Are blueberries hard to grow?

[Gillykat]

I've just received two Blueberry 'Duke' from the T&M offer advertised on this forum. They arrived on Friday and are lovely healthy specimens in 9'' pots. I've currently got them on my living room windowsill and will move them to the allotment greenhouse in a week or so's time.

I wasn't sure whether I actually liked blueberries so bought some from Sainsburys the other week and oh my...they were like nectar!!!!

I'll be growing them inside a cage as no way are the birdies getting them!

[Stan79]

Mine is in a fruit cage... normal soil but I did dig a largish hole and filled it with ericaceous compost when planting. I then add coffee grounds around it when I get around to remembering to do it!

We still have berries in the freezer from two if not three years ago!

[Urban]

easy to grow if you use the right soil, but yeh the local blackbirds love eating mine, they will need netting if you want any fruit

[ghexton]

Duke Plants

hello All,

https://ibb.co/dJ8wf2N

Here are my two free T&M duke blueberries planted up. (bigger pots at either end)
As you can see both have started sprouting a few leaves.
Potted in ericaceous will look at getting some netting when fruiting outside.
I'm guessing you just drap it around the plants.

[Stan79]

Oh, and we only have the one blueberry and it self pollinates I believe...

[Stan79]

“Blue crop” is the variety... looks like it would do even better with a second one to help pollination but it already produces more than enough for us.

[Aberdeenplotter]

I'm astonished Stan. In our house we could eat blueberries until the cows come home

[Stan79]

I'm astonished Stan. In our house we could eat blueberries until the cows come home

I think it’s more the case that we had so many that we had to freeze them or they’d go to waste and we just never got around to defrosting them!

[DannyK]

I have three that I got in 2010 and one other from can't remember where from.

Not killed yet and as long as netted I get a good crop which my wife likes. Give me a good blackberry any day! In view of cost of fruit in shop do pay for themselves.

Made a coulis when she was abroad one year. Cooking and sugar seems to improve them.

Would like to put in larger containers but would be too heavy.

If I were starting again I'd put them into raised beds, foot deep.

[TrixC]

I believe clay soil is naturally quite acidic so not bad for blueberries, and they like bog conditions! My allotment is on clay too and all I did was dig a decent size hole for each plant and fill it with ericaceous compost. The blueberries are doing really well there.

[Can the Man]

My blueberry bushes are budding well.

[Bluenowhere]

I’ve got mine planted in the fruit cage on allotment.

On clay, put a bit of sulphur and some other potash type thing that I forget the name of around them. Mulch with the shredded remains of my real Christmas tree. They seem happy enough and given enough berries to put on my breakfast so that’s good enough for me.

Water with rain water from our ibc tanks when I have it and from the trough which fill from mains water for plot holders to use when I don’t. So I would say that despite sounding picky on conditions in the books in reality they are fairly easy to look after.

[Snadger]

I have acid soil so grow them as an ornamental plants. They do fruit each year but the birds get them all. I really think I need to net them this year.