How to Grow Cranberries

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Days to germination: Not usually grown from seed

Days to harvest: Depends on size of initial seedlings

Light requirements: Full sun

Water requirements: Frequent, but not excessive watering

Soil: Peat moss (see details below)

Container: Not ideal, but possible

Introduction

If you are looking for something a little different or maybe a fruit-growing challenge, consider trying to grow some cranberries. They are more common as a commercially-grown fruit crop, but there is no reason why an industrious home gardener can’t grow their own. You’ll need a cooler climate, from zone 5 to zone 2.

It can take a few years before a newly planted bed will give you any fruit, but they will continue to provide cranberries almost indefinitely if they are cared for. There are some commercial fields that have been bearing fruit for a century.

Contrary to popular understanding, cranberries aren’t actually grown in flooded bogs or marshes. Cranberry fields are flooded to make harvesting easier (the berries float) but that is not how they grow all season long. And this is a method used for commercial growers, not your average home gardener.

The fruit is very tart and high in vitamin C and antioxidants. Cranberry juice is a well-known home remedy for urinary infections.

Transplanting

Cranberries are not really grown from seed, but you can buy cuttings or seedlings to start your berry field. The plants will start to produce fruit at around 3 years of age. So a year-old cutting will take some time to get started, whereas a 3-year old seedling will give you fruit almost immediately.

Your soil needs are going to be unique for cranberries, so most gardeners dig out a bed and replace it with the right mixture rather than try to amend their existing soil. Cranberries are quite particular about their soil, so don’t feel you can skimp on this or try to make do with regular yard dirt.

Take out the existing topsoil in your cranberry bed (4 feet by 8 feet is an average size), to a depth of about 6 to 8 inches. Fill in your bed with peat moss, and then mix in about a half pound of bone meal, and a full pound of blood meal for nutrients. Wet the whole bed down well before you plan on putting in your seedlings.

If you are planting 1-year cuttings, they should be about a foot apart. Larger 3-year seedlings need closer to 3 feet between them. They will soon put out enough runners to fill your bed in.

Growing Instructions

For the first year, keep that bed constantly watered. You can’t let the roots dry out. Don’t let the images of flooded cranberry fields confuse you. Keep your plants wet, but you do not need to keep the bed soaked.

Cranberries don’t compete well either, so take extra time to weed the bed completely. The peat moss soil will help keep out many common garden weeds.

Your plants will put out runners, much like strawberries do, to create new plants throughout your prepared area. A bit of wooden edging might help to keep them contained. Once the runners are nicely rooted and established, they will grow “uprights” and that is where you will get flowers and fruit.

To get a really productive bed, you want to encourage runners for the first year with high-nitrogen fertilizer. But by the second or third year, you want all those runners to start making uprights, so cut off the nitrogen completely. During the second year, you should also add a thin layer of sand (about 1/2 inch) over the peat moss.

As the years go by, you can keep your bed in good shape by pruning the long runners back. You should never cut the uprights, only the runners.

Containers

Cranberries really grow best when left to spread their runners out over a bed in the garden. But you can grow small plants in pots, as long as you control their spread. One plant in a large pot filled with peat moss should be fine. Trim the runners if they get out of the container, but let any inside the pot take root for more uprights. Use low-nitrogen fertilizer to limit the extra runners.

You may need to replace your plants periodically. In a garden bed, the runners constantly replace the older uprights, making the bed self-sustaining. This usually won’t happen in a small container.

Pests and Diseases

Cranberry fruitworm is a common problem, so keep an eye on your plants so you can keep them from ruining too many berries. You might notice them first as gray moths on your plants in the spring. These adults are laying eggs in your cranberries. If you catch them now, spray the plants with an insecticide. Otherwise, their eggs will hatch, and the worms will eat your berries from the inside out. Chewed berries will turn red before they are ripe, giving you a clear signal of the problem. Pluck off the berries and check for worms. Dispose of all the ones you find right away.

Bright red spots on the leaves is probably red leaf spot. The fungus will eventually cause the infected leaves to drop off. Thankfully, it’s easy enough to treat with a copper-based fungicide spray.

Harvest and Storage

If you started off with 3-year seedlings, you might even get some berries during the first fall after planting. Younger cuttings will take a year or two before you see any harvest.

You really should get your cranberry harvest picked before the frost hits in late fall. You’ll know they are fully ripe when the berries are deep red, and the seed inside is brown.

You simply have to pick the berries by hand. There is no need to flood your cranberry patch.

