How to Grow a Blueberry Bush

[Arielle]

Freshly planted and waiting on bird netting.

Oh My,

they look happy in their new homes. THEy are sure to thrive . . . you will definitely need the netting!!!

Got the Blueberry Patch planted this week.

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Healthy plants are sooooo lovely!!

 

[sunflour]

@Arielle thanks, this thread was my inspiration to give it a try…

Hopefully next year I will be boasting of my yield

 

[Arielle]

@Arielle thanks, this thread was my inspiration to give it a try…

Hopefully next year I will be boasting of my yield

Glad y ou were inspired!!!!!




My one plant that I bought last year bare root has survived the insanely cold and snowy winter. But the tag is lost. . . . . hoping I can find the sales receipt.

 

[gjensen]

Hey guys, guess I have caught the Blueberry Bug

Started with 3 and was gonna put in pots, but local independent garden shop had sooo many of the ones that grow well in GA..

Couldn't help but add to the grouping and now have 8 Rabbiteye Blueberry bushes several different early and mid blooming cultivars for cross pollination. And have a fenced garden I am converting into a Blueberry Garden!

Another dumb question: these are potted plants, not bare root. I know I need to remove any blooms and fruit at planting. Do I really need to prune the plants? I have read to prune off 1/3 height of the plants, but I don't want to. I'm thinking of just removing any low or weak looking areas and leave the rest to mother nature.

What do ya think?

A little late to throw my two cents in. For potted blueberries (I have hundreds of them), I only prune drooping canes that might touch the mulch etc.

 

[gjensen]

I have 3 blueberry bushes. Two are new that I just planted this year and they survived the late freeze so I'm rather proud of them (and me!). I have a Tifblue, an Elliott and I can't remember the 3rd offhand. The Elliott is the oldest. I planted that last year and it was the only one that lived. Happily it is thriving. I need to get something else to go next to it where its "cousin" lived... I keep forgetting!

In terms of care, I used potting soil mixed with bunny poop to set them. I throw wood ash from the fireplace over the soil every so often to help w/ acidity, and I use Miracle Gro. Apart from that, keeping them watered is the main thing.

Good luck with yours!

Tifblue is difficult to beat concerning vigor and durability in the southeast. It is an older Rabbiteye, developed in Tifton Ga. in the 50s by crossing wild parents. It has stood the test of time, and is the most widely planted Rabbiteye cultivar. I love the plant. I trial many cultivars, and only keep what thrives with basic care. I have more Tifblue than any other plant.

It's main hang up, and they all have some weakness, is that the fruit is prone to splitting during excessively wet summer weather.

Wood ash will raise the ph instead of dropping it. Wood ash would not be good for blueberries.

 

[gjensen]

Raech, love that masonry ladder. I have LOTS of ideas beyond blueberries running thru my head!! lol

WIld blueberries have more of some nutrients than the modern cultivars, so dont limit yourself to just the supersized berries. Personally I dont like the modern cultivars for flavor and will NOT buy them in the market. ONLY wild blueberries will do. From one source the Vitamin 17 is higher in wild types. So if this chemical can fight cancer I"m all for it. ( I dont beleive all the hype about the Vit 17 being poisonous at the levels I eat. Or the rabbit-- heehee, he should be dead based on those accounts. lol ) So I am pushing for more wild blueberries, as well as other berries.

Had a heated discussion over chokecherries with DH. He is a native tree expert compared to me but I didnt beleive him. HE says we have a typeof wild cherry but it is NOT the chokecherry. THough the cherry configuration is the same. ANd they taste just as bitter until fully ripe. Delicious rpe but puts on a pucker when bitter!! lol A quick snack in the fall when out in the woods. ( I havent died yet. lol)

There is some variation among cultivars. Many of the older varieties are simple crosses of wild selections. Some knew ones still have a wild type parent in their heritage.

Wild blueberries are something to appreciate. We have a low bush and rabbiteye native. Neither are very good. I want to cross a northern low bush with our southern, and see if I can play with the genetics. I would like one worth eating and tolerate our heat, have low enough chill our requirements, and survive our sandy soils like the local native does.

