Grow Your Own Magazine

I have had a good look through the posts using the s****h, but have not found the exact question or answer. I have just picked up three Blueberry bushes in 1lt pots. One person has said to plant them up incrementally - 2lt pots this year then 3lt, 4lt etc, the other advice was to put them straight into the biggest pot I have - 20". I plan to keep them in containers as my soil has pH8 so I don't want to risk losing them at this stage. What would be best?

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History teaches us that history teaches us nothing. - Hegel

If they were mine, first off, I'd knock them out of the pots and see how much root they've got. You can probably gauge then how far you dare stretch the pot size. In general terms, I'd probably go to a 2litre this year, a 4 next year and then 7.5. Like you, our ground isn't acidic enough to plant them out, you just have to remember rainwater when poss and sequestrene or similar at least 3 or 4 times a year (I really ought to practice what I preach!!). Mine have thrived on neglect for the past 2 years, as they've had no tlc at all yet have produced brilliant crops for the pot size (2.5L)!

This is quite useful info

How to Grow Blueberries in Pots

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Sara

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/sarajjohnson

Updated 22/07/10

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...blogs/pipkins/

I have increased my pot sizes incrementally with great success. The (now) 3 year old plants have increased in size dramatically and are very healthy bushes, ready to fruit in abundance for the first time this year. Also my (now) 2 year old plants have had one pot size increase since purchase and are also full of buds.

Incidentally I have read that handfuls of pine needles added to the top of the pots "feed" the plants beneficially, also a friend has advised, and I did this last year, giving the bushes coffee grounds and tea leaves, as available. The bushes certainly remained healthy all year. I always used rainwater and did not let them dry out and am hoping for great things by next year for the 5 different varieties I now have. (The feeding advice also applies to hydrangeas)

N.B> Was worried when I saw an article in the local paper about a blueberry farm in W. Norfolk which showed bushes up to 6ft high!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am hoping to keep mine in pots!

Hope this is useful to others new to this fruit.

Try & get the pH to below 7 as fruit prefer acidic soil.........please correct me if I am wrong.

I find blueberries absolutely tasteless. Is it just me?

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~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkt82aeOCFo~

~ my allotment photos ~

All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments." -- Janet Kilburn Phillips

No way are you tasteless, T_S! I think you are a very refined lady!

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Binley knows Best
"Fan Of DarkCrow's Manipulation Of Words Society"
Courtier to the Queen of Baking

[QUOTE=wizzy;629104]

I have increased my pot sizes incrementally with great success. The (now) 3 year old plants have increased in size dramatically and are very healthy bushes, ready to fruit in abundance for the first time this year. Also my (now) 2 year old plants have had one pot size increase since purchase and are also full of buds.

I just love blueberries and would love to grow a bush of my own, and im a complete novice.
Im understanding they stay growing in pots.
Do they need ot be in a sunny area? slightly shaded? protected?
Also when in its life would you expect a good crop from the plant? in its 2nd year or 3rd year??
What soil do you grow it in?
And do you need any feed for it?
sorry if im coming across clueless xx lol

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"In order to live off a garden, you practically have to live in it.

To my favorite honeydew, do you carrot all for me?
My heart beets for you, with your turnip nose, and radish face.
You are a peach. If we cantaloupe, lettuce marry.
Weed make a swell pea

Yes

- Sunny, as sunny as poss
- Fruit comes best on 2 to 3 year old wood
- Ericaceous soil
- Always a good idea to feed - once they have set flowers I use tomato feed
- always try to water with rain water

I generally get LBs of the delicious blue things

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aka
Suzie

So, my blueberries get morning sun and afternoon shade, would this explain why the fruit doesn't taste very sweet? Should I try to place them in as much sun as possible?

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Mark

Vegetable Kingdom blog

Yes and Yes

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aka
Suzie

[QUOTE=parsnip/princess;629267]The best article I have read is in the March issue of GYO, on page 39, which gives some good advice and tips. I have read numerous snippets in GYO over the time I have had my bushes and work on a trial and error system. For two winters I have kept potted blueberries in unheated greenhouse or summerhouse and stood outside in a sheltered spot in a sunny position for the rest of the year.

A friend kept hers outside in a sheltered garden, with no protection, and had a very good crop the first year (on 2 yr old bushes) tho advice in articles in GYO has said not to let them fruit that year. Have also read they need a good frost to get them fruiting?

Good luck

I have never given mine any protection at all, in fact - they have been subjected to the horrors that is RAF Benson wind-tunnel, frost-pocket for the last 2½ years and last year was probably my heaviest crop ever.

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aka
Suzie

Do you think it's possible to put too many coffee grounds on a blueberry?
I'm putting on one lot a day, it doesn't look too much atm, but I'm wondering if I may over caffeine it or something?

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"Orinoco was a fat and lazy Womble"

Is it having trouble sleeping?

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aka
Suzie

2sheds- if you find them tasteless , just gently cook them with a sprinkling of sugar!YUM!

