Tips on Growing Sea buckthorn in the Northeastern US

Originally posted May 24th, 2014  by Wanda Lyapin
My first harvest
If you are looking for an attractive edible plant for a dry site, then I would like to suggest the Sea buckthorn bush. The berries of this bush are just loaded with vitamins and healthy minerals. These bushes are easy to grow, and you could collect a large harvest even with minimal effort. Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) belongs to the family Elaeagnaceae. Members of this family have root nodules which house nitrogen-fixing bacteria, which is why Sea buckthorns can thrive in poor soils.

 

The thorny bush has beautiful, slender, silver leaves and its bearing branches on female plants are completely covered with bright, yellow-orange, small berries at the end of summer and in early fall.

Sea buckthorn is dioecious plant, meaning some of the plants are males and some are females.

Sea buckthorn female flower consists of young leaves, calyx and carpel
Sea buckthorn male flower consists of young leaves, sepals and stamens
Sea buckthorn male leaves/flower buds are bigger than female buds
This plant has its origin in Asia: modern day China and Eastern Russia. Nowadays, it is cultivated from Pacific region of Russia and China to Northern Europe. Many cultivars are adapted to different European and Asian climates.

8 thoughts on “Tips on Growing Sea buckthorn in the Northeastern US”

  1. I have a question. What would be the best type of sea-buckthorn seed or berry to plant in st. louis, mo– and what care is needed to ensure that it flourishes?

    Also what’s the daily portion recommended and what are your prices for what you recommend?

    Thank you.

    Robert Wolff

    Reply
    • Hi There Robert,

      Here is a link to the Missouri Botanical Garden website. The species of sea buckthorn that is growing there is Hippophae Rhamnoides. This page will give you some guidelines on what this plant needs to survive in your region and will at least get you started on your research. You may even want to contact them for advice about growing your plants.

      Something not mentioned on that page is if you want your plants to grow berries to eat you will need to get male and female plants. Most companies that sell sea buckthorn plants will specify what gender they are. Keep in mind also that SBT plants typically take 2-3 years to mature enough to bear fruit.

      We do not sell anything from this website so you would need to contact a company that does sell sea buckthorn products for that information.

      Hope that helps and Thanks!

      Reply
  2. Excellent post. I was checking constantly this blog and I am inspired! Extremely helpful information particularly the closing part. I take care of such information much. I used to be seeking this certain info for a long time. Thank you and best of luck.

    Reply
  3. Do these plants do well in North Texas and do they do well if transferred to another location after growing a while? Also because of a possible relocation later this year, Do they do well in Michigan? If I go, I will be going from almost always warm to very hot weather to cold weather and snow in the winter and much lower temps in summer than where I am now.

    Reply
  4. If I have only one plant, and it is at least 4 yrs old, and 13 ft high, how can I tell if it’s a male or female? I’m writing in July, in Nova Scotia.

    Reply
    • Hi Kathleen,

      It is easiest to tell if a sea buckthorn plant is male or female during the summer months. A female plant will have fruit growing from it, male plants do not grow fruits. Though, if your female plant is young it may still be difficult to tell, the plants do not begin to grow fruit until they are 3-4 years old and in some cases, 6 years. The female plants also will not grow fruit if there is no male plant nearby. The female plants need the male for pollination. There are some differences between the plants that can help you determine if yours is male or female. The leaves, buds, and flowers can all help you differentiate between them. You can reference this article to get more details about their subtle differences. https://montecho.wordpress.com/2010/11/30/sea-buckthorn-male-vs-female-can-you-tell-them-apart/

      Thank you,

      Reply
  5. I didn’t realize that seaberry bush berries have so many health benefits to them. I would love to have one of these bushes in my yard. But I don’t that I am a skilled enough gardener to keep it alive. Perhaps I can find some seaberry oil that I can take instead of eating the berries from the plant.

    Reply

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