Blueberries

[Torvy]

We just planted 4 new blueberry bushes. 4 different varieties. 2 pair that pollinate each other.

For now we jury-rigged some fencing out of old t-posts and used 4' welded wire. Ran some bird netting over the top. I'm a little concerned about the deer getting into them.

Our soil out here is sandy loam and is on the acidic side, which is supposed to be good for blueberries. Mrs. T loves the berries and their supposed to be good for you.

Anyone else grow blueberries? Any advice or suggestions?

 

[Alan W.]

Deer never bother ours. Squirrels and birds are the problem.
We get maybe 50%.

 

[arto98607]

My advise is plant few more bushes so there is enough berries for the birds and you!

Deer like the new growth of our blueberry bushes but there are ways to keep them away, for example a dog that lives outside and is free to move in the yard, or a low power pellet gun...

 

[Torvy]

Dogs are pending getting the perimeter fenced. GSD and Anatolian.

Once the berries set, we will likely wrap the berry fencing in bird netting, too.

We could consider more bushes. We have a lot of other fruit, nuts and berries to be planted in the near future. Probably hold off on more blueberries for at least another year.

 

[Fixastuff]

I have a bunch of them and they have been the best thing I’ve planted by far. I like the early varieties more. The late finishing ones give birds more time to eat them and sometimes they never seem to ripen.

 

[Alan46]

This is what we did with ours. 2 -10’ lengths of 1/2” pvc pipe for for each hoop with bird netting all the way around! We can’t standup without removing said netting, so we just crawl around and pick, pick, pick!

 

[ponytug]

@Alan46 That's quite the wildlife fence!

 

[Hay Dude]

GFY!
So healthy for you. I try to eat 1/4 cup of organic blueberries in my yogurt every morning.

 

[jyoutz]

We just planted 4 new blueberry bushes. 4 different varieties. 2 pair that pollinate each other.

For now we jury-rigged some fencing out of old t-posts and used 4' welded wire. Ran some bird netting over the top. I'm a little concerned about the deer getting into them.

Our soil out here is sandy loam and is on the acidic side, which is supposed to be good for blueberries. Mrs. T loves the berries and their supposed to be good for you.

Anyone else grow blueberries? Any advice or suggestions?

If you have acid soil, they should do well in your location. I don’t have experience with blueberries, but I grow raspberries and orchard trees and have many deer who create havoc. I’ve tried: dogs, motion activated sprinklers, motion activated lights, electric fence, baited electric fence, and double electric fence. Nothing worked except for the 8’ fence I built. But I have mule deer, maybe your whitetail deer will react differently.

 

[Torvy]

GFY!
So healthy for you. I try to eat 1/4 cup of organic blueberries in my yogurt every morning.

What blueberries are inorganic?

 

[Torvy]

If you have acid soil, they should do well in your location. I don’t have experience with blueberries, but I grow raspberries and orchard trees and have many deer who create havoc. I’ve tried: dogs, motion activated sprinklers, motion activated lights, electric fence, baited electric fence, and double electric fence. Nothing worked except for the 8’ fence I built. But I have mule deer, maybe your whitetail deer will react differently.

View attachment 855923

Nice. 8 ft fence is tough to build and expensive. I've heard that people will sometimes have success with a 5 or 6 foot fence with another fence a few feet out from that one. Spacing makes it tough for them to jump. Not sure if accurate.

We planted some blackberries (they grow wild here, too). Raspberries don't like the heat so much. Neighbor in Wisconsin had them...so we did too!

We got a couple of pecans to plant. We got 1 Asian Pear, need another next year for pollination. Peaches, apricots, persimmons, grapes and perhaps more on the agenda. We figure if we get a few every year, we are happy. If we get more, we can gift, freeze and/or can the excess.

Mediterranean herbs grow well here as perennials. They like the heat, but tolerate our version of cold.

 

[dieselscout80]

I got some 7' T-Posts and drive the in a perimeter around our five blue berry bushes when the berries are near ready. Then I string fence tape on the perimeter and between the bushes with 3' strips of fence tape hanging about every six feet. This keeps our bird completely away from our blue berries and it is easy to get to them for picking. I have thought of adding some old CDs to the strips in the past, but it has not been needed.

