Blueberries questions

I have three small blueberry bushes bought over the last two years. They've hardly grown, have looked half-dead most of the time, and although berries were produced they never ripened. It seems as if this might be because they like acidic soil, and my soil's definitely not acidic.

What's my best course of action here?

Should I transplant them into containers full of ericaceous compost? If so, what size should the containers be? I'd heard 60 cm minimum, but this would be an expensive option, ie cost of containers and amount of compost needed to fill them (the plants are at present around 18 ins high).

Or...should I remove them from the soil, dig in lots of ericaceous compost, and replace them?

Or some other option?

Would love to hear your suggestions.

 

We have had quite good success with our Blueberries in their second year on nuteral soil.........We just dug in loads of ericasious compost and made sure they got plenty of rainwater and you will need to net them from the birds.
Good luck.

 

I'm 99% certain your problem is due to your soil being alkaline. Blueberries are very sensitive to the ph and will not do well unless growing in an acidic soil.
Your course of action depends on how much you are willing to spend, or looking at it another way how much you are prepared to invest in the production of some rather yummy berries.
Whichever way you go you'll have to buy some ericaceous compost.
We have two blueberry plants. The first lived in a big pot until it was about 60cm tall and two years ago I transplanted it into the ground. The pot was about 40-45 cm and filled with ericaceous compost. I dug a hole a fair bit bigger than the root ball and then used ericaceous compost to fill the gaps. The bush has really taken off since transplanting and we had a bumper crop this year. Our other plant is still potted in a 30cm pot but I'll be putting it into the ground this autumn.
The bottom line is that if you want the plants to do well, you'll need to provided them with the conditions they like and one way or another it will cost you, but will be worth the outlay.

 

Many thanks to you both. I'll be digging in the ericaceous!

 

Mine has done fine for the last few years in ordinary general purpose compost, although they are supposed to be acid lovers.

Are they getting enough sunlight? Also are they getting enough water? I understanding they like slightly boggy conditions, although mine isn't kept too wet.

I don't know what the ideal is, but mine is in a large container - about 16 inches diameter and the same deep at a guess, is sheltered from the wind but gets full sun, and unless we get a hot dry spell the only water it gets is whatever rain water it can catch.

 

Mine not done well either no fruit but colour of leaves stunning.

 

Mine are in large pots (due to be moved this winter into even larger ones), full of ericaceous compost. Had them for two years now, first year they fruited well, this year they did magnificently.

 

Thanks, everyone. Have thought of large pots - so expensive though.

 

Not as attractive, but there are fairly realistic plastic pots that work out a lot cheaper than their equivalents in terracotta or similar materials.

 

Blueberries need acid soil...so ericaceous definetly vital, but try to build some coarse material in there aswell. We use potting bark in our commercial mix, but I'm aware this is very hard to buy in garden centres, so 20% perlite or grit + some woodchip from your local tree surgeon will help.
If your soil is alkaline and you dont want to go down the tub route, Try making a raised bed and filling it with compost. You can achieve good results from old pieces of decking as an example. Allow 1m x 1m per plant.

Scotkat - did you get flowers? How many plants do you have?

Hope that helps
David Trehane
The Dorset Blueberry Company
Special Offer semi mature plants now in store - £30 / pair - Free P&P
www.dorsetblueberry.co.uk

 

Hi, i would really like to grow some blueberries and was considering the 'cheats' option and buying mature plants to speed up the process, can you identify the difference in varieties as i have no idea, many thanks

 

David, thank you! I shall include perlite in the ericaceous soil.

 

Dan. You could try the T&M site. They give the fruiting times for different varieties, or just Google "Blueberries"