Blueberry bush which has seen better days...

Hi everyone!

Our blueberry bush seems to have a slight problem. Last year it fruited really well, over winter I pruned it back very slightly just to tidy it up, remove crossing branches etc, and stored it in the garage. When it milded up in March, I took it out of the garage, and put on a south facing fence, and then of course it turned really cold again, and I didn't put it back away. The new leaves started coming through, but they had purple spots on them, and have now shrivvled up and drop off when you brush them with your hand. There is still flowers on the plant which seem pretty firm.

I'm guessing this is frost damage, unless someone knows different (had a look on google and couldn't find anything similar), if so, will the plant recover by itself, is there anything I can do to help?

I've sprinkled on some sequestered iron, and sprayed the bush with seaweed solution so far.

Thanks
Mike

 

Never grown blueberries, but I thought they were totally hardy.
I'm just thinking maybe it came into growth before it should have done, then got zapped.

Think I would just keep it moist and see what happens, I doubt it's dead.
Feeding might not be good until its starts making new root.

 

Blueberies are very hardy, we've two planted outside and they've survived some very severe frosts,so doubt if your problem is due to frost unless the roots got dried out and frosted.
It would be helpful to know what size container is and how old the bush is. It could need repotting.

 

Bush is 2years old to us, it arrived in a smallish plastic pot and we planted it in the pot you can see on the photo.

Hopefully the photos will show something that you can pick out as a problem. Checked soil and is nice and moist so shouldn't be a problem on that front, and made sure its been watered all through the winter whilst in the garage.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

The bush looks at least four or five years old. My guess, and it is a guess, is that it needs repotting into a very much bigger container.
Another thing, and you may well be aware of it, is that tap water isn't the best thing for watering, particularly in hard water areas as blueberries hate alkaline and are plants for acidic environments. We live in a fairly soft water area but I use water from our water butt for watering.

 

I guess a new pot is worth a shot, it can't look any worse than it does at the moment, and I'd love it to keep its fruit.
Plant has always been watered with rain water from day one, so no probs on that front

 

I've bought some new pots, but in the end didn't need them. Took the blueberry out of its current pot, and found the compost laden with vine weevil!! Didn't think they went for things like this. Anyway, I knocked them all off, and changed all the compost, bush is back to the root ball which it came with originally, all the new roots just dropped away.

Gave it some plant tonic, and keeping my fingers crossed, it looks as if its trying to grow new leaves, but im not so sure, might be too late