Berries

[mcpurple]

well i just got about 100 cuttings of some thorn less triple crown black berries and about 20 boysenberry cuts that i will root and sell next year. in one gallon pots we sell them on the farm for 8 bucks a pop. my boss gave me permission to sell mine. i asked them out of respect if i could cuz they gave them all to me for free. i am planting them all today for spring sales and next year sales. i also have 2 blue berry plants that i will clone off of each about 20 times to increase my stock for the following years. i have one jersey blue berry and one patriot.

any one else do berries?
any advice? ive been reading alot on these as they are gonna be my cash crop i hope.

 

[Farfenugen]

Blueberries from seed, took a long time to germinate. Cuttings are the best way to go.You should try selling cuttings, root them and charge a bit more. Try any local farmers market/co-op, they might take them off your hands. If not, promote yourself via the food bank. Blackberries are always good and thrive in just about any soil.

 

[mcpurple]

well what i got is cuttings from the farm i work on. and i am going to sell them after they are established and are moved from theri 4 inch pots to the 1 gal so i can make more cash, more work but its ok. and i would try the markets but my boss sells them theri as well ( who i got the berries from in the 1st place) and i dont want to compete or take money from the farm.
i have great success selling plants on CL and home made adds.
i am also planting all these is garden and blooms acidic soil for berries

 

[smokey de bear]

How difficult is it to grow berries in containers? Ive been contemplating re-planting a blueberry bush from the forest in a container, from what I read acidic soil is best so should I just grab some of the soil where it was growing? Also that is a great Idea selling rooted cuttings, I should be doing that with all my plants. Around here you cant find started plants till around April-may, if not later.

How much you thinking of selling these for if you don't mind me asking? I just wouldn't really have a clue how much to ask for a healthy young plant, a lot of work and care goes into these. It would be like selling art, to the artist it's usually worth a lot more then to the customer who didn't put in the time, care and effort to raise them to a sellable level. Which I think would be a nice big root ball with healthy new growth.

 

[jesus of Cannabis]

I do raspberries, strawberries and blueberries for personal use in our garden and love it, always nice on a nice day to go out and. pick some fresh fruit, yummm

 

[doser]

Hey Mcpurple, once you get going you might see if you can sell some on ebay bare root? May be an income stream it sounds as though some of the normal markets are closed. Wouldn't want to compete I understand that. Different season too. I like berries because the money is in the fact that they are labor intensive with the picking so you pick up that money right there

 

[mcpurple]

How difficult is it to grow berries in containers? Ive been contemplating re-planting a blueberry bush from the forest in a container, from what I read acidic soil is best so should I just grab some of the soil where it was growing? Also that is a great Idea selling rooted cuttings, I should be doing that with all my plants. Around here you cant find started plants till around April-may, if not later.

How much you thinking of selling these for if you don't mind me asking? I just wouldn't really have a clue how much to ask for a healthy young plant, a lot of work and care goes into these. It would be like selling art, to the artist it's usually worth a lot more then to the customer who didn't put in the time, care and effort to raise them to a sellable level. Which I think would be a nice big root ball with healthy new growth.

berries in pots to my knowledge are not any harder then in the ground, they make certain varietys of berries made to be potted plants and some for the ground, if that makes sense.

and yes acidic soil is good for them. if you plant is in the forest as of now im sure the soil is a tad acidic from pine needles falling ( if you have pine). im sure the soil theri is good but i would buy a bag of acidic soil like garden and blooms acidic soil made for acid loving plants, its organic and needs nothing added for awhile besides mulch. i thinks G&B soil is local here but im sure other brands have acidic soils. also i would mulch them with pine needles to ensure over years the soil stays acidic.

i plan on selling my starts at 3 bucks for a 2 year old plant with full root system and healthy as well as organic.
i will sell the 2 year olds in 1 gallon pots for 5 or 6 bucks.
i base my prices off others prices, i always make sure my price is lower some times just by a tad but it works. i also price depending on how much it cost to make each one, thats why the one gallons are more spendy. i got to spend more on bigger pots, and use more soil.

my prices are kinda low though, but i feel people over price every plant and i dont want to feel like im ripping people off. i can make a good amount of cash at these prices and they should sell faster then others.

pretty much the bigger the pot and the older the plant is then the more you can ask for.
we have some blue berry ( 2 year olds) in 3 gal pots and they go for 18 bucks

 

[mcpurple]

Hey Mcpurple, once you get going you might see if you can sell some on ebay bare root? May be an income stream it sounds as though some of the normal markets are closed. Wouldn't want to compete I understand that. Different season too. I like berries because the money is in the fact that they are labor intensive with the picking so you pick up that money right there

thats an idea, im not to into bare root stuff yet though and every time i use e bay i seem to just fuck orders up.
and i dont mind competing at all, i just dont want to be selling the same plants that i got from my boss in the same area for a lower price. it would make me feel like i was in the wrong.


when i have a farm some day i will for sure have some berry fields though to bring in some cash.

