Protecting blueberries from birds

[Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz]

What's the best way to protect blueberries from birds?. Bird netting gets all tangled on the bushes, is there a better way. My cat is doing his part but he can't be there 24/7, is there something else that might scare them away?

Josh

[cloud dreamer]

Depending on the size of the berry bushes and the plot, you could consider PVC tubing to hold the netting above the bushes. It wouldn't work in all plots or with all types of blueberry bushes, but it might for yours. I cover my strawberries with netting under a tubing superstructure. The patch is 4' wide and 16 feet long and the bushes are about the size of the bushes on the acres of blueberries that surround me.

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Zone 5b in Canada's Blueberry Infested Far East

[Keith Copi]

Josh,

Go to the hardware store. Starting in the electrical supplies aisle, buy some one inch diameter plastic conduit. This is gray pvc with one male end, one female end and is very flexible. Next go to the cement/masonry aisle and get some 3/8 or 1/2 inch rebar (hopefully they have some already cut to

2 foot lengths). Pound four two foot long rebar rods in the ground, evenly spaced around the plant, with about 8 inches of rod above ground and about one foot out from the branches. Insert the hollow end of the plastic conduit on one rod, then bend it in an arch over the plant to the rod on the opposite side. Do that again with the other two rods to create a second arch over the plant. Use more than one piece of conduit joined together if needed to keep the hoops off the branches. Do not worry about the two hoops touching, being exactly centered or anything along those lines, each hoop can stand on its own. You now have a smooth surface to easily pull a net over without the net touching the branches. Modify as needed for long rows.

Keith

[Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz]

Thanks, I really like this solution.