elderberry planting and growing tips

[Amy Boyd]

(Note: I’d like to thank Cornell University for graciously allowing me to post this info here.)

Planting
Elderberries grow best in moist, fertile, well-drained soil with a pH between 5.5 and 6.5, but will tolerate a wide range of soil texture, fertility, and acidity. It’s a myth that they prefer swampy areas. In fact, they do not tolerate poor drainage. Plant elderberries in spring, as soon as possible after they arrive from the nursery to prevent plants from drying out. Space plants 6 to 10 feet apart. Elderberries are shallow rooted, so keep them well-watered during the first season. Plants are easy to propagate from hardwood cuttings taken when plants are dormant.

Fertilizing
Elderberries respond well to fertilization. In addition to incorporating manure or compost before planting, apply additional fertilizer annually in early spring. Apply 1/8 pound of ammonium nitrate (or .5 lbs. 10-10-10) for each year of the plant’s age, up to one pound per plant (or up to 4 lbs. 10-10-10).

Weed Control
The most difficult problem faced when growing elderberries is weed control. Because they have shallow roots, do not cultivate deeper than 2 inches. After the first year, it is best to avoid disturbing the soil at all because the slightest injury can damage the fibrous root system or kill one of the new upright shoots. Use a combination of pulling weeds by hand while they are still small, mowing and mulching to control weeds without disturbing the elderberry roots. Once you develop a thick hedgerow of plants, elderberries can suppress weeds quite well.

Harvest
Harvest elderberry fruit in late August through early September, depending on the cultivar. When ripe, the entire cluster should be -removed and the berries stripped from the cluster for use. Uncooked berries have a dark purple juice and are astringent and inedible. Use the fruit as soon as possible or keep it at a cool temperature for later use. It is difficult to transport elderberries because the fruits fall off the cluster during transit.

Pruning
Elderberries send up many new canes each year. The canes usually reach full height in one season and develop lateral branches in the second. Flowers and fruit develop on the tips of the current season’s growth, often on the new canes but especially on laterals. Second-year elderberry canes with good lateral development are the most fruitful. In the third or fourth year, older wood tends to lose vigor and become weak. In late winter to early spring while the plants are dormant, remove all dead, broken or weak canes, plus all canes more than three years old. Leave an equal number of one, two, and three-year-old canes.

Choosing cultivars
Individual flowers are small, white, and borne in large compound clusters. They are nearly self-unfruitful, so plant two different cultivars within 60 feet of each other to provide adequate cross-pollination. ‘Adams No. 1′ and ‘Adams No. 2′ are two old cultivars, introduced by the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in 1926. They are strong, vigorous, productive, hardy to Zone 4 and bear large fruit clusters. They also ripen late, with fruit maturing in early September. Other cultivars with large clusters and berries include ‘York’,’ Johns’,’ Kent’,'Nova’, and ‘Scotia’. ‘York’ is somewhat more productive than the Adams series, and the berries tend to be larger.

Diseases and Insects
Elderberry plants are generally free of pests, which makes them great for landscape plantings. Powdery mildew is a problem in some years, especially when it affects the fruit. Cane borers occasionally cause damage, but are usually not present in large numbers. Pruning out infested canes is the best remedy for home gardeners.

Copyright (c), Department of Horticulture, Cornell University.
Used with permission.
http://www.fruit.cornell.edu/mfruit/elderberries.html

[Daniel Warfield]

Thanks again Mark, we'll see how these wild plants progress this summer.

[Dee Bray-Ware]

With using the willow water you can let the willow branches sit in water just over night - then, you can also just leave the elder branches stay in the  willow water until they sprout, then plant out -

Try different techniques and see which works best for you -

Dee

Va Herbalist

[Daniel Warfield]

Dee and Mark,

So let me get this straight (I am very much a novice and learning how to get started); So I should be able to go out in the late winter/early spring of 2013 and make my elder cuttings or root digging/start, put the cuttings in a bucket of willow water until the elder starts to sprout, plant the cuttings in a non-permanent location, let the root system develop over the summer of 2013 and through the fall of 2013 until dormancy sets in during 2013/2014 winter, at which time I should remove the cuttings and "re-plant" into a permanent orchard type setting the following spring of 2014... is this correct?

