First time blueberry grower... advice?

[Smart Red]

Welcome, @WildWyandott110. Happy to have you growing with us. I'm in much the same growing zone as you. I consider myself more of a zone 4 than 5 but catalogs have changed my zone without me moving nary an inch in the past 40 years or so.

According to soil maps in my area, I have been growing huge blueberries in a limestone soil for those same 40 years. According to my Master Gardener class instructor, it can't be done. . . and yet..........

If you already have an acidic soil you're on your way to deliciousness in the ground or in a pot, otherwise -- especially if you're planting in a pot -- you can make your soil acidic and 'garden on' with your blueberries.

One tip: you should plant two or three different varieties for best fruiting. Not sure why, but all the catalogs and garden suggestions make that point. Something to do with a need for cross fertilization of those pretty flowers needed to get the berries.

Pleased to meet you and I look forward to becoming gardening friend here on TEG.

 

[bobm]

google baker creek nursery in Oregon ... they are one of the largest wholesale commercial blueberry producers. On their web site, the have all of about growing blueberries that anyone would want to know.

 

[buckabucka]

I've been having recent success with high bush blueberries here in Maine, although I've read that it is pushing the limits for their zone.
It took a while before I got any fruit, because I did not acidify the soil at first, and never kept them weeded. Now they are getting big enough that I actually do some pruning in the spring.

I'll be interested to see if anything is alive this year, as we had a weird stretch of -30 for five nights in a row. There was some snow cover, but not enough maybe. Time will tell.

 

[Smart Red]

With snow cover they may die back to the snow level but shouldn't damage the roots. I know they are not reliably hardy here either, since I've tried one high bush variety -- I was trying to grow SMALLER berries, if you can believe that -- but it did not survive our 2012 drought. Just might be a good time to try again as these last 6 bushes are going to be in huge pots rather than in the ground. I could easily bring a smaller bush inside somewhere for the winter.

 

[ducks4you]

! Let us know that blueberry growing goes for you!

 

[WildWyandott110]

I am way down in Texas, we have blueberries that can take the heat that grow here. I probably won't be much help to you! I don't grow them, we go to a U-pick blueberry farm. But I want to say WELCOME to the forum!

Haha! Thanks!

They grow them in Maine where it is very cold. They don't do the high bush they do low growing annd pick with a rake.

Got it. Thanks for the advice!

Hi and I've read this one is self pollinating and can take LOW temps, should do alright in a tub, just remember they like an acidic soil, add some peat moss and fertilize with something like miracid.

Annette

Perfect! I've heard the same about the acidic soil, so that was one of my reasons for planting in a pot. Thanks for the advice!

blueberries are common to this area, so probably ok there too. mix a little elemental sulphur to the potting mix. enjoy! welcome to TEG!

Thanks! I'll have to look into the sulpher's availability at my local gardening stores.

welcome! well fertilized Acidic soil, Im not sure of good cold hardy types for ya as Im in Florida

Welcome from Washington state glad you joined. We have some four year old bushes that get some berries but not much. Hope you have better luck with them than we do. Plenty of gardeners here to share info with though.

XD Thanks, I'm gonna need it.

Northblue is a good hardy variety.
Blueberries are self pollinating but will produce heavier with another blueberry of a different variety. You can look up which bb would work best with yours. But you'll still get fruit if you don't add another.
I have 12 in the ground and 2 in tubs. One of the varieties in the tub produces abundantly, seems to have more blooms than leaves. They have a shallow netted root system and don't like to dry out completely. Mulch with sawdust or bark.

And welcome to the forum!

Thanks! I'll have to look into getting another blueberry bush.

Welcome, @WildWyandott110. Happy to have you growing with us. I'm in much the same growing zone as you. I consider myself more of a zone 4 than 5 but catalogs have changed my zone without me moving nary an inch in the past 40 years or so.
According to soil maps in my area, I have been growing huge blueberries in a limestone soil for those same 40 years. According to my Master Gardener class instructor, it can't be done. . . and yet..........

If you already have an acidic soil you're on your way to deliciousness in the ground or in a pot, otherwise -- especially if you're planting in a pot -- you can make your soil acidic and 'garden on' with your blueberries.

One tip: you should plant two or three different varieties for best fruiting. Not sure why, but all the catalogs and garden suggestions make that point. Something to do with a need for cross fertilization of those pretty flowers needed to get the berries.

Pleased to meet you and I look forward to becoming gardening friend here on TEG.

Got it! What varieties are you growing?

google baker creek nursery in Oregon ... they are one of the largest wholesale commercial blueberry producers. On their web site, the have all of about growing blueberries that anyone would want to know.

Thanks for the advice. I'll look into that.

I've been having recent success with high bush blueberries here in Maine, although I've read that it is pushing the limits for their zone.
It took a while before I got any fruit, because I did not acidify the soil at first, and never kept them weeded. Now they are getting big enough that I actually do some pruning in the spring.

I'll be interested to see if anything is alive this year, as we had a weird stretch of -30 for five nights in a row. There was some snow cover, but not enough maybe. Time will tell.

Yeah, I got the same cold spell.Three of my chickens got frostbite. Good luck with the blueberries!

! Let us know that blueberry growing goes for you!

Thanks! Yup, I'll keep you all informed.

 

[ninnymary]

Welcome! I'm not much help since my climate is very different than yours and I grow the southern types of blueberries. Mine are all in big containers and do very well. There are 2 in trough and 1 in the cobalt pot you can see in my avatar.

Mary

 

[WildWyandott110]

Welcome! I'm not much help since my climate is very different than yours and I grow the southern types of blueberries. Mine are all in big containers and do very well. There are 2 in trough and 1 in the cobalt pot you can see in my avatar.

Mary

Gorgeous blueberries! How big are your pots?

 

[ninnymary]

Gorgeous blueberries! How big are your pots?

Not sure but they are hugh. I don't know if you can tell their size on my avatar. Maybe the blue bench will help you with the scale.

Mary

 

[WildWyandott110]

Not sure but they are hugh. I don't know if you can tell their size on my avatar. Maybe the blue bench will help you with the scale.

Mary

Thanks! That helped me more than you realize.