Glossary of Terms

The following are terms commonly used by cranberry growers.

Bloom: cranberry blossom.

Dewberry: very persistent plant that competes with cranberries for light and interferes with harvest.

Dew point: humidity.

Dieback: The gradual dying of plant shoots, starting at the tips, as a result of various diseases or climatic conditions.

Ditching: removing the debris (from the ditches inside the bogs) that has accumulated over the winter.

Fairy ring: waterborne fungal infection.

Flooding: floodgates on the reservoir feeding the selected area are opened and water flows into the ditches and over the vines to a depth of about 18 inches.

Gate: a flood gate, used for water management (reservoir or canal to bog as well as bog-to-bog).

ICM: Integrated Crop Management. How Pine Island Cranberry manages the big picture: the relationship between water, soils, weather, disease, insects, weeds, and nutrition.

Leaf drop: a premature falling of leaves associated with various diseases.

Phytophthora: Phytophthora cinnamomi is a soil-borne water mold that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants called root rot or dieback.

Root rot: a disease which causes a reduction of root mass, stunting and eventual death of the vine.

Red maple: invade beds as windblown seed.

Runner: trail and spread the plant as much as two feet in one growing season.

Sanding: Sanding is a practice where a 1/2″ to 1″ layer of sand is spread over the cranberry beds in order to stimulate new root and vine growth, improve aeration, and promote surface water drainage (source).

Scald: bruising of the fruit due to excessively hot and dry conditions.

Scouting: sweeping and/or observing a bog to check for pests, disease, nutrition, etc.

Tensiometer: instrument used to measure soil moisture.

Upright: Short vertical branches; grow up from the runners and produce the flowers and fruit.