How to Propagate Cranberry Seeds

You don't need hip waders and a flooded landscape to grow cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon). The only times commercial growers flood their cranberry crops is to protect them from frost and during harvest, to get the cranberries to float and make it easier to gather them. Cranberries grow well in the home garden, either in specially prepared beds or in containers, where they trail over the sides. You can grow cranberries in zones 2 through 6 of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant Hardiness Zone Map.

Nursery flat
Azalea or camellia potting mix or sand and peat moss
Sand
Spray bottle
Heat mat

Instructions

- 1
  Fill a nursery flat with azalea or camellia mix, or other lime-free potting soil. Equal parts of sand and peat moss will work as well. Water the planting medium until it is drenched. If you use peat moss, stir the mixture to be sure the peat is uniformly moist.
- 2
  Scatter the cranberry seeds over the surface of the soil, and cover them with a 1/8-inch layer of sand. Mist the sand with water from a spray bottle.
- 3
  Set a heat mat in an area that receives bright, indirect sun. Place the flat on top of the mat, and set the thermostat to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep the soil moist at all times.
- 4
  Place the flat in the refrigerator after two weeks on the heat mat. Leave the flat in the refrigerator four weeks, keeping the soil moist, then move the flat to an area that remains between 41 and 53 F. The cranberry seeds should germinate within three weeks.

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