Watering blueberries

[cornish crabber]

I bought 2 potted blueberry plants last year and after a reasonable harvest I planted them out in a raised bed on my allotment in ericaceous compost and added some sulphur granules.

Both seem to be struggling and one is looking poorly - very few leaves and few flowers. I have run out of rainwater in my water butt. We've had no proper rainfall for several weeks now.

Is it OK to use tap water for them? The water here is soft.

[FB.]

If tap water is all you have, it will be better than nothing.
Leaving tap water to stand outside for a day or two is supposed to help.

The raised bed probably isn't helping, since blueberries like boggy ground, while a raised bed is likely to improve drainage and have just the opposite effect on the soil to what blueberries like.

My blueberries grow slowly but fairly happily in a heavily shaded spot, with only minimal watering and no special ericaceous compost - just a light compost mulch each year to help retain moisture in the soil.
The soil in their shady spot remains moist most of the year as a result of not much direct sun, although the bushes are able to reach up to get some sunlight.
Persistently damp soil will often naturally become slightly acidic as a result of absorbing gases from the atmosphere in much the same way as acid rain if formed.

[Jeanied]

I'm sure I've suggested this before but it hasn't been shot down in flames yet, so here goes! Why don't you run your tap water through some ericaceous compost before using it to water your plants? Sort of a filter type idea.
Soft tap water is better than hard tap water. My blueberries are in one of those growing tubs with a reservoir at the bottom and a tube to water into - it is full of berries this year, for the first time. Clearly it approves of the move into the tub last year!

[womble]

I've kept my blueberries in a sunny spot because that's what I thought they needed!
A shady spot will be much easier for watering.

[cornish crabber]

Thanks for your input. I'll keep watering sparingly with tap water. Just a thought - could I lace the water with a little vinegar to lift its acidity? But I suppost the sulphur I have added should have that effect.

[piskieinboots]

My blueberries have always been watered with tap water when no more rain water is available, they hate hate hate drying out, so any water is better than none.

I keep mine in pots, mulched with pine cones - they thrive - so much so that we ate 'blueberry sweets' last year, so large was the crop.

Actually, I made some jam that went passed the good point, so I rolled pieces in icing sugar, bunged them in the freezer - took one out as a blueberry sweet hit was required - awesum they were