Cranberries are known as a he althy snack and delicious side dish in the kitchen. This article tells you how you can grow cranberries yourself, what to look out for when harvesting and what the fruits can be used for.

The cranberry is a close relative of the blueberry

Cranberries are one of the lesser known berry bushes, but they also thrive in our gardens if the needs of the forest dwellers are met. We will introduce you to the most important cranberry varieties and provide tips on growing, harvesting and using cranberries.

Cranberries: properties and origin

The cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) is closely related to blueberries (Vaccinium myrtillus & V.corymbosum) and cranberries and is part of the heather family (Ericaceae). It is also known as cranberry, cranberry, cranberry or red bilberry. Due to their wide distribution - from the temperate to the arctic-circumpolar climate area - there are a large number of designations, as well as countless regional names.

The wild cranberry is found in bogs, heaths and forests from northern Europe to Siberia and Japan. Further south in Italy and France, the small shrubs grow up to 2500 m in the Alpine regions, but also in the Caucasus and the Balkans. In commercial cultivation, however, it is not the wild cranberries, but higher-yielding selections that are cultivated for the food industry, especially in Central and Northern Europe.

The lingonberry bushes grow to a height of about 10 to 30 cm and form shoots that have few branches. The glossy, dark green leaves of the lingonberry are evergreen and turn reddish in autumn. The shape of their leaves is reminiscent of the boxwood (Buxus), which also gave the lingonberry the nickname wild boxwood or wintagruan. It spreads underground via thin rhizomes covering the ground. The growth of a plant in length is up to 15 cm per year. From May to June, the delicate, white to pink colored bell-shaped cranberry flowers appear in clusters at the end of the shoot. Up to 20 flowers sit together and develop to 0.5 to 1 cm by the time the lingonberry is harvested from August to Septemberlarge light red fruits. These berries have a floury, juicy consistency and white flesh with many seeds. Cranberries can be eaten raw and taste tart and aromatic.

The flowers of the lingonberry appear small, white-pink and bell-shaped from May

Differences between lingonberries, currants and cranberries

Some berries look so alike - like cranberries, lingonberries and currants. We explain whether cranberries are also lingonberries and how you can easily distinguish all three berries.

Red currants (Ribes rubrum) only roughly resemble cranberries, because unlike the latter they are translucent and have a dried-out calyx rest as a black knob at the bottom of the currant. As the name suggests, they ripen around Johanni, i.e. at the end of June - but the lingonberries are still blooming at this time. Only in autumn do the berries of the evergreen lingonberry plants shine until the next spring on the bush. The currant bush, on the other hand, is much larger and woodier, and also bare in winter.

You can tell currants from cranberries by this:

  • Translucent fruit with a black knob at the bottom
  • Ripening period: end of June
  • Larger and woodier shrub that does not bear leaves in winter

Cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon) are not cranberries, although they look very similar on the outside, but form a separate species within the genus Vaccinium . The term "cultured lingonberry" for cranberries is incorrect, but for the sake of simplicity it is often found in the food trade. In contrast to cranberries, the cranberry bush forms long, creeping shoots that can quickly spread above ground. On the one hand, the fruits of the lingonberry are significantly smaller than the 2 cm large cranberries and lighter in color. On the other hand, lingonberries sit together at the end of the shoot, while cranberries are formed singly and along the whole shoot. However, once you have seen both plants and the fruit, the difference between cranberry and lingonberry is easy to recognize and remember.

