When is bittersweet ready

The vines need pollen from the male flowers to fertilize the female flowers. Only the female vines have berries which appear any time from June through November. The berries start out orange, but that is just a capsule covering the actual berries. The capsules open in the fall revealing the red berries.

The berries are an important food source for birds and animals in the winter. Songbirds, pheasants, Ruffed grouse and even foxes eat the berries.

Unfortunately, the berries are toxic for humans causing vomiting and diarrhea. American Bittersweet is a native plant that is relatively well-behaved. Oriental Bittersweet C. It has been imported from another part of the world. Oriental bittersweet is native to China, Japan and Korea. It was introduced into the United States in as an ornamental plant. It has escaped from gardens and naturalized in the landscape.

It is much larger and faster growing than American bittersweet, growing as much as 60 feet in one year. It not only climbs trees, it kills them. The weight of the huge vines topples even the largest trees. The vines are very thick, often reaching 4 inches in diameter. Eventually they strangle the trees and kill them. Initially, the berries are covered with orange capsules which open to reveal the berries inside. If you want to grow American bittersweet for its colorful berries, you will need both a male and female vine.

Without a male vine to pollinate the female vine, you will not get any berries. Plant your vines in a sunny location with good drainage.

American bittersweet will tolerate some shade, but grows best and produces the most berries in full sun. The vines grow 20 feet high and 20 feet wide so they will need support. Large mature trees can bear the weight of the vines whereas the smaller trees and shrubs commonly found in our yards will be smothered.

Provide your vines with a sturdy trellis or fence to grow on. If you are growing your vines on a trellis by a building or wall, be sure to place your trellis several inches away from the wall to allow for air circulation between the vine and the wall.

American bittersweet is prone to powdery mildew which occurs when there is poor air circulation. Water the vines when there is less than one inch of rainfall per week. You will only need to fertilize once a year in the spring.

Apply a shovelful of compost or slow release fertilizer at the base and work it into the soil. Pruning should be done in the winter when the vines are dormant. Remove any damaged or diseased branches. You will also want to remove any branches that produced berries. This will encourage new growth in the spring. Sometimes, no matter how diligent you are about your pruning, the vines will grow and become a tangled mess. This is not a problem. Just prune the entire vine down to ground level.

When propagating American bittersweet vines by cuttings, remember that each vine is either male or female. Cuttings from a female vine will result in female vines and cuttings from male vines will result in more male vines. You need both a male and female vine to produce berries. Male vines do not produce berries. Softwood cuttings refer to cuttings from woody plants that are taken from the ends of the branches in spring or early summer while they are actively growing and not yet hard and woody.

The advantage of taking softwood cuttings is that the branch is growing and once separated from the plant, will quickly grow roots. Take a cutting that is 3 to 5 inches long from the end of a branch in midsummer. Strip the foliage from the bottom half of your cutting. Dip it in rooting hormone to speed up the growth of roots. Then gently press the cut end into a container with soil that is 2 parts perlite and 1 part sphagnum moss.

Place the container in a sunny location, keeping the soil moist. I have been here for 35 years now, and in that time I have nearly eliminated the bittersweet from my property.

It is very hard to keep it free from bittersweet, though. As soon as a small vine appears anywhere, it needs to be pulled, if possible. If it is deeply rooted in a wall, it needs to be continuously pruned off until it dies. I have never used any type of herbicide on it. I am very wary of herbicides. But it is possible to get rid of bittersweet by continuously pulling, mowing, or pruning it.

Just be persistent. As a girl 70 yrs ago, I had a native spotted along side an old shed. It never spread or grew bigger. The berries are smaller. Currently, the Asian type is growing in my holly tree and seedlings in my herbs. I always know when I pull them because the roots are orange. This plant can also cause a severe rash very similar to poison ivy rash. Not everyone is sensitive to it, but I am, and work as a gardener so am exposed to it often.

If I forget to wash thoroughly after exposure, as I did this week, I get a rash that can last a week or more currently have it all over my face.

Bittersweet is a terribly invasive plant that is tearing down the tops of our wonder White Oaks and Maples. It is especially dangerous in Connecticut because of its pattern of growing a dense canopy that shuts out light and moisture to the host plant.

