North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[dwoodard@becon.org]

I have some limited experience with small Aronia melanocarpa plants in a
restoration planting here. Some on droughty sand which may have been
subsoil 20 or 30 years ago, don't seem happy. Some a few feet away on
original Vineland fine sandy loam topsoil with a reasonable amount of
organic material and a respectable amount of soil moisture most of the
year, nearer the west edge of a woods, do quite well.

Doug Woodard
St. Catharines, Ontario
Niagara Peninsula
zone 7a


Jim Fruth in Minnesota wrote:
> Bill,
>     I, going to have to side with the folks who say that Aronia will grow
> well anywhere.  I have two plantings one in sand @ pH 6.5 and another in
> black dirt @ pH 7.3.  Both have proven to be drought tolerant.  One gets
> full sun - the other gets morning sun.  BTW, I got my first 8 plants from
> Hartmann Plant Company.


Bill in Nebraska wrote
>
> Note that I also heard different things about Aronia's requirements. One
> place said it required "a damp, acid soil" - another that it would grow
> well anywhere. I also heard that it would tolerate partial shade,... and
> that it wouldn't. Like everything else on the Internet, it's hard to
> know who to believe. (I definitely trust this list much more!)
>
> Bill
> Lincoln, NE (Zone 5)