Cowberry blueberry - biology, cultivation

Cowberry, also known as red blueberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea), occurs on the periphery and rarely in forests of a moderate climate in the northern zone. This is an evergreen bush, up to 30 cm (12 inches) high, with red, spherical, small fruits. They are slightly acidic, not good for direct consumption, but valuable for processing. Cowberry berries contain significant amounts of sugars and organic acids, iron, digitalis glycoside and vitamins. They also contain medicinal substances - dried fruits are recommended in the case of cold and bacterial infections.

Cowberry is a multiyear bush; the period of fruiting begins in the second or third year of its life, and it blooms and fruits twice. The first ripening of berries is in August, the second (more fruitful) in mid-October.

The requirements of Cowberries as to the acidity of the soil, organic matter and water availability are similar to blueberry high requirements. They require acid soil (pH 3,4-4,5), hummus, moderately moist. On place prepared for cowberry it is necessary to remove the weeds very thoroughly. Sandy soil is enriched with acidic peat (this may be the compost of pine needles) at 50l (13 gallons/ 11 sq. ft) per m2. Heavy soil, with high pH should be prepared differently: Remove approximately 30cm (12 inches) of soil, then put some foil (with a few holes in each m2( 11 sq ft)) and fill with a mixture of acid peat and sand.

It is best to plant 2 year old bushes of berriesThey are planted in rows or in the form of a flowerbed. In a 1m2 (11 sq ft) flowerbed, we plant 9 seedlings. When planting in rows, we plant seedlings every 25cm(10 inches) and leave about 70cm( 28 inches) between rows. Planted bushes must be irrigated abundantly and then we put organic cover material - the best is pine bark.

The bushes of cowberry have a shallow root system. There is also interaction (mycorrhiza) between roots and fungi as in case of other plants which belong to the heather family. Fungi help cowberries to absorb many minerals, which are unavailable without the help of fungi. Therefore, cowberries do not require significant mineral fertilization. Furthermore, a high dose of nitrogen can cause the freezing of plants in winter and can cause the development of fungal diseases. Fertilizer given twice in a volume of 3g/m2 (1/10 oz/ 11 sq. ft)is a sufficient dose in the first years of cowberries’ existence.

Cowberry is a long living bush, but in 7th or 8th year of cultivation, the plantation must be rejuvenated. It means, to shorten the shoots to about 5 cm ( 2 inches), and leave a couple of leaves.

Cowberry is considered as a frost resistant plant, and it survives snowless and severe winters in Poland. Some spring frosts are a danger because they are likely to cause damage to flowers - plants can be protected by covering with nonwovens.

There is relatively little knowledge about the occurrence of pests and diseases , but there have not been too many problems . I would like to draw your attention to avoiding over fertilizing and flooding - with cowberry there will not be any fungal problems if we are not too over-zealous.

Krzysztof Botul