If I sprout the cuttings in the spring of 2013 in a bucket of willow water, why can't I go straight to planting the cutting in my newly tilled and prepared orchard in the spring of 2013?  Won't the root system develop in the new orchard enough to sustain the plant in the first year?

It sounds as though there is a need for a "development" year before going to the orchard??? Or am I misreading your posts?

Thanks to you both for your help.

Dan

[Bonnie Boggs]

I am so worried about my elders.  I think I have lost one and another is not looking good.  Last year was their first growing year and they looked great and put on many branches and leaves.  Then last fall they started showing brown edges around the leaves.  The became more and more evident and then this spring one looked dead.  I left it and finally a small growth came from the root.  It grew to about 2 feet and then the same brown edged leaf started again.  Now that plant is brown and I don't see any new growth or leaves at all.  The plant next to it, which was 2-3 times larger is now doing the same thing.  I have fertilized twice but to no avail.  What can I do? 

 

[Mark T]

Daniel, I actually just dug the runners and trimmed and planted those with good luck. However, I also noticed that elder cuttings seemed to actually stat rooting. The willow water should help quite a lot, but I suspect (haven't tied it this year, but will next) that you should be able to root elder cuttings using a method similar to rooting grape cuttings. If anything, because of Elder's propensity to *run* and layer, that it may be even easier to propagate than grape cuttings.

Bonnie. You might have some kind of fungal issue going on. a copper based spray might help with that if it is indeed the problem. If it is more along the lines of a blight, like those that affect tomato plants, oxidate might be beneficial. Both are available in certified organic sprays, I believe. I'm certainly not a professional wrt diagnosing plant diseases tho.

[Mark T]

Dee Bray-Ware said:

With using the willow water you can let the willow branches sit in water just over night - then, you can also just leave the elder branches stay in the  willow water until they sprout, then plant out -

Try different techniques and see which works best for you -

Dee

Va Herbalist

Dee isn't Willow Water amazing stuff?  I almost wonder if willow water is even necessary for rooting elder tho :)

[Mark T]

Mark T said:

Dee Bray-Ware said:

With using the willow water you can let the willow branches sit in water just over night - then, you can also just leave the elder branches stay in the  willow water until they sprout, then plant out -

Try different techniques and see which works best for you -

Dee

Va Herbalist

Dee isn't Willow Water amazing stuff?  I almost wonder if willow water is even necessary for rooting elder tho :)

And don't forget the kelp concentrate as a root stimulato as well!

[Ulrich Young]

Bonnie Boggs said:

I am so worried about my elders.  I think I have lost one and another is not looking good.  Last year was their first growing year and they looked great and put on many branches and leaves.  Then last fall they started showing brown edges around the leaves.  The became more and more evident and then this spring one looked dead.  I left it and finally a small growth came from the root.  It grew to about 2 feet and then the same brown edged leaf started again.  Now that plant is brown and I don't see any new growth or leaves at all.  The plant next to it, which was 2-3 times larger is now doing the same thing.  I have fertilized twice but to no avail.  What can I do? 

Bonnie, I would dig the dead plant up and look for borers inside the main stem. I have observed several borers in years past that kill either the fruiting clusters or the large stems. It really sounds more like a fungus problem but if the plants dead you might as well look at the roots/stems for any problems.Also look for signs of rodents eating the roots. Are you using well water that might have high boron or other mineral content? Is the growing site to wet or other condition? What was leaf color and did it die with leaves attached ? How much fertilizer did you use and what kind?

Look close and let me know what you find.  Ulrich

 

[goran]

Dear
I am interested in growing plantation of elderberries  , so I'm interested in a further identity when planted maintain the best variety in what amounts and how much investment income, where can I buy nursery ...
answers can be sent by e-mail [e-mail]
thanks a lot .....Excuse me for my bad English, but I hope that we will understand ....