How to Grow a Blueberry Bush

[LindaB220]

THanks LInda!! I read the whole thing and was seriously thinking of buying but there is no way I can swing that kind of money this year. lol I sure thought about it though.

Can someone suggest what kind of "soil" I need to use for rooting?? I have an unused sandbox of coarse crushed ( sharp) sand. a BIG OLD compost pile . . . HELP!!

When clearing brush today I noticed what had grown in over the last 2 years is BLUEBERRIES. THe biggest berries were on those bushes that were in the shade of a taller shrub.


I have ordered some more fruit trees and realize that on the west slope I need to set the trees a bit from the tree line. Which will leave 20-40feet of area available for those berry plants that are ok with the morning shade. Planning is a bear.

What great luck!!!

 

[LindaB220]

After looking at a number of websites that well "fruit trees" I have noticed some definitely put a great deal into the descriptions and others skim the basics. So far WIllis has the greatest detail on all the berries and fruit. Not meaing you have to purchase from Willis, but just get the deeper description from them and apply it to a named fruit from another source.

Chokecherry is very tart. CHerries are usually listed as sour or sweet so that is easy. Beyond that I am useless.

I did a lot of reading on stark bros and thought they too had supper detail on the flavor of the berries. ANd noted if they could be eaten out of hte hand or needed to be cookwed with sugar. .

This is a good site. I bought strawberries last year and just ran out of money as all the sales came on. This year I'm going to buy a few. Super healthy.

http://www.berriesunlimited.com/?gc...y6LnwK-PhDmI65O8P_KugO0UgXAzw5byienmHhazw_wcB

 

[LindaB220]

One last post. Per Mikes instructions, get a dishpan like container with holes in sides and bottom Fill with very course sand. Like making cement. Put your soft cuttings about an inch apart. I put about 30 or so in a plastic strainer. Soft is the ones that bend. Water really good. Get 4 pencils and stand in each corner. Carefully put a white trash bag over it and close gently. Put outside in a shady area that gets no sun. Every 4-5 days water again and close. Should be rooted in a couple of weeks. I'd leave it in the container for a while. Then individually pot into 5 inch pots. Or in the ground. Plenty of water. I did 50 hydrangeas and they were rooting great. Then I got side tracked and a lot died. I couldn't understand it and found out that Home Depot gave me play sand. Too packy and didn't drain well. But It does work well.

 

[chickadoodles]

Not bad at all, looks pretty flat though. I need a bit of height differences to be happy. We're having unusually cold and rainy weather here too, but apparently it should warm up in a few weeks again.

It is hard to tell as it was still pretty dark out but just past that tree line the property drops off and then there is a nice size hill. Alabama has alot of flat land but we also have some nice hills and some mountains.

 

[chickadoodles]

You get used to it. I used to work as a security guard at one point doing night shifts, sometimes I went for two weeks without seeing the sun. Not up yet when leaving work, and had already set when i woke up after shifts. That was a bit frustrating. And you sure do get pale.

I can kind of understand that I guess. Here when we switch over to daylight savings time during the fall and winter it is dark when I get up and it gets dark at supper time about 5pm. Not much time for daylight. But then in the spring and summer we have daylight from 6am to 8pm that is what spoils us I guess.
I stayed pale for years working nights and sleeping days or even working days and at home nights. lol

 

[chickadoodles]

Arielle I can just see all those fruit trees and berries planted now! I hope you will take and share some pics.
Working at the nurseries we just cut and stuck the cuttings straight into the potting soil and kept them moist and they rooted!
I worked at Southern Homes and Gardens in Montgomery, AL. they have 300 acres of farm land with most of the land being used to plant and grow landscaping plants for Southern Growers. I saw the workers every day cutting and rooting the cuttings just like we did at the nursery. Yes you can get better results if you want to go spend money on sand or other materials but it is not necessary.

Linda thanks for sharing the Berries unlimited page! I have been hunting berries like crazy.

 

[vehve]

It is hard to tell as it was still pretty dark out but just past that tree line the property drops off and then there is a nice size hill. Alabama has alot of flat land but we also have some nice hills and some mountains.

And even some coastline! Hmm, there's a giant great white shark swimming about there right now, there was a story about it heading for Texas in our news (or on the net version of a newspaper). It's strange what makes the news around here sometimes.

 

[chickadoodles]

I tried to catch the drop off and the hill. The trees are in the bottom just before the hill in this pic. It is not much of a hill but it is a hill. lol

 

[vehve]

I tried to catch the drop off and the hill. The trees are in the bottom just before the hill in this pic. It is not much of a hill but it is a hill. lol

Now this is more to my liking, looks very peaceful and idyllic. All that's missing is a few sheep or something similar.

 

[chickadoodles]

And even some coastline! Hmm, there's a giant great white shark swimming about there right now, there was a story about it heading for Texas in our news (or on the net version of a newspaper). It's strange what makes the news around here sometimes.

heheheheh not much of a hill but for Alabama it is a hill. lol