Indigo Gem pollinationBorealis blossom and berries formingBlue Belle and Tundra berries
One customer's translation of 'zhimolost' (Russian name for honeyberry): “If you eat this berry you will be young all the time!”
About the Honeyberry Shrub and Fruit
Early blossoming honeyberries begin to ripen when the daisies come out in the spring
The fantastic flavor of honeyberries is very hard to describe, so it may be best to
just say it's a "mystery berry" flavor, reminding some people of a mixture of
blackberry, cherry and even grape or kiwi. With a very thin skin, the
zesty berries melt in your mouth!
These healthy berries can be eaten fresh off the bush, or used fresh or
frozen in your favorite blueberry recipe.
Honeyberry bushes sold commercially typically grow from 3 – 8 feet tall, with oblong berries ½ – 1 inch or
more in length, depending on the cultivar.
A member of the honeysuckle family, the honeyberry shrub (Lonicera caerulea) grows
circumpolar in the northern hemisphere. They are known as zhimolost in
Russia, haskap in Japan, and honeyberry in the
USA! Some people refer to the Japanese varieties as haskap and to the Russian varieties as honeyberry. Edible Blue Honeysuckle is an accurate way to refer to the species in general!
Interesting Features
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Cold hardy to -55 F, blossoms withstand 20 F
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First fruit of spring (in zone 3 earliest blooming cultivars bear prior to strawberries, mid season ripen concurrent, late blooming selections bear a week later)
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Higher level of antioxidants than blueberries
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Grows in most soils in wide range of pH levels (4.5 - 8.5) though 5-7 is preferred. May perform better in clay soils than sandy soils.
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USDA zone 2-8. Fruiting depends on availability of pollinators when
plants are blooming. Late blooming varieties ae more suitable for
warmer climates (zones 6-8), needing approximately 1000 chill hours.
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Some varieties produce 10+ lbs of berries after 5 years, others produce 1-2 lbs
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50+ year lifespan
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Honeyberries do not sucker but send up shoots from the root crown
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Grows in sunny or shady locations. Bears best in sun in the North, needs some protection from sun in the South.
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Disease and pest resistant, great for organic gardening
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Many honeyberries require proximity to another unrelated honeyberry plant for pollinization by bees and other insects. Some varieties will produce some fruit alone.
Harvesting Canadian-bred haskap (honeyberries) at The Honeyberry Farm in northern Minnesota (4 year old Indigo Gem).
Early blooming honeyberries typically need to turn a dark blue color all the way through, about 3 weeks after the outside turns blue, for sweetest
taste. Mid and late blooming selections may not turn blue inside, and vary as to how long they need to ripen. Let taste be your guide!
Some selections of
honeyberries can be harvested by
placing a child's plastic pool (cut in two and notched in the center) or large tote lid or other sheeting material
on the ground and wacking the shrub with a slapping motion until the berries drop! Upright bushes can be wacked with a stick (broom handle, plasic bat, etc.) but my favorite is a light weight manure rake on Honey Bee and Berry Blue(TM).
Or Shake, Rake & Drop with a cardboard catcher which we later upgrading using waterproof coroplast (corrugated) signboard material and then a sheet of shower wall from Home Depot to catch and pour honeyberries.
A couple hundred bushes could easily be harvested with a manure rake. Larger plots can be done with equipment such as the ATRAX olive harvester. See it used on Indigo Gem and Borealis, and another young bush. More explanation given here. Tell them HoneyberryUSA sent you. (or Infaco brand) which works quite a bit better than a home made reciprocating saw shaker (see saw instructions here. The Waxwing Haskap Harvester system is handy for small bushes in small plots. The trays can be removed from the frame and manually dragged along the row when the bushes get taller and wider. The largest Paddling Pool works great too. Tarps may be needed to catch flying berries from the tallest bushes.
Large scale commercial harvesters include the Karen Weremczuk harvester, over-the-row blueberry/currant harvesters or the Johanna side harvester and the evolving Kokan over the row harvester with disc combs.
Planting
Spacing: 4.5 - 6 ft (1.3 - 2 m) within rows, 8 - 10 ft (2.5 - 3m) between rows Depth: May be planted a couple inches deeper than original depth
to compensate for possible frost heaving or to establish a deeper root
system.