Before winter sets in, you should put a heavy layer of mulch over your plants (extra pine needles, if you have them). You can uncover them in early spring, but they will need to be recovered any night you are expecting frost.

Cranberries can last longer than most berries, and will taste as good as fresh after 2 months in the fridge if you store them in a tightly sealed container. Once cooked, they can keep for a month in the fridge too. Dried cranberries are a treat that have a texture just like a raisin.

17 Responses to “How to Grow Cranberries”

lacey Says:
November 18th, 2011 at 8:04 am
You dont have enough info about cranberris
Kristen Says:
January 6th, 2012 at 6:10 am
Disagree with the comment above: great article! I’m now inspired to try growing my own cranberries. Thank you. 🙂
Samantha Says:
February 4th, 2012 at 2:16 pm
This was really helpful for my cranberry bog. Thanks!
Carol Says:
February 17th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
We have just got it in the garden growing up a stake will this work or will I have to prune it. it is very scraggy at the moment going all directions
Connie Says:
August 15th, 2012 at 3:15 pm
Can you grow cranberries in NC? I am going to try–I was born in Maine put grew up in PA but now want to grow the delicious treats for myself-any advice will be appreciated
Vicki Says:
August 13th, 2013 at 6:25 pm
Do you have to plant two different varieties for pollination?
Kris Says:
January 10th, 2015 at 11:08 am
What about growing cranberries in a wicking bed? I’ve been looking on the internet and can’t find anything on it. I know it isn’t, but it feels like it’s the only plant that I don’t see being grown in a wicking bed, but it looks like a wicking bed would be perfect for growing cranberries in the backyard.
Jessie Says:
January 21st, 2015 at 2:19 pm
I agree Kris, a wicking bed seems perfect for cranberries. Constant water but plenty of soil for roots to breathe above the water too. And being a built bed the perfect soil can be added to prevent needing to dig it out. I have pond liner and a couple of apple crates so think I will give it a go in a wicking bed. 🙂
Emily @ The Southern Belle Blogs Says:
November 11th, 2015 at 8:47 am
Great article! I just got the opportunity to purchase a cranberry plant on sale and am excited about trying to grow in in coast Northeastern NC.
Bob G.Wisconsin Says:
December 8th, 2015 at 9:27 am
I have a large meadow next to the house that seems to have all peat subsoil. I’d like to grow a larger than usual size cranberry plot. Enough to provide for the extended family with preserves as well as the wild life in the area. I am looking for a way to purchase a larger quantity of three year old plugs(?) that won’t cost an arm and a leg.

Any recommendations? I’m not enthusiastic about waiting three years.

Curious if the turkeys, geese, and deer would find the plant edible.
Bob G.Wisconsin Says:
December 16th, 2015 at 7:58 am
had wrong email on last comment.

I have a large meadow next to the house that seems to have all peat subsoil. I’d like to grow a larger than usual size cranberry plot. Enough to provide for the extended family with preserves as well as the wild life in the area. I am looking for a way to purchase a larger quantity of three year old plugs(?) that won’t cost an arm and a leg.

Any recommendations? I’m not enthusiastic about waiting three years.

Curious if the turkeys, geese, and deer would find the plant edible.I have a large meadow next to the house that seems to have all peat subsoil. I’d like to grow a larger than usual size cranberry plot. Enough to provide for the extended family with preserves as well as the wild life in the area. I am looking for a way to purchase a larger quantity of three year old plugs(?) that won’t cost an arm and a leg.

Any recommendations? I’m not enthusiastic about waiting three years.

Curious if the turkeys, geese, and deer would find the plant edible.vvvv
John Harker Says:
January 13th, 2016 at 2:07 pm
Bob G.

You may want to call us for pricing of our plants. while our plants are larger and may look like they cost more, they grow in much faster than one year old plants, and you can take cuttings off the plants to make your own plants to fill in the bed faster. Send us an email if you are interested.
Samni Bell Says:
March 1st, 2016 at 9:37 am
Can you recommend a place / nursery to purchase cranberry plants? I live in eastern Oregon.
Thanks!
Julie davis Says:
July 18th, 2016 at 5:04 pm
Got a plant at local garden centre,i think with your advice all will go well thankyou!
Julie davis Says:
July 18th, 2016 at 5:05 pm
With your advice i should have a good crop.
Julie davis Says:
July 18th, 2016 at 5:05 pm
Great advice thx
Billie bartling Says:
September 2nd, 2016 at 3:59 pm
My yard is mostly clay but iv got a large area that is all sandy and wet year round if I add peetmoss whud that be a good growing spot?