Tasting my Borealis HoneyBerry from the Garden in May - Lonicera caerulea

[@thewrenchreviews9986]

I have 4 honeyberries in my yard and they produce heavily here on the prairies in Canada. Best jam ever!

[@fezwhy]

you will get a lot more berries with another variety planted nearby. Plan on planting my own this coming spring. On a side note they make a great jam if you don't enjoy eating them raw.

[@swdw973]

One more note. I was told that the best time to pick is no earlier than 3 weeks AFTER they turn blue.

[@KathleenJean53]

I notice you have crammed it in with other bushes. They produce best if you give them some space, plenty of sun and production goes up as they get older, also wait, pick them three weeks after they turn blue.

[@Rinsuki]

Cramming it with other things isn't a problem. My bushes are next to my raspberry bushes and are fine. They need a bit of competition lol, but I also have different varieties for cross pollination.

[@ProfoundConfusion]

Do you only have the 1 haskap bush? If you only have 1 then I'm surprised you got any berries at all because not only do they require pollination, but they're also quite particular about pollination partners. You need choose one of the recommended pollinators for your particular variety. Also, they're not like strawberries or raspberries which give a good crop after 2 years; they might take another year or 2 to produce well (although I agree they're not as productive as blueberries but that's to be expected since they're so early & don't have as long a season to produce/ripen their fruits.) Someone mentioned that you picked them too early & they're right....the inside needs to turn blue. You'll probably need to cover them with bird netting to allow them to ripen for another couple of weeks. I totally agree with you that blueberries are more productive & taste better than haskaps but I grow them for the same reasons you discussed; they're trouble free & they're earlier than anthying else except maybe strawberries. Nice to munch on in the garden or for a few desserts before the berry season really gets into swing. Thanks for making & sharing this video.

[@Nightbird.]

The main reason I would like to add these to my current berry plant collection of blueberries and blackberries is what I just read about them: "This Super Fruit contains the rare trace element Selenium - the element of youth. The best ever source of natural antioxidants for Your well being! Recent research proves that Honeyberries have nearly three times the number of antioxidants as wild blueberries have." So nutrition is the main reason I would think to plant these. Even a few berries a day can make a big difference in how you look and feel..plus..I love tart fruits. I just hope they do well in acidic soil in zone 8.

[@scottphillips5901]

The lack of production may be due to where you live. They like northern climates. And you should have a second complementary variety to go with it for pollination and better fruit production. I live in Edmonton Albert. I've got a Borealis and 2 Auroras in my back yard. About 3 years old (actually 4 years this summer) I grew them from plugs, and got the Auroras before they were available in the local garden centers and greenhouses. They make a ton of berries. The Auroras actually made berries the first year which was odd as they aren't supposed to produce that soon. I thought about removing the blooms so the plants would put more effort into growing instead of the fruit, but I wanted to see what they taste like. Dam birds got the 3 or 4 berries before I could....I use nets now. Also they are fairly sweet...but with some tart/sourness. Like a raspberry / sour cherry. When they turn blue they aren't ripe yet...and are super sour at that point. The inside of the berries needs to be dark colored too. If you can pop them off the bush without any effort they are usually ready....aka if they practically fall off.

[@jannespot]

That's correct Scott. I have no idea what he is growing or maybe picking then 10 days early. Even our early ones, the Borealis, Tundra and Indigo's don't taste tart. But of course the sweetest of them all are the Aurora's of which we have a couple of 100 plants going into their fourth year. Another thing I noticed is how sparingly they look. Our you can sit at a bush pick a pound without moving.

[@ladyhawk6999]

My berries are huge about an inch long and there is a lot of them and they are sweet too. I cannot grow blueberries where I live.

[@nicsfunwithbees703]

What variety do you have? Mine are small and only one of the 3 are really sweet when ripe

[@swdw973]

Out of curiosity. Which type of Honeyberry bushes do you have? The sweetness / tartness changes with the variety. (Japanese varieties are sweeter than european types). Some varieties score very high on the brix scale, while others score much lower. Also, to increase production you need complementary varieties that pollinate each other. Do you have more than one complimentary variety planted?

[@mimib7970]

also ive been told get an uber sweet variety for cross polinating with the tart one

[@Riceandbeans7]

Thank you for sharing. Your garden looks nice.

[@keredeht]

Borealis suck as far as fruit production, but they are a nice looking bush. I dug mine out last fall and Im replacing them with newer, better varieties. Last year I got Aurora, Beast, Beauty, Solo, Maxine, Blue Moose and Happy Giant... Have high hopes for the newer ones. Planted the borealis along a stream near my house for wildlife to enjoy...

[@benbseattle]

thanks thats good to know

[@dieterditrich7520]

Borealis is the best pollinator for Aurora, if you understand the 2 names you know why they are names like this, just like Beauty and the Beast. usask.ca

[@lockwoan01]

I don't know a thing about haskap berries, but age could be a factor - small crop when young, larger crop when older - sort of thing, like with most berry plants.

