We're in the middle of taking the water off of the bogs to begin the growing season, and planting is underway.
Cranberries are perennials and don't need to be replanted every year, but on our farm, we renovate a few bogs each year to improve yield (by planting new varieties) and to minimize water use (by leveling the ground and replacing inefficient irrigation systems). We also use the opportunity to improve drainage.
There are two ways to plant cranberry vines. One way is to mow or rake vines from other bogs and spread them on the ground, then press them in with discs. They root in about a month. It's less expensive than the other method, but the vines don't always establish as quickly as we would like.
Since we're planting a new variety right now, we're planting a different way. We purchased rooted stolons from Integrity Propagation and are planting them with a rig that we pull behind a tractor. Four workers sit facing backwards and drop individual plants into a carousel. Each carousel feeds two chutes which drop plants at pre-determined intervals into a little trench that is opened up just before the plant falls. Two tires set at angles behind the chute push the soil back around the plant and close the trench.
We currently plant about an acre a day this way, and if the plants establish well, we'll be able to get a small crop off of them after two growing seasons.
