When to Plant Garden Huckleberries

Family Background

• Garden huckleberry plants are members of the same plant family to which tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants and peppers belong. Like many annual vegetables, they are grown by starting seeds in early spring and then transplanting them to the garden when the soil has warmed.

Growing Instructions

• Huckleberry seeds should be started indoors in April by sowing them 1/4 inch deep in seed-starting soil. Seedlings generally emerge in a week or two and are transplanted to the garden in late May or early June, according to the University of Minnesota Extension, where they should be spaced 2 feet apart.

Plant Characteristics

• Garden huckleberry plants are bushy like pepper plants and grow to 2 feet. The clusters of small white flowers are first seen in July and each plant produces hundreds of berries that measure 1/2 to 3/4 inch and that ripen to a deep black color. The berries can be harvested about two weeks after they turn black, and their flavor improves if they remain on the plants until after early frosts.