My 3 bushes are in a wind tunnel too-the bay tree looks dreadful after this winter, and yet the blueberries which are planted next to it look absolutely fine- in fact one of them is about to open it's buds any day now!!
No idea about pots though- sorry!

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"Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple

lol

Don't know, that's what I'm worried about

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"Orinoco was a fat and lazy Womble"

Again, I can only relay what I have done, I have never given my blueberries tea, coffee, wine or anything stronger than water - they have been excellent fruiters

Interesting about the coffee grounds though

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aka
Suzie

My blueberries are grown in the ground : at the end of our fruit section: shaded until 11am after spring..

Great taste if left to ripen properly - lots of netting needed.

Our soil is neutral: I add lots of compost every year and a 4 monthly dose of acidifying feed.. Growmore for Ericaceous plants.

Part from that healthy neglect. 2 died on me, the remaining five are healthy.

Over winter the temperatures drop as low as -17C and we had one spell of two weeks when the ground was always frozen..
They survive..

I dont grow them, as I am in the tasteless corner with TS, but my gardening guru's do.
Theirs were grown as cuttings from another bush, grown on in a raised bed and then into the ground proper.
They water often, use pine needles and I have a feeling coffee too, possibly wood ash??
Last year they got over 15lb of them, tried to give some to me but I refused.

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Bob Leponge
Life's disappointments are so much harder to take if you don't know any swear words.

Yay - just picked up a new one from wilkinsons! That makes 2 in pots on the plot. Nothing quite like 'em for muffins and pancakes. Thanks for the info folks.

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Binley knows Best
"Fan Of DarkCrow's Manipulation Of Words Society"
Courtier to the Queen of Baking

Despite the fact that I spent one third of my life on the other side of the Atlantic, i never really liked them. Then at the end of last year my local market was selling them off at about 40p a punnet. We were wandering with neighbours and Carol bought about 10 punnets.

'I don't really like them' I said. 'Try them my way' said Carol (the neighbour).

It was like what you do Nicos but with a soupçon (hey that's good, I found the cedilla on a UK keyboard) of clove powder. It cost me nearly £20 to buy 3 bushes.

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Why didn't Noah just swat those 2 greenflies?

Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?
>
>If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

i dont know the life expectancy of blueberries but i have 2 varieties patriot and chandler which are over 10 years old in 50 litre pots i would advise to repot them every 2-3 years with new ericaceous compost and give them a trim in feb just before it starts to bud in march mine keep getting bigger crops as the years pass chandler has berrys the size of a 10p one of the easiest and hardiest fruit anyone can grow

I have grown blueberries for a number of years. Each year I have a heavy crop yet all I have ever done is placed them in container of ericaceous and watered them using rainwater. Other than that I have left nature to do its work. Yes, when eating blueberries straight off the bush they are tasteless, but when used in cooking that's when the taste really comes alive.

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http://www.firstpasture.co.uk

I've got to get some of these. I spent about 9 years of my childhood running wild in the Deep South of the states and I remember bushes so big we used to have to climb them to get to the top where the best berries were. sigh....wheres my debit card *rumagerummagerummage*

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mmmmMMMmmm. Tea. http://www.charteas.com

I was told by a friend to dig a lemon into the soil at the base of the blueberry bush to replace the acid levels in the soil. Has anyone tried this?
My blueberry is very sad and I didnt bother picking the 3 berrys it produced last year. I would love to revive it. Also due to this thread I have purchased 3 more plants at the weekend and potted them in ericaceous compost as recommended here. My wife makes excellent blueberry muffins and blueberry pavlova, but with only 3 berrys the muffins are getting smaller.

I bought a blueberry plant from Aldi last year. I am sure that I read last week that you need to have at least 2 for them to bear any fruit, is this correct, do I need to buy another one?

To get a good crop you really need 2 21again. They often will fruit without an external pollinator but not very impressively.

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Why didn't Noah just swat those 2 greenflies?

Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?
>
>If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

Tut!

I haven't got a clue which type it was as I have lost the details, I suppose they should be the same type is that right?

From what I understand they do not need to be the same type.

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History teaches us that history teaches us nothing. - Hegel

I have 3 plants. One early, one mid-season and one late. Fortunately they do flower near enough to pollinate each other, early does mid, mid does early and late and late does mid, but the varieties are lost in the mists of time. Even 1 early and 1 late won't be too bad.

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Why didn't Noah just swat those 2 greenflies?

Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?
>
>If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

I do the pine needle thing - topping the bed that they are in with a thick mulch of 'em.
Other than that they are on their own. Last year was the first that they were in the ground after spending the previous two in pots. Didn't have a huge crop, but am expecting much greater things this year. Gave the larger of the two a light prune (cut out one crossing stem) from which I have taken four cuttings. Fingers crossed.
As to the tasteless thing, if you give them a good squeeze of lemon when cooking, it really wakes up the flavour.

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When the Devil gives you Cowpats - make Satanic Compost!

Thanks folks, I shall buy one more so I don't feel I have wasted my money on buying the other one.