Fruit bushes - stake or not?

Hey guys!

I have a few fruit bushes (blueberry, raspberry and kiwi), should I train them to grow using stakes or let them be freeeee?!

 

Hey Snowbaby

Kiwi will climb by it's self, Rasberries need some bamboo canes to tie them to, otherwise they can flop over.

Blueberries should be ok on their own, you know you need ericaceous compost for the blueberries?

 

I drive in stakes around the perimeter of the bed and fix something (wire/timber battens) horizontally to form a 'coral' around them and stop the plants from flopping.

 

Thanks, no I didn't zigs, but my other blueberry Bush is thriving in the same compost so hopefully this new one will too! I'll stake my rasps, thank you!

Should I try to cage them or something to protect them from bugs, cats and birds?

 

I had a blueberry bush in general purpose compost for a couple of years before I learned that they need ericaceous compost. It produce about 6 tiny berries per year. I just thought it was because it was young, even though it was apparently 2 year old when I bought it. I transplanted it into ericaceous compost one spring and that same year it was completely covered in big juicy berries.

 

oooh thanks clueless.

I'll see what I can get. SHould I try and get the plant itself out of the compost I've used or just transplant the whole lot into a bigger pot with proper soil? (last year's bush has probably used all of it's soil to cling onto? The newest one I should be able to break free most of the compost though)

 

Also, is it ok to do that now or would I need to wait til after this year's cropping time? I've already recently repotted the newest bush (maybe 2 weeks ago)

 

It depends what variety it is I guess, in that if its an early one, it should have its flowers on now, and disturbing it will most likely put paid to any chance of berries this year. But then, if it can't feed (acid loving plants can't feed effectively in neutral soil), then you're probably not going to get any berries this year anyway.

How long since you planted it? Chances are if it was recent, then if you gently pull the whole thing up the original rootball will still be intact and will just lift straight out, then you can just re-pot into ericaceous compost.

When I did mine, it had been in general purpose for at least a couple of years. I think, if I remember right, I did it in late autumn. I lifted the whole shrub out, shook it so that most of the old compost fell off, and re-potted. Shaking off the old compost wont be necessary if yours has only just been planted, as the soil around the roots will already be ericaceous compost. The problem occurs when the roots set off into the surrounding general purpose compost in search of more nutrients and water. It will find water, but wont find much nutrition, as it needs nutrients that are chemically locked up in neutral or alkaline soil.

 

Sorry, in answer to your second point, I think I'd do it asap. I wouldn't call it an emergency, but the sooner you do it the sooner it will be able to get itself established and the less hassle you'll have with roots clinging to general purpose compost.

Just remember to give it a very thorough drink after doing it. In the case of blueberries, it is fine for the compost to be actually drenched through, as long as it can drain freely.

 

I used sulphur to acidify my blueberry soils and it worked very well. Slow, but cheap. Here is the Royal Horticulture Society ""
Sulphur
This is the common acidifying material. Soil organisms convert sulphur into sulphuric acid, so acidifying the soil. The more finely ground the sulphur the more quickly the bacteria can convert it; sulphur dust is quicker acting than sulphur chips (and more expensive). However, acidification by sulphur takes weeks to have an effect, and when the soil is cold in winter, months might be needed.
Although sulphur is the cheapest acidifier and least likely to harm plants, other materials are sometimes used:""

I bought a bag of this, tiny chips of it for extended release, did wonders. ($6 a bag, will last for as long as I will need any, many years worth)

 

Ok, I think I'll do the newest plant ASAP (I re potted it last week) but leave my other one until autumn, it's from last year and already has loads of buds. Can I use plant food to give it a boost?

 

"Can I use plant food to give it a boost?"

yes, but dissolve it in battery acid first.

I just looked at my blueberries and the fruit are showing distress - getting a tiny bit wrinkly which is what happened last year so I need to give them a good dose of more sulfur. My two old bushes that share small raised wood planters with roses have really large berries and they never produced before so must be responding to the sulfur, the other ones doing much better than last year but not there yet after all. (only got the S this winter) I have hope for a proper crop next year. So much to learn.

 

Weve just bought 2 Blueberry bushes and I was planning on planting them directly into the garden - is this a no no ?

 

It depends. If your garden soil is natural acidic, it will be fine, but unless your garden used to be a marsh or open heath land, it is unlikely to be acidic.

You could try sinking large containers filled with ericaceous compost into the ground to plant them into.

 

I had thought my clay and sand soil in pine woods with oak leaf compost dug in would be acidic - especially as my pond water from the well is naturally ph 5.5. I was wrong. In USA every county in every State has what is called the Extension Service. A professional agent is available on the phone, or to visit your place to answer questions; they are always linked with a University that has a big biology or agriculture or forestry department. Anyway they do soil tests for $6, you post it in (which costs another $5). My soil the blue berries were in turned out to be 6.8! So I knocked these boxes together from salvaged wood



Then I pulled up the blue berry bushes, They had been planted - 8 of them - in May 2013, they were doing so bad one died; the others were sick. I filled the boxes with compost (oak leaf compost - pretty neutral compost surprisingly - 6.8 too) and re-planted them in winter 2014, and later getting the soil test and finding the ph I added the sulfur. They have become much healthier and were covered with berries this spring but now the berries are looking weak and I think will drop. Next year I will get it right.

I had read changing the ground soil ph is not really very doable; but in containers and pots is very doable. I will keep working on getting the ph right because I want berries for pies. Blueberries are grown commercially here and do very well usually, but not in my land.

This is winter - see the bananas wrapped across the pond and the greens looking frozen, and those are some of the boxes I knocked together from scrap (I ask for it at construction sites if there is a pile looking like it is to be taken to the dump and they always say take what you want - both old wood torn out, or new wood scraps (off cuts) .) Now it is spring it looks completely different and those blueberries in the boxes look good and all the boxes and surrounded land is heavily mulched with leaves. I put about 1500 pounds of oak leaves down.


Anyway that is what I did for my blueberries. I have about 35 raised boxes and beds scattered around - I even planted most of my trees in boxes because then they can be watered during the summer, they are low quality dry rooted trees bought cheaply and have to be really cared for during the dry, hot, summer.