How many blueberry bushes

[Kassaundra]

My husband and father in law kept running over a bush I wanted w/ the lawnmower, so I hammered a piece of rebar in the ground and dared them to run over it again! lol

 

[ninnymary]

I'm also having problems with my blueberries that are in large containers. The soil is very alkaline. I've added sulfer but I don't see any change. A grower told me it takes about 4 months for the sulfer to kick in. Well, it's been about that much time. I'm afraid to add more and really mess up the soil. Very frustrating and I just wish they would do well!

 

[thistlebloom]

I finally threw in the towel on blueberries myself. They did great for a few years, then I moved them. Twice. And I didn't have the foresight that Smart Red did in preparing their final resting place, so they died a slow lingering death. It's sad, but it's all my bad.

(Hey, that rhymed )

 

[the1honeycomb]

I'm also having problems with my blueberries that are in large containers. The soil is very alkaline. I've added sulfer but I don't see any change. A grower told me it takes about 4 months for the sulfer to kick in. Well, it's been about that much time. I'm afraid to add more and really mess up the soil. Very frustrating and I just wish they would do well!

Try mulching them with pine needles, they like to stay moist but not wet and the pine needles will help make you soil acidic. Good luck

 

[ninnymary]

Honeycomb, I will collect pine needles this weekend. Luckily they are only 3 houses down at the park. My blueberries look so pathetic, I'd like to pull them out! I give them another year.

Mary

 

[plainolebill]

We have 6 bushes, three of them are 20 years old, the other three are 4 years old. So far we've picked about 35 cartons, mostly from the older bushes. The cartons hold ~12 oz. This is ideal country for blueberries, acidic soils and lots of moisture but I still added peat moss to the soil when we planted the new bushes.

I took hardwood cuttings from our favorite older berry and they've taken so we'll give them to our kids to plant.

*Tip - blueberries do not like much nitrogen.

 

[catjac1975]

Blueberries are the easiest carefree fruit. Once established they need almost no care. I don't know why others have had so much trouble unless it is your climate. I would not keep blueberries in pots. Occasionally we give them manure-every couple of years. If we have a drought they need to be watered-but that is usually 1 time a summer. There are no pests-just need covering from the birds. We had 1 season without berries. That was last year with that mild winter and early spring. A frost killed the blossoms when they bloomed too early. We really hardly prune them-just beg people to come help pick and eat them.

 

[peteyfoozer]

Sounds great! I may just give it a try with 1 and see how I do. If I have success, I can always add more later

 

[peteyfoozer]

My husband and father in law kept running over a bush I wanted w/ the lawnmower, so I hammered a piece of rebar in the ground and dared them to run over it again! lol