I do want to plant some blue berries in other places on our place and let them grow wild.

 

[Hay Dude]

What blueberries are inorganic?

Ones that are sprayed with herbicides or insecticides for 2 reasons. There are probably others.

 

[JPRambo]

I've got 5 'Rabbit Eye' blueberry bushes. I used cement reinforcement mesh bent into a 'U' shape and the rebar to keep it in shape. After they bloom put bird netting over it. Keeps the birds and squirrels out. Deer don't come near this blueberry area. We have red clay and need to add sulfer.

 

[oosik]

We had cranberries, raspberries and strawberries. The deer did, to them, what they do to everything. Taste one leaf and see if they like it. They did not like any of these three.

Our PROBLEM - the @#$% chipmunks. Those little buggers would eat the berries just before they got ripe. Finally built an enclosure that allowed us to get "our share" of the fruit.

If you have chipmunks - be prepared!!! Good luck.

 

[JJT]

I planted mine on the north side of my deck, so far the deer have avoided them. I put in a few additional plants every year. I mulch them heavy in the fall with pine needles. The birds get a few, but that's ok.

I have a 1/2 a cup of blueberries every day with my morning bowl of cheerios.

 

[Torvy]

Ones that are sprayed with herbicides or insecticides for 2 reasons. There are probably others.

Sorry, my joke failed. All plant life is organic.

 

[Torvy]

I've got 5 'Rabbit Eye' blueberry bushes. I used cement reinforcement mesh bent into a 'U' shape and the rebar to keep it in shape. After they bloom put bird netting over it. Keeps the birds and squirrels out. Deer don't come near this blueberry area. We have red clay and need to add sulfer.

These are all rabbiteye. Zone 8a. According to TAMU, they are the best for around here. Tiffblue, Powderblue, Premier and Climax are the varieties we chose.

Need pictures of your setup. Sounds interesting.

 

[Torvy]

I planted mine on the north side of my deck, so far the deer have avoided them. I put in a few additional plants every year. I mulch them heavy in the fall with pine needles. The birds get a few, but that's ok.

I have a 1/2 a cup of blueberries every day with my morning bowl of cheerios.

These are about 150 yards from the house and not in visual range. Just off of an easement and our main path. We've had a camera out there for over a year. Deer definitely hang out there at times. We have lots of pine needles! Thanks for the tip.

 

[jyoutz]

Nice. 8 ft fence is tough to build and expensive. I've heard that people will sometimes have success with a 5 or 6 foot fence with another fence a few feet out from that one. Spacing makes it tough for them to jump. Not sure if accurate.

We planted some blackberries (they grow wild here, too). Raspberries don't like the heat so much. Neighbor in Wisconsin had them...so we did too!

We got a couple of pecans to plant. We got 1 Asian Pear, need another next year for pollination. Peaches, apricots, persimmons, grapes and perhaps more on the agenda. We figure if we get a few every year, we are happy. If we get more, we can gift, freeze and/or can the excess.

Mediterranean herbs grow well here as perennials. They like the heat, but tolerate our version of cold.

I have my garden, orchard, and raspberries all in the same area and fenced the entire area (about an acre). Yes the 8’ fence did take some work to build. The corners are oil well drill stem pipe in 3’ of concrete with cross braces welded. The line posts are 10’ T posts. I used a 16’ wide, 6’ high chain link gate on a wheel. Originally I thought they would jump the gate, but that didn’t happen. I did realize that I couldn’t handle a 8’ roll of field fence, and stacked 2 4’ rolls. Stretching that was the worst part. I rigged up a fence puller from 2x6 lumber and mounted it to my loader bucket. The fence has been up 10 years now and still looks good. After I constructed the fence, I could see the deer tracks around the outside of the fence for a couple weeks, then they gave up. I tried growing blackberries here and they grow well in the summer, but they winterkill. The raspberries have been doing well for 6 years now. They are primocane varieties, so I cut them to the ground every winter and the canes grow and fruit each season. The tall fence was a lot of work, but my garden and fruit trees escape deer damage. Now about those squirrels…