Project 1; How to save blueberry bush.

I am an absolute beginner and I have recently taken over my parent's garden and am deciding what I'd like to save.
This bluberry bush is about 7 years old and gives some fruit put is producing less each year.
It is planted in slightly alkaline, free draining soil.
It has been top dressed with branches from the Christmas tree to make the soil more acidic (according to my dad).
I have some ericaceous feed for it but do not know how much to use or when.
Also, should I prune it and if so, by how much?

Thank you for any help, sorry for such basic questions.

 

Therein lies the problem. Even top dressing with pine needles wont make much difference, and as far as I know ericaceous plant feed is not actually acidic per se, it just omits salts that are alkaline.

I'd uproot it, shake off the excess soil, then replant in ericaceous compost.

 

I'd be inclined to give it a watering with sequestrene in about a months time.
It should sort it out for this year, if it does, then one or possibly two waterings a year should get it back on track.

Its not a full term cure but it does sort out the symptoms of chorosis on a yearly basis for smaller shrubs.

 

I'd give it a really good mulch with Ericaceous compost and as Pete says a good watering with sequestrene..i wouldn't actually prune it as it doesn't look in bad shape.... being in alkaline soil you'll need to keep up with the feeding and mulching though

 

Thank you.

I'll try the feeding and mulching to see if I can bring it round. I'll be prepared to pot it up if needed though.

 

I don't think you will be able to grow a Blueberry in Alkaline soil (hopefully someone will correct me if they have succeeded).

Blueberry needs very acid soil. You might get away with "adjusting" the soil if it was neutral, but starting from Alkaline I think its basically a Bad Job.

IMHO Ericaceous compost as a mulch would be a waste of money, the "acidity" of it won't permeate into the soil to make enough difference around the roots in the soil.

Watering with sequestered Iron will help, but I am sceptical that it will do enough to shift the balance in order to enable the plant to function properly

I would dig the plant up, clear as much of the soil off the roots as you can, without damaging the roots (I'd try dunking it in a large container of water and trying to convert the soil to "mud" so that it comes off by itself, or easily when running your fingers through the roots) and then replant in a container using Ericaceous compost.

But if someone tells you they've managed to grow Blueberries in Alkaline soil then take their advice, it will be a lot less work, and without the high risk that disturbing the roots might kill the plant.

 

Its been there 7 yrs and it aint dead yet, so it cant be all that alkaline.

Trying to move it after all that time seems like a death sentence to me, especially bearing in mind how much root you would probably have to prune away to get it into a reasonable sized container.
If you go down that route my thoughts are you would be best starting with another plant.

 

Good point!

 

Thank you for the feedback. I have ordered some sequestrene and will get a decent ph testing kit to find out exactly what I'm dealing with as I'm currently going off second hand information.

 

I think the test tube kits are much better than the pH Meters - which, if cheap, seem unreliable and need careful calibration before use.

 

Thank you, I thought the accuracy might vary.

 

My first blueberry bush was in neutral, slightly alkaline soil for 3 years, and it grew and produced fruit, but it grew slowly and produced only a few berries.

Once I learned a bit more and realised it was in the wrong soil, I uprooted it, shook off a lot of the soil, replanted in ericaceous compost, and it just grew at a crazy rate after that, and continues to do so. It also produced a lot of berries, as opposed to a meagre handful.

So I think they can survive in the wrong soil, but wont thrive.

 

To be honest I can't really be sure how much fruit it's producing because one of my canine "assistants" has discovered the joys of foraging . It's definitely looking worse as time goes on though.