[@mimib7970]

if you can take the bluberries and transplant them near full sun in the fall. i don't know much about honeyberries but bluberries really like sun.....

[@crazyabouttr4ins]

Hello, nice video. Next time try to leave them on the bush for 1 more week. They will taste much better then. But beware of hungry birds :)

[@nicsfunwithbees703]

Those weren't ripe. They were really stuck on still. They fall off when ripe for sweetness ie you shake the Bush every day to get the ripe ones

[@lockwoan01]

Might try growing some.

[@W3R3W00F]

Beautiful plants! What year did you plant them? I'm trying to get mine to not die here in Kansas, I'm really curious to know how you got yours to grow so nicely in zone 7. Cheers from zone 6B, -Jon

[@benbseattle]

Thanks! I put them in the ground 2yrs ago I believe. Didnt really do anything special. The Borealis variety seems to grow in dome shape and is one of the more ornamental kinds. I had another variety that died the same year. So not all honeyberries are built the same I guess.

[@W3R3W00F]

Oops, sorry for the dumb question: I watched the video and forgot you mentioned when you planted them in the beginning. x) I also had a Borealis to start with, plus another variety I can't recall at the moment. I've heard they like colder climates, but I've also heard they just take a while to get going, and my money is on that possibility. My new bushes look like dead twigs at the moment in their little planters, but I have a feeling they'll be have buds next year if they could just have a nice cold autumn and winter. Hopefully! But again, you've definitely got a beautiful specimen, I wonder what soil type you have and what its pH level is?

[@W3R3W00F]

I will keep that in mind for next year, thanks for the advice! :)

[@brent9516]

Your blueberry need soil acidifier. Dont worry about the honey berry plant they tolerate acidic soil. I have 30 blue berry bushes and 6 honey berry. 50 raspberry (5 varieties) and many other fruit trees and bushes. I guess I have an addiction. Blueberries arent my favorite but top 3. Look up Japanese wine berries.. they are considered intrusive in some states. They are no more intrusive than any other raspberry bush.. they just got the bad rep because they arent native. They are the best tasting berry according to my 2 sons who eat them all. I have over 30 plants and they really produce well. I would add a few more cross pollinators to help your honey berry, different types taste different, you may like them better. I've never thumbed down anyone weird that people take the time to do that.

[@rugvedkulkarni1593]

How big do these bushes grow?

[@yousefalbouzaidi3924]

And I’m not headed into hammer to for Halloween because it’s hot that I live in Tamarack

[@backyardedibles6842]

Do you have another variety as a pollinator or just the one variety?

[@benbseattle]

I've got 2 smaller plants but I doubt they helped with pollination

[@powerheart5498]

+Lars Hildebrandt hey what do you mean by lime in the soil ?? I also will buy two honeyberry wojtek,do you know this species ?also can you give me some advice !! please

[@powerheart5498]

here is a link of how it looks and other variety of honeyberry,( www.plantemania.ro/product-category/arbusti-fructiferi/caprifoi/ ) i order but i need to wait to arrive,do you have any ideeas of where could i buy a good and a cheap limestone,you see i live in Romania,maybe i could find in my country..i dont know..how exactly you use..you put in water and then give it to the honeyberry? or you put in ground..

[@powerheart5498]

Right now its raining,well i dont know what soil i have or the ph..i think it 7 or 8,since the vegetables are growing good,so you say that you would put honeyberrys much closer,the same type of honeyberrys or mix together ? i dont know if here we have limestone..to be honest we dont have a lot of things.. I have some small plants: amelanchier aroma,gooseberry,black currant,red currant,blueberry pink lemonade,fig, sambucus nigra thundercloud. I use egg shels and banana peels

[@powerheart5498]

Its not lemonade fig,i think i write it wrong its blueberry pink lemonade,you can google it,you will find it ! You should try having gooseberry or black currant,is your garden big ?i think it may be clay,since the ground dry quickly,how big is your honeyberrys ???Also do you have other plants ?

[@sloav8r]

What is the round leaved plant under the HoneyBerry? Thanks !

[@benbseattle]

Dan Lopez Penny wort

[@davidpoland8449]

You need 2 to get productive crops, and some varieties are bigger and more sweet...if you like blueberry pie your sour (or not uet ripe) honeyberries would do good.

[@roubhamkhokhar4780]

Guys if anyone of you can tell me is this Haskap Berries available in the Sub-Continent..??

[@mattsturniolo22]

Would u be interested in selling some cuttings?

[@bradysullivan4672]

He shit himself at 0:23

[@howbigisyourlove]

you don't have a cross pollinator ?? and you need to have them a distance apart.. they are producers.. do your homework you do not know what you are talking about .. haskap are huge producers if you grow them properly .. YOUR VIDEO IS VERY VERY MISLEADING ..

[@quantumchang4410]

Not productive at all. Blueberries are more productive.

[@dieterditrich7520]

They flower 3 weeks before blueberries, you need 2 compatible varieties for x pollination. This fellow has absolutely no clue and shouldn't be posting videos.