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Fruit & Orchards

Huckleberry not producing but is flowering

6 years ago

Hello Everyone,

I'm hoping someone has experience growing Vaccinium Ovatum (Evergreen Huckleberry) and might be able to help me determine why my shrubs are not producing fruit. I currently have 6 of them planted, purchased from a reputable local nursery in 2015 and 2016. They grow slowly but consistently for me, even in the height of summer, and have flowered the past two seasons. The flowers seem to be shriveling and drying without any fruit growth. I do see some immature fruit, but they seem to disappear by late summer and I'm guessing that the plant is aborting them. I don't think I have a pollination issue, as I have a lot of bees around my property and my blueberries planted 3-stories up on my roof all get pollinated and mature well.

My best two guesses are either a shortage of water, or the plants simply aren't old enough. My watering tends to be 8 hours per week from a soaker hose wrapped around their base, more if it's an especially hot week (temperatures above 85F). I don't think I'm over-watering, as I have creeping thyme not far from the same soaker hose that hasn't died back at all.

Any advice, theories, or feedback would be much appreciated - thanks!

Featured Answer

PRO

The Logician LLC

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

I've grown these in Portland and see lots of them around. They flower in spring and at low elevations should be ripe by August. Like most huckleberries, they are very fussy about conditions during bloom time; I see stands of plants with heavy fruit one year and nearly bare the next year. One year I had 4 pounds on my two plants and other years they weren't worth picking. Growth was excellent but they died after moving them, so wherever yours are, keep them in place.

If you don't have brown-tipped new-growth leaves, they are getting enough water.

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Comments (8)

PacNorWreck
Original Author
6 years ago
Well, here's to hoping for a heavier harvest next year - I got some huckleberries from a local farmers' market and they were much, much tastier than even my home-grown blueberries.
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That's the standard (and excellent) advice about hand pollination. It ALWAYS works. It's a big effort if you have a large bed of cukes, but if you just have one plant, it's easy, and there is absolutely no reason to wait for an insect to decide to help out. Just do it. In that context, a pool cage might be nice, just to keep the bad insect pests off. That being said, the point about leaf burn near pools is a good one. It's well understood that chlorine levels in the air around especially indoor pools can be high, and many people get eye irritation from that. Can't be good for plants.
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echolane
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
I would love to grow this plant. It is native to my area of Northern California. I’m a little gun shy because I’ve had one plant I bought perhaps ten years ago as a one gallon plant and it is just a few stems only about 1’ in height. What sort of culture does it need?
LinaM
2 years ago
Echolane: I don't have the full answer, but since huckleberries are related to blueberries, I think if you research growing blueberries in your area you'll find what you need for growing huckleberries.
LinaM
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
PacNorWreck: Have you found the solution to the issue of fruit not being produced? I want to try growing huckleberries. I'm in Iowa.

Also: you're growing blueberry shrubs on your roof!?!? Wow. Please post info on this if you wouldn't mind, and also a few pics. Where are you located, what zone? And what is the specific blueberry type, what sort of conditions are they in, what is the soil you used, fertilizer, etc. I'm so impressed!
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
2 years ago
@LinaM, if you are referring to the western evergreen huckleberry that was the original subject of this discussion, Vaccinium ovatum, then I would reconsider. Like many PNW natives, it has some very specific growing requirements that are rarely met outside of its native range. And unlike its blueberry cousins, it has not been successfully domesticated as a crop. I doubt it would even survive in Iowa, let alone thrive and produce fruit. But there are several other plants that are commonly referred to as 'huckleberry' and one or more of those may be suitable.

btw, if you visit the Container Gardening forum, you can call up dozens of thread on growing blueberries in containers. In many places, that is the best way to grow them. Here is a link to a publication by the largest wholesale blueberry grower in the country with how-to's for the home gardener, including growing in containers: https://www.fallcreeknursery.com/home-gardeners/how-to-grow
LinaM
2 years ago
gardengal48, thank you so much for your advice, including such helpful details. Yes, I was referring to Vaccinium ovatum. You are probably right about this not working outside of it's native range. Though I have seen this work for some perennials, it seems not so much for trees and shrubs. I will check the other resources you mention, and will also see what I can find about other shrubs related to blueberries that might grow well where I am. Much of my interest comes from wanting to grow at home a large variety of fruit types. I don't have a huge amount of space, so shrubs and some dwarf trees are mostly what I'm looking at.
PRO
The Logician LLC
2 years ago
It may be that any one V. ovatum huckleberry plant is not blooming at the same time as nearby blueberry plants. Some bushes in this Portland neighborhood fruited moderately last summer, even after the big heat.

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