Blueberry Advice Needed Please.

[Spike]

My OH has decided that I must grow blueberries. Can anyone give me some advice on growing them please? Do I need to use special compost and will I need to grow more than one variety?

[Tussiemussie]

Require an acid soil., so I have mine in tubs. A mulch of well rotten sawdust, chipped wood bark or pine needles, around the plant helps to conserve moisture, and keep weeds down. To help plant growth, a couple of ounces of a fertiliser suitable for Camellias, (10-10-10) applied around the plant in May is all that is needed. Do not put the fertiliser on any earlier, the plant cannot make good use of it until shoots are appearing. Organic fertilisers do the job as well, a little more will be necessary because nutrient levels are lower in organic fertilisers. It will also have to be applied a month earlier as organic fertiliser takes longer to became active. Blueberries need regular pruning to maintain plant vigour and high quality berry production. The best time to prune is between January and March when the plant is dormant. For the first 2-3 years of a blueberry's life very little pruning is necessary apart from keeping the plant tidy. After that there are really 4 steps to pruning, to ensure a good supply of new fruit bearing wood (remember, that Blueberries produce fruit on branches that were produced the previous year) 1) Prune out all dead wood. 2) Locate the oldest canes and prune out one of every six canes. This makes sure that the old canes that do not produce fruit well are removed to make way for younger more productive canes. 3) Prune out all low branches which will never be picked and are a source for disease. 4) Remove all twiggy wood, on the ends of fruiting laterals.

[Spike]

Thanks for that Tussiemussie. I have read that they need to be watered with rain water. Is this necessary? I know we have had alot of rain lately but what happens when the water butt is empty?

[weeeed]

I sent for goji and blueberries in May, the gojis have arrived and been duly planted, even if they do look like dead twigs! Still waiting for the blueberries, you have given me food for thought, here's some for you! Can you use the cuttings to produce new plants and if so is it easy?

[Birdie Wife]

Originally Posted by Spike

Thanks for that Tussiemussie. I have read that they need to be watered with rain water. Is this necessary? I know we have had alot of rain lately but what happens when the water butt is empty?

Hi Spike, this is only necessary really if you live in an area of limey water (can never remember if this is 'hard' or 'soft' water - there's one thing to avoid with blueberries and that's lime!

[Spike]

Thanks Birdie Wife. That is really helpful and it is the first time that the need for rain water has been explained.

[Nicos]

Remember to buy at least 2 or 3 varieties of blueberry as you will get a better crop.

[Spike]

Thanks Nicos. There doesn't seem many varieties to choose from. Are there any you can recommend and also what is the best time of the year to plant them? I can find instructions for pruning but nothing about planting.

[cajary]

Hi, Spike. A useful site for Blueberry advice is http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...berry_care.asp If they're container grown, plant them whenever you get them. If they're bare-rooted you've got to get them in the ground quickly, anyway. I gave up looking for different varieties and just planted "Blue Hat", the most common one! This is the second year and I got about 1Kg offof 2 plants. (Well I would have done if the g-kids didn't keep nicking them!!) Good luck. Lesley, I just found out how to find the Smileys

[Spike]

Cajary that is really great info. Thanks. I will follow your example and buy Blue Hat and fingers crossed do as well as you have. Welcome BTW!

[runnerbean]

Thanks Tussiemussie, I planted my first blueberry last year, in a container and apart from watering I enjoyed about 1 kg of fruit this year your info will come in fvery useful, I'm going to grow two more, because the fruits are so good for us, I also have redcurrants frowing in a container as well, which also did very well too. Thanks. runnerbean

[cajary]

Thanks, Spike

[sausageman]

I'm having trouble with my blueberry too. My little boy bought it for Mother's day this year but it looks like its dying. Some brown stems, very few leaves and no sign of new shoots although there are some berries forming. I planted in the ground and added some horse manure and home made compost (mainly kitchen scraps) as I thought that would be acidic. Anything I can do to rescue it?

[Tussiemussie]

Perhaps the manure was too fresh /hot, hopefully it will survive if it's still green.
It will fruit better if you have at least two varieties. Look higher up this thread for advice on fertilising and pruning.