Homeowners, unaware that the extremely tall tree in their yard or surrounding their horse pastures is dying from the top down, can not react quickly enough before tragedy strikes. Why is this? Because articles sing the praises of Bittersweet, the promise of berries, the colors of autumn and more decorating ideas. Strong winds and tornadoes new to us in Connecticut have toppled these compromised trees causing death, destruction of property, and loss of wildlife habitat.

It runs rampant in these areas along our highways, exits, and entrances. This vine can establish itself in many different ways. It grows a strong subterranean root. It seeks moisture and sunlight where it can grow sometimes into a tree. When it locates one of our treasured stonewalls, its growth will eventually topple the stones.

It will smother flowering shrubs. When planning some autumn interest or bird and butterfly sustaining habitat, please steer clear of this parasitical plant.

There are plenty of indigenous North American species of trees and shrubs to cultivate. This invasive plant will overtake your trees in a matter of years. Fast growing, it strangles anything it can reach! Do not be taken in by its great fall orange and yellow berries. You will soon regret it! I used to cut some bittersweet vines in the fall to use for indoor decoration.

I live in Central Massachusetts. I just wanted a small piece to bring to my daughter in California as her mother in law always loved it and used it decoratively. In fact, she called her homestead in NJ Bittersweet Hill. Please do not take this plant to California or anywhere else.

California has clear laws about importing plants and road blocks at their borders to police it. This plant is very invasive and very bad for the woodland and fields.

Bittersweet is taking over the town of Canton CT. It is now on my property, and I am constantly pulling young shoots up while trimming bushes etc, because the birds eat the berries, then fly into an ornamental bush for cover, and you know what happens next. And to think I once had a hard time finding the stuff for fall decorations!! Trusto not plant it. It is terrible and nearly impossible to eradicate. The chipmunks and other animals eat the berries and poo out the seeds which helps spread the vines.

Use them indoors, get the faux bittersweet for outdoors. I ordered the American version of Bittersweet. It too became somewhat invasive and the roots made there way under my concrete patio and cracked it. Had I to do over, I would never plant it — regardless of it being the American version…. Does anyone have any comments on burning the larger trunks for firewood?

It seems pretty hard and I have started my all out war on it. Yes, everything about it is bad. Floral arrangements and wreaths can be made with benign plants. If you hang this on your door the seeds will drop and germinate nearby. When you toss the old wreath on your back yard leaf pile it will likely become established nearby. It is next to impossible to eradicate and spreads like the flu. I saw a reference to the use of a toxin. I would call the Audubon rather than the manufacturer.

Also, be sure to pull up the seedlings that sprout from May to September in eastern MA. They are still easy to pull the entire root. At least I can quell the tide of encroaching growth. Not only do they travel far but they bifurcate all along the way creating an underground network in all directions. But, any setback one can deal to the plants is a help.

I discourage the use of toxins but perhaps in the case of bittersweet it is necessary. If we all pitched in and did some work on it we could make a big difference! Wonderful sense of accomplishment and then fun and fellowship together. American Bittersweet a native is a beautiful vine that is not invasive,very slow growing and large clusters of berries.

If people would ask their Nursery to. Need one male to every 3 female plants. It adapts well to many soil types and is a good choice for poor soils, where its growth will be less rampant. Additionally, it has no major insect or disease problems. Given its natural vigor, bittersweet should be cut back severely each winter to allow new growth to develop the subsequent spring. Bittersweet tolerates both sunny and shady exposures, but sun is needed for the plant to fruit well. It rarely requires supplemental water and is generally self-reliant.

Bittersweet can be started from seeds or cuttings. Since it is dioecious, fifty percent of the seeds of bittersweet will produce male plants and fifty percent female. Unfortunately, it is not possible to tell the sexes apart until the vines become large enough to flower. For good berry production, both sexes must be present. Where space is limited, plant at least three plants close together.

This hopefully will result in a mix of both sexes. When growing bittersweet from seeds, make sure the berries are mature. Remove the orange-red aril around the seeds and plant them immediately. Bittersweet seeds need about three months of cold temperatures to break dormancy and germinate.

Planting seeds in a coldframe or other protected location outdoors often is the most convenient way to give them to the required cold treatment. Alternatively, bittersweet can be produced from cuttings of plants whose sex is known.

If the parent plant produced berries, it is female. Plants that have never produced berries most likely are males, although they could be female plants that lack the proper environment for flowering. Cuttings of bittersweet are fairly easy to root either as softwood cuttings in summer or dormant cuttings in winter.