Pollination: Proximity to an unrelated variety (within same yard is fine). A different variety (P for pollenizer) is recommended
per 2-4 smaller plants (X) to ensure the best fruit set. While theoretically the best example is:
X P X
P X P
X P X
It is advantageous for harvesting to have each variety in its own row:
X P X
X P X
X P X
Fertilizer: Most soils are adequate to sustain honeyberry plants the first year. Fertilize with caution so as not to burn shallow roots. Watering: Heavy watering a few times the first few years recommended to promote deep root growth.
Do not overwater potted plants. Let dry out in between watering.
Mulching: Honeyberries appreciate being mulched as it helps retain moisture and reduces competition from grass and weeds. Leave a couple inches away from stem free of mulch. Do not overwater mulched plants. Do not use cardboard mulch over winter as mice are attracted to cardboard. While mulch is not required, weed control is essential. Keep grass and weeds at least 24" away from plants. Honeyberries planted into sod do not thrive, and young transplants may get crowded out and die or be severly stunted.
Different honeyberries may blossom at different times. Check out more info at our Blossom Page. Also view Phenological stages (Ag Quebec research) with full article here.
At own risk: 12-12-12, half a handful on each side (older plants)
Not advised: One grower reported applying dry 19-19-19 fertilizer twice a year before or during bloom and after harvest, a handful on two sides. Another grower reported burning her mature plants doing this.
Pruning
MAPAQ Quebec Turn on CC with French-English translation
First year pruning: some growers recommend pruning as follows: leave two stems 3 or 4 inches tall, cut everything down to above last node.
Fifth year and thereafter (Japanese genetics): Remove old growth (1/4 of bush). We have also given plants "brush cuts" down to half the height and two years later they produced marvelously and (Russian Genetics): Give plants a "brush cut" down to 1 foot from ground.
Recommended pruning time is late
winter or early spring but we have done it in the fall as well. Have heard of some getting pruned during spring/summer as well. When mature plant is transplanted it usually needs more aggressive pruning in order to encourage root establishment along with new growth. If accidentally mowed off, the plants usually regrow. See example of pruning at the U of S.
LaHave Farms NS, Canada
pruning videoPruning discussion video
Storing
FRESH
Post from Honeyberry / Haskap Growing & Info. Facebook Group 5/12/20: doing research on that question at MSU-Western Agricultural Research Center... We found they can store at least 2 weeks if not more when harvested and stored correctly
plan on careful hand harvest -- wear latex or similar material gloves or white cotton gloves that can be found online
harvest intact and high quality fruit only
harvest straight to the container you'd plan to sell them from (we were using "6 oz clamshells")
store at high humidity (95%+) and between 33 and 34 F (a standard fridge is 40% relative humidity).
If don't have a produce-specific cooler we had some promising results with Freshworks containers (but I'd still open them periodically so they can air out) with other kinds of berries
HoneyberryUSA notes: storage life is much less in normal fridge and dependent upon variety
FROZEN
Honeyberries store frozen very well but their thin skins bursts and release their juice upon thawing. Winemakers love this feature!
Cautions
Birds love these honeyberries. We like Plantra's netting that is easier to work with than some other netting.
Deer and rabbits may also nibble on young shrubs
Weeds should be kept away from young plants until the shrubs are well established.
Strong winds and heavy rain may dislodge ripe berries, which normally stay attached for an
extended time.
Regular watering is advised for at least the first couple of years. Somewhat drought tolerant when older but will drop their leaves early in dry years.
Several sites have reported to us problems growing honeyberries in the vicinity of black walnut treesnbsp;
FAQ
How do I choose? Favorite video: Click here (not our farm but so well done in Alberta, Canada, describing differences between U of S varieties)
What are the chill hours needed for honeyberries? Later blooming plants with Japanese genetics require as low as 400-500 (per reports from northern New Zealand) but early blooming plants require more.
