Site Selection and Preparation

Sea buckthorn is very resistant to frost injury, making it more suitable for planting in a location in your orchard that is not suitable for other crops.  If ample land is available, a north or north east slope is still preferential.  The plant prefers well drained loam soils with high organic matter.  Drainage is important because areas where water pools will drown the roots.  The plants are very salt tolerant and adaptable to a wide range of soil pH.

Prior to actual planting the site should be kept free of weeds for a year to reduce subsequent perennial weed growth.  Use of the non selective herbicide glyphosate in the fall before planting and again immediately before planting is recommended.  A soil born herbicide that reduces weed emergence such as Treflan, Casoron G-4, or Devrinol 50-DF may be used after establishment depending on the label guidelines.  A complete list of chemicals suitable for this purpose is available in the Manitoba Agriculture and Food Fruit Guide for commercial fruit growers.

Planting

The trees should be planted in rows 13 feet (4m) between rows and 3 feet (1m) between trees within the rows. The plants are dioecious, meaning there are both male and female plants.  Ideally Male plants must be spread evenly throughout the female plants at 7% to 12% of the total population.  The male and female plants are indistinguishable as seedlings so it is preferable to purchase cloned cultivars and males in an dedicated orchard system.

Cultivars

Indian Summer - The most common variety found on the prairies today.  A seedling variety, selected by the PFRA shelterbelt center as a multi-purpose fruit bush and wind break.

Botanica^TM (Botanicheskaya cv.) A large fruited, excellent flavoured variety originating from a Moscow breeding program.  Heavy yielding tree with an upright growth habit.

Russian Orange^TM (Otradnaya cv.) Vigorous bush with deep orange berries.  Earlier maturing

Siberian Splendor^TM (Prevoshodnaya cv.) Newer variety from a Siberian breeding program.  Fruit is large, sweet, and easy to harvest.  Good for fresh eating becayes it is less tart.

Star of Alti^TM (Chuskaya cv.) Newer variety similar to Siberian Splendor.  Sweet, bright orange fruit.  Developed in the central asian area of the former Soviet Union.

Sunny^TM (Solnechnaya cv.) Developed by the main Russian sea buckthorn breeding program in Siberia.  Very sweet berries.

Titan^TM (Trofimovskaya cv.) Very flavourful and aromatic variety from Minsk Belarus.  A heavy yielder of very large berries.

Frugana Early ripening productive variety developed in the former East Germany.  Upright growth habit reaching up to 5 meters tall.  Longer stems make hand harvesting of fruit easier.

Hergo Preferred variety for commercial planting in Germany because of its adaptability to German harvesting machines.  Medium size and medium vigor plants.  High productivity and high fruit quality.

Leikora Dual purpose variety used for both fruit production and as a landscape plant.

Several new prairie hardy cultivars selected by the PFRA for better quality fruit production.  These cultivars have been released to propagators to increase numbers.  For more information on these new cultivars, contact the PFRA.

Irrigation

Sea buckthorn grows best in areas receiving 400 - 600 mm of precipitation annually.  If less rain or drought is typical in your areas, consider supplemental irrigation.  Supplemental water may be necessary and is recommended for the first few years of establishing the orchard.  Irrigation during wet years periods should be avoided because the nitrogen fixing bacteria that coexist with the plants are sensitive to drowning.

Fertility

Sea buckthorn fixes nitrogen from the atmosphere, therefore it will not need supplemental nitrogen.  Potassium is normally found in adequate amounts in Saskatchewan soils.  Phosphorous may be added if soil testing finds low levels.  While no recommendations have been established to date regarding fertility, the recommendations for Strawberry soil fertility are often used.

Harvesting

Harvesting the sea buckthorn berry by hand is very time consuming.  Estimates of 600 person hours/acre (1500 h/ha) have been suggested.  A common modification of hand harvesting involves cutting the branches off the tree and placing into a deep freezer until frozen.  Frozen branches can then be banged on the inside of a drum or garbage can, knocking the frozen berries off. This process damages the berries, and they should processed, or returned to the freezer for later processing.

Mechanical harvesters have been of limited success.  A mechanical harvester developed in East Germany is the only machine in the world designed specifically for use with sea buckthorn berries.  This harvester removes the berries from the branches with brushes, but first the branches are cut from the trees.  Using this method, only half of the orchard is harvested each year to allow for regrowth of the cut branches.  The Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute has been researching a new type of harvester.  This machine has a gasping arm that holds on to the trunk of the bush and shakes the whole bush.  Fruit that falls off is collected below.  Neither harvester is readily available.

Disease Control

Sea buckthorn benefits from having no wild relatives native to Canada to vector disease, significantly reducing the disease load.  No chemicals are registered for use on the sea buckthorn, so diseased plants should be pruned or removed if necessary to reduce the chance of infecting the rest of the orchard.

Insects

As with disease, no insects exists in Canada that are specifically adapted to the sea buckthorn.  Many other insects that normally feed on fruit or leaves of other trees may becomes pests in the absence of a preferred host species.  No chemicals are registered for use to control insects.

Contacts and Suppliers

PFRA Shelterbelt Center - production information
http://www.agr.gc.ca/pfra/shelterbelt.htm
Box 940, Indian Head, Saskatchewan
S0G 2K0
Phone: (306) 695-2284
Fax: (306) 695-2568
email - pfratree@agr.gc.ca

Northwoods Nursery - supplier of new and rare cultivars
28696 S. Cramer Road
Molalla, OR.
97038-8576
Phone: (503) 651-3737
Fax: (503) 651-3882
email - northwoods@cybcon.com

DNA Gardens - propagator of select cultivars
Box 544
Elnora, Alberta
T0M 0Y0
Phone: (403) 773-2489
Fax: (403) 773-2400
email - DNA Gardens

University of Saskatchewan - Department of Plant Science
College of Agriculture
University of Saskatchewan
51 Campus Drive
Saskatoon SK
S7N 5A8
Phone: (306) 966-5855

Recommended Reading
Web
    Manitoba Agriculture and Food - Sea Buckthorn Production in Manitoba
    PFRA Shelterbelt Center - Sea Buckthorn
    PFRA Shelterbelt Center - Fruit bearing shrubs for multi-use shelterbelts and orchards
Books
    Manitoba Agriculture and Food Fruit Guide.  2000 Edition.

References
Northwoods Nurseries - For the cultivar descriptions
http://www.naturalelixir.com/ - for pictures
http://floraleads.com/seabuckthorn/ - for background images

This page was created by Joseph Widdup, under a joint venture between the University of Saskatchewan Department of Plant Science and the Saskatchewan Fruit Growers Association.