Honeyberry · Temuco, Araucania, Chile
When to plant honeyberries in Temuco
Main outdoor window
22 May - 3 Sep
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
17 September
In Temuco, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
29 Nov - 28 Dec
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Temuco
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Plant the bush
22 May - 3 Sep
Any time the plant is dormant and the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged: after leaf fall in autumn, or at the end of winter before growth restarts.
Harvest
29 Nov - 28 Dec
Honeyberries through the year
Against the frost risk in Temuco
Why these dates
Survives to -40C and flowers at temperatures near freezing, with blossom tolerating around -7C. There is almost nowhere too cold for it, and plenty of places too warm.
Honeyberries are planted once and then left in place, so there is no sowing offset to resolve. What matters in Temuco is the shape of the year: this crop is dormant through the winter and is planted while it sleeps, any time between leaf fall in autumn and the restart of growth in spring, so long as the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged. That is why the window below spans the cold months rather than sitting in the middle of the growing season.
Temuco sits in zone 9a, which is milder than this crop wants, and a winter that never really arrives is its own problem. The dates below still describe the right time of year; the open question is survival rather than timing.
Do not expect a crop in the first year. A plant set out now should give its first worthwhile pick around year 2, and will then produce every year after that, which is what makes the planting decision worth getting right the first time.
Also in Temuco
Other fruits to time
Growing honeyberries in Temuco
When should I plant honeyberries in Temuco?
Aim for 22 May - 3 Sep in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 23 Apr - 2 Oct - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will honeyberries be ready to harvest in Temuco?
Expect to start picking around 29 Nov - 28 Dec, based on 50 to 70 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will honeyberries tolerate?
Survives to -40C and flowers at temperatures near freezing, with blossom tolerating around -7C. There is almost nowhere too cold for it, and plenty of places too warm.