Is My Cranberry Plant Dead/dying?

Question

I bought this cranberry plant from the nursery about a month ago. I transplanted it into an outdoor container I already had that was roughly the same size as the container it came in, where it’s been sitting ever since, on top of a table on my quite windy and partly shady balcony (northwest facing.. it gets some good hours of afternoon sun though). It had a few berries growing on it already – I picked one early on and it seemed good! Over the last week or so, I’ve noticed its leaves are turning a sort of orange/red, they’re very dry and falling off. It probably doesn’t help that I left it alone for the weekend last weekend. Also, of course, temperatures are dropping. When I try to inspect it, some of the leaves will just fall right off and blow away. Is it a total goner? What’s wrong? Or is this normal? (I will say the color looks kind of nice except for that I’m alarmed that it might mean it’s dead!) I thought it might be a durable enough plant for the conditions of my balcony… is that not true? P.S. I’ve also included a picture of the two remaining berries, which I just picked off… I’m pretty sure they used to be bright red.

Answer 1

The plant does turn reddish brown during the dormant season, so let's hope yours is just going dormant. It probably does need more water than it is getting though. And make sure your soil is acidic. Here are some info sheets that should help.

https://ag.umass.edu/cranberry/about/cranberry

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/cranberry/growing-cranberries-at-home.htm