Anyone grow blueberries?

[homedad]

I tried all of this about 25 years ago and they all died because I didn't have the correct ph or soil type. I tried mounding and amending with lots of sand and I already lived in a white and jack pine forest so used lots of composted pine needles. I gave up. Two years ago I purchased 5 acres about a 1/2 mile from Lake Michigan and it's all beach sand under the 3" of topsoil. I think the sand is the key. I have probably hundreds of volunteer blueberry bushes as the entire region is saturated by blueberry farms. When I say topsoil it's more of a mat of roots with some loam floating on top of the sand. And the sand seems bottomless. I've got 20" healthy oaks that just blew over and exposed root balls the size of cars. The blueberry plants seem to love the sand.

 

[nyone]

I have 10 plants. Some where transplants from my parents and some are 15yr old bare root bushes I got a big lots.
The neighbor killed the ones with the weed water. Also durring the dry part of the summer and when the berries start to grow make it a habit of watering them once a week. It helps alot. We get 3/4in berries from crappy box store bushes.

 

[sandman2234]

I planted 135 bushes on my property in Switzerland, Fl. They came from an old blueberry farm that was being sold. The last 50 were dug with a 2 yard loader bucket and were dropped into place on top of the soil. That made a wall of dirt which allowed me to flood the area with the artesian well. I used truckloads of Live Oak leaves bagged up by a relative which kept the moisture and acidity under control. We had some nice blueberries till we sold that property.
David from jax

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

Lots to take in so hang on to your hat.

Starting with varieties, highbush, lowbush, rabbiteye. Check your area to see which variety is best in your area (a quick check is rabbiteye). You will need another variety (in the same family) than one to pollinate for best production. We have rabbit eye + one lowbush variety that I am taking out this fall.

Soil should be between 4.5-5 as the norm. Yes they can live outside that but maximum performance is in that range (rabbiteye). Think of ph factor as filter of sorts. Depends on the plant what ph (filter) you want it to be. Too high or low and the roots cannot absorb the nutrients it needs. Garden loving plants best "filter" is about 6-7.

Water, it needs it but you don't want to let the roots sit in it. If there is a lot of clay type soil its best to amend it with pine mulch or similar.

When planting cut about 1/3 off the top. This forces the plant to make more roots.

NO fertilizer the first 2 years. Then use a fertilizer similar to what Azaleas use. Most fertilizer has a nitrate base while great for most plants; not good for blueberries that need a sulfate based food.

When its time to start fertilizing, I fertilize mine at bloom time, then about 2 months later. NEVER fertilize after say August (in our zone 8) as you don't want to encourage growth as it approaches the dormancy stage.

Pruning, usually not needed until years 4 and up. Then look for older wood and cut it out. If you do not prune blueberries the fruit will become small and grainy. You can't over prune a blueberry bush, it will come back so a weed eater shouldn't kill it altogether. I have mistakenly mowed mine down with the mower forgetting there was a blueberry bush there. Came back the next year. You can prune an older limb to a say 12-18" off the ground and let new growth on top. If you see older barky (new word) wood I usually cut them out.

Our main pruning is in Feb. Takes me about a month as I work a public job (until this Friday, YEAH!!! ) full time.

In a drought type year you may want to water but normal conditions (here) I rarely water, no issues.

We have about 300 plants in our pick-your-own farm.

Premiere sems to be our best tasting/sized berries. I am planning to order some additional plants this year for the BIG sizes available.

We don't spray our blueberries at all. I fertilize them with a sulfate base. Every couple of years I put about 2-3 table spoons of pelleted sulphur to each plant. I didn't treat the entire area (about an acre) just in the rows where they were planted.

Note: remembered one other point. When planting its best to spread the roots out if they came in a pot they often started spiraling and they will continue that unless you intervene (spread em out). Some folks suggest making a square hole that would force them to be pointing outward at some point. All mine were dug with a 12" auger bit, filled partially with a mix of peat moss, pine bark and soil.

 

[RobertEH]

Great info, thanks!

Question on PH.

My soil is 8ish. I planted a dozen or so bushes this year so they are in the process of establishing. How do you make PH changes to existing plants? I hear that adding elemental sulpher is good, but that you are supposed to wait a month to avoid root burn.

I have heard piling on sawdust/peat moss/pine needles at the base of the plants can lower PH, but it is a slow process. It is a long way to go from 8 to 4.5/5. I was toying with blending in small amounts of sulpher to the top soil to kickstart things, but that could be dangerous.

It also freezes hard here so I was planning to put peat and straw at the base before winter hits anyway. I will be re-applying the peat in the spring.

 

[Paddy]

Sounds like growing blue berry plants is a lot of work! Once you get a fruit set, the birds will clear you out.

Plant a peach tree! We get 500 peaches per tree. Peach trees grow like weeds. You do have to spray though

 

[KennyG]

Great info, thanks!

Question on PH.

My soil is 8ish. I planted a dozen or so bushes this year so they are in the process of establishing. How do you make PH changes to existing plants? I hear that adding elemental sulpher is good, but that you are supposed to wait a month to avoid root burn.

I have heard piling on sawdust/peat moss/pine needles at the base of the plants can lower PH, but it is a slow process. It is a long way to go from 8 to 4.5/5. I was toying with blending in small amounts of sulpher to the top soil to kickstart things, but that could be dangerous.

It also freezes hard here so I was planning to put peat and straw at the base before winter hits anyway. I will be re-applying the peat in the spring.

To get a permanent adjustment, it is going to be a long process. I've been adding sulfur for several years and I mulch with pine straw and it seems to be helping. You can get a quick hit by watering with vinegar. Guidelines I've seen are a few tablespoons per gallon.

 

[not2old]

I lived my whole life in Richmond, B.C. until I retired. This area is big in blueberries and cranberries but all of these farms are located in areas of peat soil which is scattered sporadically around the island which is located on a river delta bordering the ocean. I never saw any of these berries grown anywhere else so I would expect that trying to grow them elsewhere would require a lot of work with a green thumb.

 

[paulsharvey]

Great info, thanks!

Question on PH.

My soil is 8ish. I planted a dozen or so bushes this year so they are in the process of establishing. How do you make PH changes to existing plants? I hear that adding elemental sulpher is good, but that you are supposed to wait a month to avoid root burn.

I have heard piling on sawdust/peat moss/pine needles at the base of the plants can lower PH, but it is a slow process. It is a long way to go from 8 to 4.5/5. I was toying with blending in small amounts of sulpher to the top soil to kickstart things, but that could be dangerous.

It also freezes hard here so I was planning to put peat and straw at the base before winter hits anyway. I will be re-applying the peat in the spring.

You can surface dress around them with sulfur, but look into it more than just my word. You might need to work it into the soil, or you may need to keep it a distance from the roots/plants

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

That is pretty high PH. Its going to take a little while to bring it down safely. If possible I think I would put em in pots until you can get the ph closer on the ground spot.

I have taken vinegar and water (about 2 tablespoons per gallon and sprayed the ground. This will leach out with the rains though. That was when my PH was near 6.

Powdered sulpher is faster acting than pelleted so I would get some of that, 1/4 cup per plant and mix/till it up in the ground good.