This is how you can tell cranberries from cranberries:

  • Long creeping shoots
  • Smaller lighter colored fruits
  • Fruits are clustered at the end of the shoot
In the case of cranberries, there are ornamental varieties or higher-yielding varieties for processingjams or juice

Overview of lingonberry varieties

Various varieties were selected from the wild cranberries: partly as ornamental plants, which tend to produce little yield and produce rather sour-tasting berries, partly as varieties for commercial cultivation. If you would like to harvest lingonberries from your own garden, you should opt for the latter. We introduce you to the most important lingonberry varieties:

Cranberries as ornamental plants

  • 'Koralle': 1969 lingonberry from the Netherlands, originally cultivated as an ornamental shrub because of its extremely tart and sour taste. The medium-sized berries ripen on strongly upright, runner-forming shoots.
  • ‘Lirome’ / ‘Fireballs’: Slow-growing lingonberry, 20 - 30 cm high. The flowering period lasts from July to September. The round, red fruits ripen between August and October. They are suitable for fresh consumption due to their sweet and sour taste.
  • Vaccinium vitis-idaea subsp. minus: A predominantly arctic subspecies of cranberry native to Iceland, Greenland, North America and northern Scandinavia. The significantly shorter shoots are only 8 cm long and have significantly fewer pink flowers.

Cranberries for processing

  • 'Erntedank': A very high-yielding variety from Germany from 1978. The medium-early ripening cranberry fruits are rather small to medium-sized, dark red and mildly sour. They are therefore also suitable for fresh consumption.
  • 'Erntesegen': Cranberry from German breeding with up to 1 cm large, light red fruits with a good yield and later ripening in September. The leaves of this variety are unusually large.
  • 'Red Pearl': lingonberry variety from the Netherlands from 1982 with 1 cm large, light red fruits, which bring a rich harvest as early as August. The variety grows to a height of around 20 - 30 cm and is also suitable for fresh consumption.
Cranberries love acidic soils such as those found in forests

Planting Cranberries

When growing cranberries in your own garden, the location must be right. We explain the requirements and give tips on planting time, distance and procedure.

The right lingonberry location

The ideal location for cranberries is sunny to semi-shady on sandy-humic or peaty, fresh to wet, rather nutrient-poor soil. Cranberries are adapted to soils with strong alternating humidity. sheendure both waterlogging and drought quite well and grow even on the poorest soils. The ideal pH value of the substrate is between 4 and 5 in an acidic environment. At neutral or even alkaline, higher pH values, yellowing (chlorosis) occurs and later the lingonberry plant dies.

Cranberries can be planted in planters or in beds, but it should be noted that naturally calcareous soils with acidic material are not suitable, even with intensive soil improvement. On slightly acidic or neutral soil, the cranberry does best in a bog bed with other bog plants such as hydrangeas (Hydrangea), rhododendrons (Rhododendron), cloudberries (Gaultheria procumbens) or elfin flowers (Epimedium) can be planted. Creating a bed with acidic soil is therefore worthwhile in several ways, because the larger the converted area, the better the low pH value is maintained. In many gardens, the calcareous topsoil has to be removed by 15 to 20 cm before the beds can be planted. It is then replaced with a layer of acidic rhododendron soil mixed with sand and materials that have an acidic effect, such as needle litter, bark mulch or grape pomace. You can use the removed soil for hill beds or raised beds, for example.

If you don't have space for a large-scale transformation of a bed, you can simply cultivate cranberries in pots and tubs. You can find more tips for bed preparation and the ideal composition of the soil for blueberries, cranberries and Co. in our special article. The cranberry is hardy down to at least -22 °C and needs neither a sheltered spot nor extra winter protection.

The planting of lingonberry plants, such as the 'Koralle' variety, should be done in late autumn or early spring

Tip: Promoting soil life with a soil fertilizer - such as our Plantura organic soil activator - can also improve the location for the rather undemanding cranberries without damaging the he althy one with too many nutrients threatening heather growth. Soil fertilizers mainly contain organic carbon from plant raw materials, which nourishes soil life and is available for the formation of humus.

How planting works

The best planting time for cranberries is in late autumn from October to the end of November. At the beginning of the cold season, the need for water and growth decrease sharply, the plants are in a resting phase. Form after plantingIt only grows roots, and the shrub only puts out fresh leaves in spring. Alternatively, it can be planted in early spring, before the shoots sprout again. Plantings in spring must be watered regularly, especially in summer, as the bushes that have not yet taken root quickly suffer from a lack of water.

