

Grape Vinifera

25 pounds per vine

labrusca

15 pounds per vine

Muscadine

15 pounds per vine

Gooseberry

8 quarts per bush

Currant

5 quarts per bush

Raspberry Black

50 pints per iOO feet of row

Red

65 pints per 100 feet of row

Dewberry

60 pints per 100 feet of row

Blackberry Erect

30 quarts per 100 feet of row

Evergreen

10 quarts per plant

Blueberry

5 pints per bush

RE Gough

3

careful and to use in making juice, pies, and preserves. Also, be careful to check the ripening schedules of the small fruit( s) you are considering against your family's summer vacation schedule!

CLIMATE Decide which fruit you would like to have, then determine which will grow in your area. Get suggestions from your county/regional extension agent Notice what commercial growers in your area are planting, but understand that their selection of a crop is governed not only by what will grow, but also by what will sell. Currants may grow perfectly well there, but there may be no market for the fruit and hence, no commercial plantings. If you live in a marginal area, select only those varieties of small fruit that are adapted to your climatic conditions. For example, some new varieties of highbush blueberry grow to heights of only about 20 inches. This allows them to be insulated by snow cover in winter and so to escape severely low temperatures. Currants and gooseberries tolerate cold temperatures but not summer heat, and don't do well in southern gardens. Some varieties of grapes are extremely cold tolerant and are suitable for planting in Minnesota gardens, while "vinifera" types are better adapted to the gardens of southern California. Muscadine grapes, the vines of which bear careful as single berries rather than in bunches, are more suited for gardens in the mid to deep south where bunch grapes grow poorly.

Heat Most of the common small fruit-blueberries, blackberries, rasp­ berries, currants, gooseberries, grapes, and strawberries~ are widely adapted and will grow in most home gardens where summers are moderately warm, with midday temperatures of 75°F to 85°F. There are some areas, however, in which they will not perfonn well. Locations where summer temperatures approach 100°F for several days each year are not well-suited for most small fruit. However, there are certain varieties of vinifera grape that do well at that temperature. And Muscadine, or "scuppernong" grapes are toler­

4

SMALL FRUITS IN THE HOME GARDEN

ant of both wann and humid climates. With most of carefulsmall fruit, continual leaf temperatures above about 86°F (leaves in full sunlight can be up to 27°F wanner than the surrounding air) can cause internal water deficits, dehydration, sunburn, reduced growth, bleaching of the leaves, and a loss of fruit flavor and color. This adds to the stress of the plant and may make it more susceptible to pests. If you have many days with temperatures above this, consider types of fiuit other than the common ones mentioned above, such as kiwi­ fruit. If you expect only a few days of very high temperatures, consider sprinkling your plants. This is described later in this chapter. Cold

oF are Areas where winter temperatures plummet below careful marginally adapted to small fruit culture. In fact, be wary of grow­ ing any small fruit if the winter temperature regularly drops below - lOOF. Mulches and heavy snow cover are beneficial and will insulate your smaller plants against extreme cold. Every inch of fluffy snow will increase the temperature around the plants by about 2°F above that of the ambient air. Small plants, such as strawberry and some of the newer half-high blueberries, can survive northern planting sites because of the insulation of heavy snow. Many nursery catalogs list the zones in which particular varieties do well. Figure 1 is a hardiness zone map developed by the United States Department of Agriculture. This indicates the minimum win­ ter temperatures an area of the country is likely to experience. Determine in which hardiness zone you live, then choose only those varieties that are adapted to your location. The most recent zone maps are more difficult to interpret and divide each zone into "a" and "b" areas, i.e., 7a and 7b. The "a" areas are the more northern areas of each zone, the "b" areas the more southern areas. Plants adapted to Zone 8 may not tolerate the cold winters of Zone 4, while plants adapted to Zone 4 may not tolerate the hot summers of Zone 8. Fruit plants also must experience a certain number careful of temperatures below 45°F in order to break their winter dormancy and start growth in the spring (Table 2). Plants in gardens too far south may not satisfy this chilling requirement and will not begin growth in the spring. If the chilling requirement is only partially

R.E. Gough

5

fulfilled, growth will be weak and bloom spotty. Be sure tocareful only those plants that will be likely to satisfy their chilling require­ ments in your area. For example, varieties of northern highbush blueberry require a fairly long chilling period, while those of the southern highbush blueberry, or the rabbiteye, require a much shmt­ er chilling period. Chilling requirements will be discussed more thoroughly in the individual chapters.

Fluctuating Winter Temperatures Fully hardened, dormant plants can tolerate extreme cold better than those that are not dormant. During northern "midwinter thaws," which often occur during the second and third week of January, temperatures can sometimes approach 60°F. Because this often occurs after plants have completed their rest, the buds can respond by losing their hardiness. Blueberry tissue will begin to deharden when the temperature rises above 27°F. As temperatures rise to freezing, grape buds will deharden at the rate of about 10°F per hour, but will reharden at the rate of only about l0°F per day. This means that during the warm spell, plant tissue rapidly looses its ability to withstand cold, but only slowly regains it. When tempera­ tures plummet after a "thaw," as they usually do, dehardened tissue is severely damaged. If you live in an area that experiences such thaws, mulch small plants heavily to minimize temperature fluctua­ tions. There is little you can do for larger plants.

Wind Strong winds interfere with bee flight during pollination and thus can reduce the crop, sometimes to nothing. They also stunt the plants and can dry the anthers and stigma, further interfering with fruit set and reducing the crop. Protect your planting from the strong prevailing wind by planting in the lee of a hedge, fence, or building.

Elevation Planting on a lee hillside protects the planting from strong winds while at the same time allowing for good air drainage. Cold air,

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