Why do cranberry fields have to be drained as soon as the harvest is finished?

After harvest, bogs are drained, raked, and reflooded. Water protects the shallow-rooted cranberry vines from frost during the cold winter months. It also protects highly flammable bogs from fire and kills the larvae of potential insect pests.

How does a wet harvest work for cranberries?

So how does wet harvesting work? Cranberries float; they have pockets of air inside, so flooded bogs facilitate the removal of the fruit from the vine. Water reels or “egg-beaters” stir the bog water up, which agitates the berries from the vines causing them to float up to the surface of the water.

Do cranberries have to grow in water?

The short answer is no. They don’t grow in water, but water does come in to play with their harvest. Cranberries actually thrive in what known as a bog, or an area is characterized by an acidic peat soil. Fresh cranberries are harvested using what is known as the “dry method,” which is exactly as it sounds.

What is the process of harvesting cranberries?

A typical cranberry harvest begins in early September and lasts through fall. The cranberry bogs are flooded when the berries ripen. Then the berries are beaten mechanically from the vines. Cranberries float to the surface, where they are skimmed, collected on trucks, and taken for processing.

Are cranberry bogs flooded with salt water?

As with the reclamation of tidal marshes, cranberry bogs required the control and use of local water supplies. However, cranberry bogs utilized fresh water instead of salt or brackish water. Today, cranberry growers still follow many of the same principles used by nineteenth and early twentieth century growers.

Why are there cranberry bogs?

Cranberries grow in beds layered with sand, peat and gravel. These beds are commonly known as bogs or marshes and were originally formed as a result of glacial deposits. These kettle holes were filled with water and organic matter which created the ideal environment for cranberries.

What climate and growing conditions do cranberries require?

Best Climate and Site for Growing Cranberries. Cranberries grow best in USDA Zones 4 to 7. Cranberries require three months of chilly winter weather at 32°to 45°F to ensure flower set and fruiting in spring. Cranberries thrive in moist, well-drained, humus-rich soil.

Why are cranberries often grown in bogs?

Why are cranberries flooded?

Flooding is so important in cranberry cultivation that bogs where flooding is not possible are no longer considered profitable. Cranberry growers use flooding as a management tool to protect the plants from the cold, drying winds of winter, to harvest and remove fallen leaves and to control pests.

Where do they harvest cranberries?

Although cranberries are native to North America, they are only grown in five states. Wisconsin is the top producer of cranberries, growing nearly half of all the country’s berries, followed by Massachusetts, which harvests about a third. The remaining production is in New Jersey, Washington and Oregon.

What is the purpose of a cranberry bog?

The farmers flood the cranberry bogs (which often freeze over) to protect the vines and buds from injuries associated with cold weather.

What is flooding in cranberry cultivation?

The most widely-known use of flooding in cranberry cultivation is for harvest. Approximately 90 percent of the crop is harvested this way. Flood harvesting occurs after the berries are well colored and the flood waters have lost their summer heat. The bogs are flooded with up to one foot of water.

How are cranberries harvested from the vine?

Since the cranberry fruit has pockets of air inside of it, someone came up with the brilliant idea to flood the bogs with water to help remove the berries from the vines. The first successful water harvesting was in the 1960s; this is the predominant method of cranberry harvesting used today.

Why do cranberry growers use water on the bog?

The other practice when cranberry growers use water on the bog is flooding. Flooding is so important in cranberry cultivation that bogs where flooding is not possible are no longer considered profitable.

How do growers protect Cranberries from frost and hot weather?

Growers use water to protect cranberries from frost and hot weather in summer. As a general rule, each acre of cranberries will use seven to ten feet of water to meet all production, harvesting and flooding needs. There are two main ways cranberry growers bring water onto the bogs – through sprinkler systems and through flooding.