I bought a blueberry bush this weekend and intend to buy at least one more as I've read that you need at least two for polination and therefore a better yield. I have however read on a couple of websites that it's better to have 2 different varieties of blueberry bush. Does anyone know if I'll be ok with 2 the same or do I need to have 2 different varieties?
I was potentially going to look for an early cropper, a mid-season cropper and a late cropper.
I have 8 bushes of several different varieties. The important thing with blueberries is to come up with an effective netting scheme, if you don't you won't get any. Birds love blueberries and they will strip the buses clean in a few hours if you don't have a really good netting system.
You should get two different ones. And you need acid soil.
Ph for highbush should be 4.5-5, rabbiteye 4.8-5.3. Anything over 5.5 is too basic. The plants may survive but they will not thrive. Steve
My bad, you are correct.
My 2012 garden plan calls for three Blueberry bushes planted in a row as female-male-female. They will be late season bloomers.
My question is "If the pH of my soil is higher than 5.5, what can I do so that Blueberry bushes survive and thrive?
Dick
Derald wrote: ...
holy crap!
...
songbird
First of all, there are no male/female blueberries (genus Vaccinium). Ph can be corrected in several ways. Chemically, aluminum sulphate can be worked into the soil. Organically, elemental sulphur and/or double ground pine bark and/or sphagnum peat are worked in to the desired Ph. Organically is better in that the plants require a large amount of organic matter in the soil. Blueberry plants are very shallow rooted, therefore mulch is required as well as regular rain or watering. All bloom buds should be removed the first two years so the plant becomes well established.
1) Get a soil test and request suggestions for growing blueberry. 2) Talk with the county ag agent about varieties suitable for your area. If rabbiteye (V. asheii) are suggested, go with them. Production is much higher. 3) Prep the soil (if you have heavy clay, forget blueberry or use the Florida method of growing in a raised bed of pine bark or peat). 4) Order plant for fall planting from a reputable blueberry nursery. 5) Plant them at the same depth they grew at the nursery. Prune well removing all fruit buds (the round, fat ones). Mulch and water well.
the "pick your own" places up here do pretty well though some do hire pickers for some of the season so they can make pies, jams, fillings, ice-cream, etc. one guy i talk to here or there says that it's very hard for him to find people to pick.
the hours i spent picking in the past i can believe him. this season is going to be pretty interesting with the repeated hard freezes/frosts. i think the one last night took out a lot of blooms here.
har!
planted second round of onion seeds, watered and weeded yesterday, today looks nice again so i'll be back out once it warms up a little more.
songbird
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