RESEARCH INTO VACCINIUM CULTIVATION IN FINLAND

In the Nordic countries five Vaccinium species grow wild: the lingonberry (V. vitis-idaea), bilberry (V. myrtillus) and the bog blueberry (V. uliginosum), also the European cranberry (V. oxycoccos) and the small cranberry (V. mircocarpum). In Finland the lingonberry has been the target for active cultivation research. It does well in field cultivation using cuttings and seed plants in light mineral and peat soil. Yet, cultivation here, where a good part of the rich lingonberry crop in the woods is ignored, does not pay. Attempts to adapt also the blueberry and European cranberry to field cultivation have been made. The cranberry gives a bumper crop in a peat substrate. Cultivation trials with the American highbush blueberry (V. corymbosum) have not, due to the poor winter hardiness and resistance to blueberry cancer of the cultivars, led to practical applications in Finland. The best foreign cultivars have been 'June' and 'Rancocas'. Utilizing the gene pools of the bog blueberry an even hardier Finnish cultivar has been produced, the 'Aron' ('Rancocas' x (V. uliginosum x 'Rancocas')). The lowbush blueberry species (V. angustifolium, V. brittonii and V. myrtilloides) have in cultivation trials protected by the snow cover wintered well and given berries in plenty.