Cranberries

[NickHubbell]

I am interested in growing a couple of cranberries mixed in with my Sarracena purpurea ssp. purpurea and Drosera rotundifolia. One thing that has fasinated me is the sight of cranberries growing with Sarracenia purpurea ssp. purpurea here in Ohio.

Has anyone tried growing cranberries with their carnivorous plants? If so, are they fairly easy, do they grow well from seed, and anything else you might want to add.

Thanks,

 

[D muscipula]

Nick, i planted the seeds from some cranberries a few months ago and they sprouted quickly.  I would be careful about introducing them into a minibog- they are quite weedy.  There are a bunch of them in the "Savage Garden" bog in the greenhouse where the NECPS meets.  You can see the photos of it here.  In particular, this photo:

Shows both the blueberries and cranberries.  Kinda incongruous having the nep in there, isn't it?

Oh, the cranberry is the creeping groundcover, for those who aren't familiar with it. The blueberries are the bushes... with blue berries.

 

[Skye]

I grow cranberries with my p villosa and d rotundifolia and they seem to do fine

 

[NickHubbell]

Here is one of my favorite photos from our trip to Triangle Bog. This is what gave me the idea. This was also the first time I had seen a wild cranberry and possibly the first time I have ever seen a live cranberry plant.

I did end up ordering some American Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) Seeds. I know I could probably have used seeds from the store, but I wanted either American Cranberry or Small Cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccus) . It seems that the Small Cranberry is hard to come by.

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

They are quite easy to grow, but can become a bit weedy if left to their own devices. I have the vines in various pots (they help remove nutrients I think). I managed to get to the bog at the right time this season and ate some. We have the smaller variety here. It's a very pretty little plant with it's pink flowers.

 

[PlantAKiss]

Beautiful! Uh oh...now there's another plant I want.

 

[Skye]

Vaccinium oxycoccus comes up in almost all my pots anymore.. like Tamlin said, it can become very weedy

 

[herenorthere]

Cranberries sold in the US are V. macrocarpon, so seeds from those will give you American Cranberry. I have a pot of lingonberry plants (V. vitis-idaea) and hope to someday settle on a more permanent home for them. But I think Vacciniums are too aggressive to share space with CPs if the environment is at all suitable for the Vacciniums. Unless you prune the Vacciniums hard.