Slow blueberries

[clemsonfor]

"Top Killed"? Did you guys get an early frost last fall, or late freeze this spring?
Usually, new growth dying back on newly planted bushes, is related to frost, or Phomopsis.
Sometimes though, when starved due to bieng rootbound or blocked N uptake, new growth will get sacrificed.

What's your soil ph, and drainage? Sandy loam or heavy ground? Amendments?
Did you break up the root ball when planting?
What fertilizer?
Pics would help.

I am pretty scatterbrained and post some confusing stuff as i dont think coherently sometimes.

This is the third growing season on them. They were really small ones, from michigan bulb i think? Not sure of the variety of the one that top killed.

It was kind of broken when planted but was in something similar to the size of a dizie cup so there were not many roots.
I have not done soil PH tests, but here in my area of the south we run on the acidic side, usually requiring 2000lbs of lime per acer to get to 7. I read blueberries like acidic soil though.

I did put a bit of fertilizer on before the top killed, thought i burned them but i really did not put that much per plant and it was raining as i did it or that day, and i sprinkled it around the plant. The grass has not got super deep green so i know i did not put a lot around them. I used 10-10-10 which i dont think is the best but i had it from the garden so i used it. The plants are kind of in a flat area that is kind of moist and willhold some water but not stand it really, the ground was really hard packed, but i tilled it with a 3pt tiller before planting them. ANd we have had an unusually wet winter/spring.

I dont have a picture but maybe you may catch something from what i have listed.

I am a forester so i know a bit about growing things just more of the tree variety!

 

[Dingeryote]

Clemson,

Dunno. If I had to guess from your description, you bought 1yr old rooted cuttings, or 1 yr old rooted "Clones" from tissues.
They can be finicky when planted that young, and quite prissy about transplant shock.

SC has some Red clay as well as sandy loam, and anything above 5.5 will cause issues with nutrient uptake and root development.
They have really,really weak roots, and they are lousy at uptake outside of the range of 5.4-5.5, and rely heavily on Mychorazia.
If the ground wasn't sufficiently loose or within range, the roots will curl back into the transplanted bedding soil and get bound up.
Check and see if you get the time.

10-10-10 isn't bad, but for the first 3-4 years you want to push the roots, more than new canes and shoots.
Once established, they will take off like crazy, but they need the uptake capacity to support the top end.
It's common practice to prune back after the first year.
A good GP Fert like 12-12-12, and a weekly shot of foliar like Mir-acid should do them well.
When we propegate, the Mir-acid and 20-10-20 is our greenhouse mix for the beds.
I doubt you burned them.

If the ground was hard packed and tilled, could you have possibly created(Tillers create a hard pack under the tines) a trough that didn't drain?
Blueberrys don't do well with wet feet, and get oxygen starved real quick unless the water drains rather quickly. More than a day of saturated ground is enough to cause a problem.

You mention a wet spring...
Any chance of fungus problems? Look for flattened growth, fuzzy mold on undersides of leaves, sticky little "Zits" on the new growth.
Phomopsis is a killer, and gets spread with rainfall. Plain old Captan will knock it back if so, but isn't systemic, so infected growth will need to be pruned out.

It's hard to even guess without looking. Heck, I have some had that leave me scratching, and calling the extension guru, and end up cussing and scratching together.

Bored?
Here's a link for info, with a ton of other links along the way.
Growing Blueberries | Michigan Blueberry Facts

 

[clemsonfor]

Thanks for the info. There is no fuzzy mold or fungus. Hard pan and wet area is a good possibility. The area i suspect was an old drive or gargae area talking to the neighbors and the amount of gravel taht was pulled up by the tiller. We have red clay in my area but if i would classify it i would put it as clay/loam with clay being more dominant component, but i also have gravel and sand in that area due to what was there like 50 years ago?? I imagine these are just as you describe rootings or something.

I lost one and i attribute it to drought from the year i put them in, i was bad about watering.

And i think the other 4 that look good are in that stage of rapid cane growth. Looked at them this mourn and they had canes that were 10"s or so on a few of them that were shooting out. Tried to get a pic of the plant in question and the others but the phone froze and i just went on to work without the question.

 

[David P]

Last Tuesday I thought we were probably a couple weeks from being ready to pick (we are primarily a you-pick operation). Lots of canes near the ground from being so laden with fruit.

Dingeryote-where are you located in MI? Our orchard is in Ortonville.

 

[Dingeryote]

David,

We are in Covert and South Haven.

The Weymouths are into 20% and the Bluettas have leaders coming into 70-80% blue.

I figure two weeks and we will be picking in the blue crop fields, but they don't appeat to be in any hurry.
Jerseys are still in third cover, with explosive new growth.
It's nuts, and I'm worried about next year bieng a real light year.

Did you guys get the 4.5" of rain we got?
Holy CRAP! I'm running the field drainage pumps again, after dropping the gate just a week ago.

 

[PANNU98]

how many acres of blueberries do you have? have you heard about the new varieties, what are your thoughts on them? we planted about half an acre of liberty and it is doing excellent but they do have milk cartons on so that is expected. They where planted in september last year. here is a picture.

David,

We are in Covert and South Haven.

The Weymouths are into 20% and the Bluettas have leaders coming into 70-80% blue.

I figure two weeks and we will be picking in the blue crop fields, but they don't appeat to be in any hurry.
Jerseys are still in third cover, with explosive new growth.
It's nuts, and I'm worried about next year bieng a real light year.

Did you guys get the 4.5" of rain we got?
Holy CRAP! I'm running the field drainage pumps again, after dropping the gate just a week ago.

 

[cqaigy2]

We have a few "Sunshine Blue Dwarf Blueberry" i believe they are called. They have great flavor, alot like highland huckleberry.

 

[Dingeryote]

Pannu,

Have 30A in production currently, more coming on line in a couple years.

Of the new varietys, the only ones that seem to be viable around here are Spartan, and the Patriots.
Libertys are still too new and not many guys have them in the ground yet. It takes a while to get a feel for how a new variety will do, and it's darn dangerous to invest 7 years of inputs into something new that might not pan out.
Lots of folks did that with Dukes, and got burned, and folks are still grumbling about Toros bieng hit or miss in our ground.

The pic is interesting. We don't trellis anything around here, as there is no need. Drip lines go on the ground, or overhead is installed.

Never seen Milk cartons used either.What is the purpose?

The new thing is plastic/permeable textile for a weed barrier and mounding, with the drip line under the plastic.
It saves a lot of herbicides and keeps the moisture in better.
I'm leery of it, because it also warms up the ground earlier, and the frost damage is higher on those fields.

Here's one of our new sections after planting.

 

[Dingeryote]

Pannu,

Just had a Growers meeting.
Hang onto your shorts, wallet, and nail down everything of value.

The processors are looking to cut a fat hog and rip off the growers again.

$1.10lb for hand pick, and .30 cents lb. off the back of the harvester.
Never mind that the things are $2.50 a pint in the stores, and $3.50 for 14oz frozen.

It's going to crush a bunch of smaller growers.

 

[radioman]

I just got a facebook message from my favorite veggie stand and they just posted that they are going to open this friday :drool:for U pick and its going to be 1.75 a pound . They said the sun they had for last few days finally put color on the berries and will be sweet enough next week to eat. How does the pricing go for your area?