Having trouble finding a good source for blueberry bushes and grape vines online.
Granted, there are several but it's hard to tell who to trust.
Any recommendations on who to buy from?
Also, kinda hard to find the proper information on blueberry bushes. I'm under the impression that most require two different cultivars in order to produce. Which do you think I should go with for zone 6b, Kentucky.
I began my quest for blueberry bushes on line too but after lots of effort spent with all the confusing claims I decided to buy from a local nursery instead... and quite a few net sources demanded payment up front before they'd ship, crap on that. I ended up getting three times as much plant for three times less money, and no shipping costs... just drove eight miles down the road, picked em out myself and drove them home. All 12 plants I bought survived and produced berries the first year. I got a dozen six year old plants, each in a five gallon container; $12 each... three each of four different cultivars, so they'd produce early, mid, and late season. I'm a ways north from Kentucky but I'm positive if you phone your local plant nurserys you will find some that sell quality blueberry bushes at reasonable prices.
If you didn't buy from an online source, how do you know that you got "three times as much plant for three times less money"? How can you compare what you bought to what you never saw?
Very easy.... the net sources list prices and plant size/age.... can't get any easier to compare. And you made my point, at the nursery I can *see* the actual plant I'm buying.
The plants I bought from the local nursery (a very reputable, and internationally famous nursery) were over 2' tall, well branched, and growing in 5 gallon containers. Those on the net were a measly few inch tall twigs and mostly bare root. Some web sites were selling larger potted plants but for the size I got they wanted at least $75 and exhorbitant shipping costs, plus still I wouldn't get to see what they're sending until it arrived. Last year I noticed my local Lowes was selling blueberry plants; about 6" tall twigs thinner than a soda straw in 4" pots, 2 yr old the label said, but only $3.99... still a much better value than sight unseen from the net. If someone is on a tight budget and has patience to wait for plants to grow than I would recommend the type I saw at Lowes... at those prices they can buy a few extra in case some don't make it. I've never had a problem getting credit/exchange at Lowes but with nursery stock you can't get the time back, so with crop plants I would buy a few extra.
Sounds like you got a heck of a deal.. I checked several locals and they don't have anything worth while.. Plus I think they suck.. ;)
As for Lowes, they carry what's local to the region, so I hadn't seen any blueberries.. Maybe I missed them though.. Will have to check, been a while since I was in shopping.
Regardless, thanks for the advice on both fronts.. :)
It might be worth to advertise your interest in Blueberries. I came across a retired blueberry grower that was moving and he offered large plants just to dig them, You never know. I did not take the offer as it was too much work but just another resource that may be neglected. I'm on the verge of giving away Japanese maples. I've always done this slowly but they keep on growing.
Perhaps blueberries are just not a popular crop in Kentucky. Where I live most all nurserys sell blueberry plants, but usually the small ones. I bought mine here:
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always shop Storys first. Sometimes I don't buy there because they may only have very large specimens, and they cost more than I want to pay. I actually got a better deal than you think, I always shop there on Thursdays, that's when they give a 15pct senior discount.
Unfortunately Storys suffered a very large fire three years ago, they lost their main building, their green houses, and many of the irreplacable plantings in that area. But they've since rebuilt, and I notice that they are in the midst of creating a new web site. I have no other connection except as a very satisfied customer.
snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@h11g2000prf.googlegr oups.com:
but USENET is not a blog. you were answering a usenet post. a blog is a web based, well, text m*********on hoping for attention. so if your teacher doesn't know the difference between usenet & a blog, i think you should demand a refund for the course. lee
I don't think you should give up. Expand your search, try calling nurseries in and around the next large city.
I agonized all winter over where to buy my blueberry plants, checking every web site that looked promising. I finally settled on one but when they said they were going to bill my credit card and not ship until they were paid I canceled my order. That's when I decided to check local nurserys and found just what I was looking for right nearby, I shopped there many times but it never occured to me that they'd have blueberry plants, probably because they were located a long way from their main entrance and I just never noticed them.
Here they are the day I planted them, spring 2006:
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2007:
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got more berries than I expected last year and I was surprised at how huge they were, most were the size of a nickle, and fresh picked they tasted wonderful, nothing like those from the stupidmarket. I'm anticipating a bumper crop this year. I'm glad I didn't settle on those teensy blueberry plants, they don't seem to grow very rapidly so I would probably have had to wait a few years for my first berries. Don't give up.
I'd actually ordered them already from an online source. I'm only doing
5 bushes so not going to hurt if it doesn't work out the way I planned.
Now, for the back yard run, I'm planning on an Elderberry hedge 70' or so in length for privacy, fun and fruit. I'll see if I can get those local considering how many it will take and will expand to a 40 mile radius for finding a nursery.
While we're on Blueberries.. Did you acidify your soil? I'm estimating mine to be 7 (will test soon) so most likely going to add sulfur to knock it down.
I was amazed myself, I figured maybe enough for one bowl of toasties but I got at least a quart from each plant.
I tilled in three large bales of peat moss, that's what I was told to do at the nursery. They said after the second year to bring in a few samples for testing. They didn't recommend over acidifying, can always add more if needed.
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