Tip: There are differences in the choice of plants, depending on how the lingonberry plant was propagated. Vegetatively propagated plants, such as cuttings, form fewer runners, making it easier to keep the stand "tidy". Generatively propagated plants grown from seed tend to be more creeping and also flower and fruit much later than vegetatively propagated plants.

Cranberries can be planted in rows or flat together to cover the ground. A distance of 25 to 40 cm should be maintained between the plants. Six to eight plants are expected per square meter, which will completely cover the ground after a few years. Place your lingonberry plants in the prepared acidic soil, press down lightly all over and then water to flush the substrate to the roots.

Tip: Apply an additional protective mulch layer of finely chopped tree bark or sawdust around the plants. On the one hand, this prevents the growth of weeds, on the other hand, it reduces evaporation and helps keep the soil acidic. Compensatory fertilization is necessary here in order to supply the nitrogen bound by the decomposition of the mulch - for example with a little soil activator. It is spread directly below the mulch and not worked in.

Cranberries spread by stolons and can therefore be planted for ground cover

Summary: Planting Cranberries

  • Location: sun to partial shade
  • Soil: sandy-humic or peaty, fresh to wet, rather poor in nutrients
  • Cultivation in beds or pots
  • Planting period: October - end of November
  • Planting distance: 25 - 40 cm

Caring for the lingonberry: This is what you need to know

Weed control is particularly important with cranberries, as they are not competitive and quickly become overgrown. Therefore, weed control is one of the most important care measures.

Fertilization is rarely necessary for lingonberries, they also do well on poor soil. In very poor locations, it may be that the lingonberries do not show any symptoms of deficiency, but grow very slowly and hardly at allfruit. Organic fertilization should help here, for example with an organic liquid fertilizer such as our Plantura organic flower and balcony fertilizer or with an organic fertilizer granulate with a long-term effect. The former is simply added to the irrigation water and washed directly onto the roots of the plants when watering. Pruning measures on the small cranberry should be done carefully, only damaged or old shoots are pruned.

Propagating cranberries: This is how it works

Cranberries can be propagated easily and quickly via cuttings, runners or seeds. To propagate cuttings, cut off about 5 cm long, annual shoots in early summer, remove the leaves down to the tip and place them in a substrate mixture of sand and acidic potting soil. The cuttings must always be kept moist until they root after a few weeks before being transferred to their final location.

Most cranberry varieties form stolons from their rhizomes that can be easily cut off and transplanted.

Propagation from lingonberry seeds is also possible, but the seedlings need several years to flower and bear fruit. In addition, their properties differ from those of the mother plant.

Using a lingonberry comb, harvesting is quick and easy

Harvest and Use

The lingonberry harvest season starts in August and can last until October as the berries ripen one after the other.

If the red fruits are not picked, they remain on the bush throughout the winter. Numerous birds, mammals and insects enjoy the vitamin-rich treat. A cranberry comb makes it much easier to harvest the small fruits - this way, quantities can be used quickly. The berries can also be stored very well after harvesting and can be kept fresh for several months at low temperatures. You can eat cranberries raw, but for most people they taste far too sour. Therefore, the red berries are usually enjoyed processed.

Many are familiar with lingonberries in the form of compote as an accompaniment to game dishes or camembert. Cranberry jam is made without any gelling agents in the sugar, as the fruit itself contains so much pectin that the cranberries thicken when they are boiled. They are also processed into cranberry juice, puree, brandy or in pastries. Dried berries can be kept for years if stored in a cool and dark place. The he althy ingredients in cranberries are made up of vitamin C (10 to 20 mg per 100 g), vitamin B, provitamin A,Tannins, organic acids and some minerals such as calcium and magnesium.
Cranberry leaf tea is also brewed from the leaves to relieve cold symptoms, rheumatism and urinary tract diseases.

A diverse berry snack garden with currants, blueberries and co is on the wish list of many garden owners. Introducing the best berry varieties for your garden.

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Fruit