Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Urbanite on December 09, 2017, 08:02
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Hi,I took on a new full plot in mid August so I now have space for fruit :D.My better half spends an absolute fortune on Blueberries so I decided to establish a bed as a little project.My starting ph is 6.5-7.0 and I`ve gradually been adding sulphur chips to fetch my neutral soil down, the bushes themselves will also be planted in a pocket of ericaceous compost which I intend to do in early spring.I have seven plants,2-3 years old,currently sitting in 2-3L pots, should I keep these in my greenhouse over winter or would it be better to heel the bushes in pot and all into the bed direct,then lift and plant in spring when the area is ready for them.Normally I wouldnt faff about with plants so much, but with each plant costing around a tenner :ohmy:,I`d like to give these the best start possible.TTFN.
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It may not be the right answer but I got some blueberry plants from Lidl a few years ago, put them in 8/9" pots and have left them outside all winter ever since (Live in North Yorkshire). Now in about 24" pots and producing far too many blueberries for me to eat - the freezers are getting full up with them! Good luck, they need to be covered when the berries start to ripen to prevent the birds getting at them.
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Blueberry plants are perfectly hardy. They come from north america where the winter temperature regularly gets to -30C so need no greenhouse winter protection whatsoever. Cold exposure can actually lead to better fruiting.
My blueberry plants are also in the ground and like you given an annual sulphur dressing. It is becoming more accepted, and some fruit nurseries are arguing this, that blueberries will tolerate more than the ideal 4.5-5.5ph soil. As long as they are on the acid side of neutral, say 6.5ph.
I have certainly found this to be the case. :)
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I would heel them in you’re prepared bed pot & all, then replant as & when in the spring,probably a bit too late now to give them the best chance of settling in at those prices
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Blueberry plants are perfectly hardy. They come from north america where the winter temperature regularly gets to -30C so need no greenhouse winter protection whatsoever. Cold exposure can actually lead to better fruiting.
My blueberry plants are also in the ground and like you given an annual sulphur dressing. It is becoming more accepted, and some fruit nurseries are arguing this, that blueberries will tolerate more than the ideal 4.5-5.5ph soil. As long as they are on the acid side of neutral, say 6.5ph.
I have certainly found this to be the case. :)
Whilst I recognise the Hardiness of the Blueberry plant once established,I think to leave plants out over winter whilst still in 2L pots might just be pushing it a little to far.Its good to hear that an annual sulphur dressing works,do you monitor ph levels over the season? or apply once and leave them to get on with it?
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I would heel them in you’re prepared bed pot & all, then replant as & when in the spring,probably a bit too late now to give them the best chance of settling in at those prices
yes think this will be the course of action, maybe even put a bit of a mulch down once they`ve been heeled in.
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I don't monitor the ph simply sulphur dress around the plants in early spring letting the rain and general cultivation, weeding etc. work it in. The plants tell me if they are happy or not. so far no leaf chlorosis, annual shoot growth i.e they are growing and fruit production.
I now have ten plants spread over two plots, four inherited from previous plot hoders, two Bluecrop of mine planted from containers, one Chandler planted bare root last year and three new ones planted this autumn/winter.
At least I won't have any pollination issues. :)
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If you think that your blueberry plants are going to suffer from frozen roots in the pots, Urbanite, you could bury the whole pot in the ground up to the soil level on the stem and mulch the area over with straw or compost until the Spring, when you can plant them properly.
I add sulphur chips annually, a good handful per bush,usually in Spring (although this year I did it last week as I was weeding around them and just thought I would) and Blood, Fish & Bone in February. They are mulched with chipped up conifers which we get from local tree surgeons from time to time, as this is also slightly acidifying.
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I don't monitor the ph simply sulphur dress around the plants in early spring letting the rain and general cultivation, weeding etc. work it in. The plants tell me if they are happy or not. so far no leaf chlorosis, annual shoot growth i.e they are growing and fruit production.
I now have ten plants spread over two plots, four inherited from previous plot hoders, two Bluecrop of mine planted from containers, one Chandler planted bare root last year and three new ones planted this autumn/winter.
At least I won't have any pollination issues. :)
I have 7 waiting to go into a 13x6 bed,a Bluecop,Berkely,Chandler,Draper,EarliBlue,Goldtraube and Ozark blue.