Cloudberries - Cuttings? Seeds? U.S. Sources?

[blackox]

I did not know whether this should go in the Orchard thread or this one so I just went ahead and put it on this one.

I am looking for these for a friend on another forum. They're a relative of raspberries and native to Norway. Does anybody have/know where these can be obtained in the U.S.? Can they be started from seed?

Out of curiosity I would also like to know a little more about them. If there is anything else to know about them that is.

[billw]

There is more than one thing called a Cloudberry. Rubus chamaemorus? They need a cool summer and a winter with plenty of chill hours and acid soil. I have seed.

I can also supply cuttings but those work better in the fall.

[blackox]

Thanks Bill! That's the right species!

Seeds will be great, PM sent!

[littleminnie]

They make them on the Scandinavian cooking show on PBS a lot. Look wonderful.

[starry]

I'm a big fan of cloudberry jam. Picked a bunch up last time we were in Newfoundland. Mmmmm.....

[glenn10]

How did your hunt for cloud berry go for you? Here in New Brunswick they are known as bake apple (French baie qui appelle or something like that). I was going to try growing some here on my property as I have a good boggy area down by my brook. From what I was told by several people is that they have a symbiotic relationship with the fungus in the soil and will not grow without it.I have heard of an individual on another forum who had germinated seeds but did extremely poor in their soil. It was several years ago and I never revisited the post to see if the plants pulled through or not. I will be going on a recon mission (not quite the proper term :-)this fall to gather a few plants from a bog then inoculate my soil with some of the plants "home dirt".

Glenn

[billw]

Mine grow well in unimproved soil in a seasonally swampy area. They aren't particularly high yielding, but they grow well and the berries are tasty, although large-seeded. I haven't inoculated the soil with any fungus and, although wild cloudberries just barely extend their range into my region, I don't think any grow within several miles of me.

[mrsage]

I've been looking for some seeds/cuttings too. I want to grow them to make some home-made jam, the stuff in the stores has sugar added (yuk). Also been wanting to make homemade multekrem (Cloudberry Cream) <3 . Anyone with seeds/cuttings pm me. Thx a bunch.

[mrsage]

I'm just wondering but to germinate would filing down the seed coat with a nail file be effective following a long (days long) soak in bottled water? I'm trying this with Raspberry seeds now and I'm wondering if it'll work for Cloudberry too.

[robin282]

I have made several attempts with Rubus chamaemorus "cloudberry", and have had a degree of success. The reason they are not grown commercially (all the product you can buy is from wild-picked), is because they are a bit fussy. I do not know about its symbiotic buddy, but when I worked on them, I lived in Massachusetts. I actually got them to sprout and grow true leaves, and then they died--too warm there.

Anyway, when I first started looking for information, there were only 2 google pages of results--2!! Now there are thousands. What I learned is that the seed coat is tough, and needs work because normally the seeds go through the digestive tract of a bird. So I sanded them, I soaked them in a bleach wash, and I used GA3--(I know I am going to spell this wrong but) Geberellic Acid. I learned these methods from a sheet I got from the USDA Corvalis seed bank. I had a few failures before I had success, and when I had success I had over a pound of seed, and only got a few dozen out of it. Also, I planted them the previous August (near the end) in case they needed warm, cold, warm.

I do not want you to be discouraged--it is possible! Just be prepared for a challenge (I like gardening ones).
I have some photos of my progress, but it says the forum limit is maxed and I cannot upload them.

In my case, they sprouted in April, had 2 true leaves near the end of June, and were killed in the following hot months. I planted them in the lowest-lying spot in my yard. I am hoping to have more luck here in Maine where they actually grow in a town not too far from here. My clouberries were likely the only ones in MA for their brief life.

Can someone recommend to me how to add pictures? Do I need a photobucket thing and a hyperlink?

[philagardener]

Hi robin282 , Great to have you back on the forum. To post a picture you have to put it on an external photo site (I use Picasa, but there are lots of alternatives) and then embed the link in your response. If you use the full editor by clicking on the "Reply" in the right top corner of the text entry box you will see a bunch of features including an embed image button.

[mrsage]

Robin, it's good to hear that someone here has some experience with these seeds/plants. Recently I've obtained some from different parts of the world (still waiting on you billw ) Anyways, I received some from Finland, Canada, and Scotland (had to get the ones from Scotland sent to me by a friend because Pontyfield is convinced that the seeds are still a quarantine... www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/permits/downloads/SpecialForeignInspectionCertificationRequirements.pdf) ( look under sections 'e' and 'f' ) ...

I filed down the seed coat of some of them and put them in separate cups of bottled water (I change the water every few days) and no sprouts. I also have non nicked ones soaking too which are not really doing much. As an experiment I tried removing the seed coat off of some of each variety. The Canada and Finland have a black embryo , while the ones from Scotland have a white embryo?? Does this have something to do with fertility? I wonder? I also tried the freeze/boiling water trick where you freeze for a day and then pour boiling water over for a second (through a sieve not sitting in the water...[thanks flowerweaver]).. haven't seen anything happen with them yet either.

Robin the ones in particular that sprouted for you are those the ones you sanded down and used Ga3 on, or were they a control? I'm looking forward to pics to see how yours did. I'm thinking of just planting some nicked and non-nicked seeds outside in a container and just let them do their thing. I'm planning of moving them inside to the A/C this summer if anything.

Also I'm still on the hunt for more seeds from other sources too, so if anyone knows any give me the heads up if you can.  (cuttings are a must too!)

[robin282]

The ones that worked I received from Alaska. I tried the nicking with earlier attempts, and it didn't do. So I soaked in bleach/water, some in GA3. I likely sanded them a bit too. I just did everything. Then I put them out at the end of the Summer, I finally got some the following April.

[mrsage]

Yeah definitely have to look into GA3... gonna keep some indoors and some outdoors to see how well they do. Wish I had more seeds to experiment with though, so friggin hard to come by. I think I might eventually have to post a growlog here.

[robin282]

<img style="max-width:100%;" alt="" src="">

This is as large as my cloudberries got in MA before succumbing to heat.  These were from the Alaskan seed I got.  Also, you may notice how few other cloudberries there are around this one.  Well, the ground was peppered with them; not even half actually sprouted.  Out of about a pound of seed (moist weight), I got maybe a dozen or so to this stage.  More than this sproutes, they just didn't make it as far as this one did.  Now that I have figured out how to put pictures in, I will try to gather other ones to show progress.