Grow Your Own Magazine

Have just read with interest in the GYO August issue about taking semi ripe cuttings from blueberries. One bit confuses me though(not hard)my blue berries are in ericaceous soil in tubs. The artice says "pots filled with good,free draining multi purpose compost (acid-loving blueberries require a lime-free growing media). Does this mean that when cutting are taken they go into ordinary compost and a transplanted at a later date to ericaceous???

Thanks a million

Chriss

I suspect that multi-purpose compost would be fine ~ the soil should have a pH of between 4 and 5.5 ~ but make sure you water with rain water, not tap water.

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

How serious is the rainwater-only advice?

I have no access to rainwater, but the tap water is soft. Could I use that for blueberries in containers, or should I abandon the plan and not buy any?

(Really looking forward to blueberries next year, so I hope it'll be OK!!)

Hard water contains a compound called calciumhydrogencarbonate which creates limescale. This is a compound which increases the pH of solutions therefore making them more alkali. Soft water shouldn't be too bad as it doesn't contain this compound, to make it a little more acidic try adding a little lemon juice to the water then mix before watering. This may help to make the soil more acidic over time?

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"You never really understand a person until you look at things from their point of view, until you step into their skin and walk around in it" - Atticus Finch, To Kill A Mockingbird

Thanks for the advice, New Bud. I feel a bit more encouraged now - I know it's unusual not to to be able to harvest rainwater, but that's how it is here.

Is cold tea (from the teapot, not with milk!) acidic or alkaline? I sometimes put that on my pots.

oops black tea is extremely acidic, i.e without the milk so I would refrain from using it straight onto the soil in the pots, mixing it with water to dilute it should be useful for the blueberries, but perhaps not for other plants depending on what they are. See which plants you're growing and what their ideal soil pH is, you can usually find out by googling "what soil pH is needed for growing *insert veg name here*?"
to make water acidic: a little vinegar or lemon / lime juice depending on the amount of water mixed with
to make water alkali: 2 tea spoons of bicarbonate of soda to your watering can.
that is what I have been reccomended and we generally use bicarbonate as a base in chemistry and seeing as its a harmless alkaline i thought it should be okay to use on your plants at their base.

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"You never really understand a person until you look at things from their point of view, until you step into their skin and walk around in it" - Atticus Finch, To Kill A Mockingbird

Thanks for the warning. I'll be good in future and just use it on the blueberries when I get them.

There was I, thinking I was being frugal (the water in the teapot's already been through the water meter, so I've paid for it) and all the while I was doing more harm than good. Typical of my luck, that!

Mind you, when I run the tap for washing up, rather than waste the water that's not hot enough, I fill up 2ltr water bottles till the water's hot enough for the dishes (it takes 2 usually), and use that for watering. At least if it's going on the veggies after it's been metered, it's not a total waste...