What are the nutritional needs of honeyberries? While the results of Case-Studies-on-Haskap-Nutrition-Feb-2019.pdf are somewhat inconclusive, plants do not typically do as well on the tops of hills where they may not get as much moisture or at the bottom of hills in heavy, higher alkaline soil with less drainage. Weeds also greatly stunt the growth. High pH (8.5) with low K (potash) resulted in leaf curl with brown edges.
My honeyberry leaves look like they are afflicted by blight in mid-summer. Most likely it's sun/wind scald, and many cultivars of honeyberries, especially the early blooming ones, naturally experience browning and dropping of leaves. Honeyberries benefit from shade from the hot afternoon sun. It may also be powdery mildew, may want to try a mixture of 12 tablespoons of Hydrogen Peroxide per gallon of water and spray on every three days until gone. (use higher ratio of peroxide to H20 with caution)
Are honeyberries self-pollinating? Most honeyberries, like apples, need a different honeyberry plant for pollination. Both plants must bloom at the same time. Some will not produce any fruit without a companion, others will produce some fruit alone, but will benefit from a companion.
How are honeyberries pollinated?Insects, especially bumble bees.
When will the plants produce fruit? Honeyberries produce fruit on year-old wood, so it is possible to see a couple berries the year following propagation, but the plants need 3-4 years in the ground to grow to sufficient size to produce any significant amount of fruit, and reach maturity at 5-7 years. Some varieties grow faster and produce fruit earlier than others.
SWD (Spotted wing drosophila fly) issues? We have not had problems in northern Minnesota with our harvest running June 20 - July 10, while raspberries and cherries which ripen second week of July can run into major problems.
How bad are the birds in terms of loss? 100% if you only have a few bushes, and could be major should a flock of cedar waxwings find your orchard. We net.
What's u average plant yield at 5-6 years?Depends on the variety. See variety descriptions at Honeyberry Plants page.
Where are my berries? Look underneath the branches close to the older stem. Leaves may be hiding them.
Are honeyberries compatible with black walnut and other Juglandaceae trees? NO. A grower in New York initially reported, "I sure have a thriving wild (invasive) L. tatarica population in my yard under about 40 black walnuts. My baby L. caerulea "Aurora" showed NO signs of damage, growing in close proximity to walnuts." But several years later reported the honeyberry plants were dying off. In southern Minnesota, two sites with L. caerulea planted just beyond black walnut failed to thrive from 2011-2014, and we have heard of similar cases in other parts of the country, even after the trees had been removed from the field. The Fall 2000 Restoration and Reclamation Review explains that juglone is "an allelopathic compound, which inhibits stem elongation and lower germination rates." Note that this article refers to the invasive Lonicera maaki, not edible blue honeysuckle, Lonicera caerulea L., and also states that Lonicera has been found to grow under black walnuts, but while they may grow, they may not thrive.
What varieties make the best wine? - Peter MacInnis says, "It matters; out of our varieties, IG probably better than the others for wine, if it's really ripe and not too wet a year (wet dilutes the flavour and you don't want that). Berry Blue is a little too 'acidic' although a good winemaker can correct many of those things. Tundra makes decent wine, but not as good as the others. We have to work harder to get it to behave, and it needs a longer ageing time to develop to its best. Aurora by itself we have only done small carboys full (since we don't have a dedicated row of it), and it's mediocre. Aurora is best for fresh eating though, since it's low acid and not too quinic." While others say they prefer Aurora.
More general info on the Caprifoliaceae family, genus Lonicera.
Fall Planting? Our experience shows you can plant anytime until freeze-up and they will wake up naturally in the spring. Water so as to keep the soil moist but not overly wet unti top inch of soil freezes up.
The University of Saskatchewan began breeding honeyberries(haskap) in 2002. Using lines from
Russia, Japan and the Kuril Islands north of Japan, this program is
producing fruit that is sweeter and superior in taste to many other
honeyberry varieties on the market, as well as being larger and more
easily detachable from the plant. Royalty fees support ongoing research.
Plants may be purchased from HoneyberryUSA.
American-bred Haskap (pure Japanese genetics)
Visit Dr. Maxine Thompson's plot in Corvallis, OR, with the folk from St. Fiacre's Farm (Artisian Loose Leaf Teas)
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Indigo Gem pollination
Borealis blossom and berries forming
Blue Belle and Tundra berries