 

[smokey de bear]

Cool thx for the reply about the blueberries, I think I'm gonna go tomorrow to the blueberry patch in the bush to get some cuttings and to the store for some of that soil and root em up and hopefully grow em into bonsai bushes. I didn't know they sold acidic soil I thought you had to adjust the PH after. Thx Mcpurps good luck with the berries.

Ill keep posted with the blueberries, as for the bare root thing on ebay. There some pretty easy cloners which are basicly and air pump in water with the stem in the water to root, could be an easy ways to start many bare root stock which could be kept with the roots in a bag with moist moss and a bit of soil so people get a clean start with em. I dunno how the roots are protected normally for transport

 

[Toolage 87]

Last year for me my herb, fruit and veggie grow was a bust but I wanna give some strawberry and blackberry a crack at it this year along with some other herbs.


As for growing them in pots its pretty much as hard as growing them in the ground except you have to make sure they don't get root bound and die.


As for the price. Alot of places around here sell fruit plants for around $20 to $30 so if you buy one or w/e and grow it take a cutting and root it and grow it in a 4 inch pot for about 2 weeks after planting and sell it for $3 to $5 each.


McPurple as for you worried about selling cuttings of the plants that your boss gave you maybe give him a small cut if you sell them at a higher price.

 

[mcpurple]

Last year for me my herb, fruit and veggie grow was a bust but I wanna give some strawberry and blackberry a crack at it this year along with some other herbs.


As for growing them in pots its pretty much as hard as growing them in the ground except you have to make sure they don't get root bound and die.


As for the price. Alot of places around here sell fruit plants for around $20 to $30 so if you buy one or w/e and grow it take a cutting and root it and grow it in a 4 inch pot for about 2 weeks after planting and sell it for $3 to $5 each.


McPurple as for you worried about selling cuttings of the plants that your boss gave you maybe give him a small cut if you sell them at a higher price.

well i asked them if i could sell them out of respect for them and they said yes, i just wont do it at the same markets.

also any one who wants to post theire berry plant pics of info go right ahead.
as always my threads are open to all and everything

 

[smokey de bear]

Found these pics online, these are so my goals when it comes to trying to grow blueberries this yr, nothing like a tasty bush. lol




And last but not least.... the Blueberry TREE. Now iv'e seen some pretty damn big blueberry bushes in the wild but never seen one stretch up like that, I usually find them creeping about. Is there a special strain, or different types some who bush, some who creep and some who grow the f@#k up to become trees lol. I have again never seen blueberries doing this but then again who knows what any plant's full potential really is till it's given the best possible growing environment.

 

[mcpurple]

theri are many types and varieties of blue berries.

 

[smokey de bear]

now would those be different types (obviously probably are) or just the individual grower training them differently? I know it would help to get a bush variety to get them to bush out obviously but to get them to pretty much a tree, I would say he's been growing it forever but I dont think those bags he's growing out of last that long.

 

[mcpurple]

yes im sure they are much different, different varieties for different applications. the one in the pot looks like a dwarf plant, the other one looks like it would be a good hedge plant, and the one in the bag im sure will be planted into the ground, its just easier to cut the bag off as opposed to lifting the hole plant and root ball out of a 15 gal pot .

 

[mcpurple]

if you want a small plant in containers get a low bush variety.

 

[smokey de bear]

if you want a small plant in containers get a low bush variety.

What would the odds of wild ones being a bush species, they seem to creep around everywhere here.

 

[mcpurple]

low bush i think is also referred to wild blue berries.

i think the odds are 1 in 4 as theri are 4 main varieties with many types in each one.

 

[smokey de bear]

So I would have to study each plant and their natural growing patterns in the wild and chose one with a nice healthy stocky look to it then.

 

[mcpurple]

So I would have to study each plant and their natural growing patterns in the wild and chose one with a nice healthy stocky look to it then.

i would just take some to grow for fun and see what they do, then i would buy a few. the only reason i would buy a few is so that i know for sure what it is and what it needs.

i also just got 2 new concord grape plants from work, it was a older plant that my boss had me dig up as we are done growing them on the farm, so i dug them up and tried to keep as much roots on as possible but they were just to dam deep so i got about a qaurter of the root ball.
i am going to baby them for awhile and see if i can keep them alive.
ive never grown grapes so this is again another 1st for me.

are grapes berries?