 

[gjensen]

Got the Blueberry Patch planted this week.

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Keep them pruned on the smaller side. 10' - 12' is good spacing between rows.

I do not live far from you. The more acidic mulch that you can use the better. They like to grow their roots in the base of the mulch when it becomes decomposed.

I like to use a variety of materials rather a single type. Water penetrates better, and I have become convinced it is better for the plants. I layer oak leaves, sticks, etc. then top off with pine straw. The sticks (pine limbs etc.) help the water penetrate rather than running off compacted like materials. The fungus etc. that grows on the small limbs is good for the "system".

 

[sunflour]

@gjensen

These are planted too close for the long run, but read that it would be ok to plant closer in the beginning and plan to move the Rabbiteye's in about 5 years. Hope that's ok..for now trying to get them started without deer eating them all! And will expend the fenced area in the future.

 

[gjensen]

@gjensen

These are planted too close for the long run, but read that it would be ok to plant closer in the beginning and plan to move the Rabbiteye's in about 5 years. Hope that's ok..for now trying to get them started without deer eating them all! And will expend the fenced area in the future.

I think they will be fine as they are if you keep them pruned where you can access all sides, even if it is just reaching in for the fruit. I did not mean to be critical, but I did notice. You know how plants of this sort is. There is an ideal, and then there is what is acceptable to you. I like how you have them enclosed. When you have a late freeze, you will be able to wrap and cover them etc.

The deer do enjoy them LOL. When I started my first patch where I am, a neighbors cow got out. The darned thing pulled every one out of the ground. Then as they were recovering, the rabbits were working against me. Somehow, I managed to be fortunate enough to save the patch.

Your patch looks healthy and happy. You will enjoy them. I love blueberries, and I like the plants as much as I do the berries. Almost. They are beautiful plants and resistant to disease. It is easy to for me to grow them organically. The most they require is plenty of water. Their small, shallow, fibrous roots need constant moisture. They hate water logged soils though. My main cost is water alone.

I am currently scheming how I can incorporate them into my landscape for the visual appeal. They do well in partial shade though they will not produce as much, obviously.

 

[sunflour]

I think they will be fine as they are if you keep them pruned where you can access all sides, even if it is just reaching in for the fruit. I did not mean to be critical, but I did notice. You know how plants of this sort is. There is an ideal, and then there is what is acceptable to you. I like how you have them enclosed. When you have a late freeze, you will be able to wrap and cover them etc.

The deer do enjoy them LOL. When I started my first patch where I am, a neighbors cow got out. The darned thing pulled every one out of the ground. Then as they were recovering, the rabbits were working against me. Somehow, I managed to be fortunate enough to save the patch.

Your patch looks healthy and happy. You will enjoy them. I love blueberries, and I like the plants as much as I do the berries. Almost. They are beautiful plants and resistant to disease. It is easy to for me to grow them organically. The most they require is plenty of water. Their small, shallow, fibrous roots need constant moisture. They hate water logged soils though. My main cost is water alone.

I am currently scheming how I can incorporate them into my landscape for the visual appeal. They do well in partial shade though they will not produce as much, obviously.

@gjensen , I didn't take your post as critical


They are quite pretty plants, I had thought about using as foundation plantings but likely they would just be deer food unprotected.
Most had berries and blooms when I bought them, so removed all at planting.
The soil in that area is well draining and I mixed compost and canadian sphagnum moss in with them.
Haven't fertilized them, but think it may be time, they have been in the ground for nearly a month and have been putting out new growth constantly.


The question I could never find and answer to and maybe you know? 4 plants were labeled with the cultivar name, but 2 just were labeled "Rabbiteye". They were from the same commercial nursery that labeled one other as "Rabbiteye, Brightwell". I assume that would mean the non-cultivar labeled ones are original or wild type? That's why I got more plants with known cultivar labeling to try to get all early to mid season bloomers for cross pollination.