[JohnB47]

Hi.

Just started picking from one of our blueberry plants (the other plants fruit are still green). The thing is, the fruit are pretty, well, 'mild' in flavour. I had some in a bowl with some apple and bananna and I couldn't really taste the blueberries at all. Perhaps the flavour will be better when used in a muffin mix.

They're currently both in pots and I plan to put them in the allotment (in appropriate compost) in a month or so, so the question is, will they have a better flavour next year?

Or is what I'm tasting now going to be it, period?

BTW, Trillium recommended waiting 'till all the dusty bloom was gone from the berries before picking them. I must confess that a recent gusty and rainy spell knocked a few off, so I decided to go ahead now, even though  they've still got the dusty bloom on. Am I picking too early?

Thanks.

[peapod]

If they aren't in ericaceous soil now then the flavour will improve next year tenfold. Dont forget to use the same feed too

Trill is right (she knows her stuff!), it pays to be patient with blueberries. They are a fab crop once established, with surprisingly little care needed.

[Trillium]

If you have your doubts about ripeness, taste one or two and see what you think. If you like the sweetness, then pick them. The bloom thing isn't a hard fast rule, just a guideline.

[JohnB47]

If they aren't in ericaceous soil now then the flavour will improve next year tenfold. Dont forget to use the same feed too

Trill is right (she knows her stuff!), it pays to be patient with blueberries. They are a fab crop once established, with surprisingly little care needed.

Thanks peapod (and Trillium).

I hope you are right.

They're still in the compost they were supplied in (3L pots) but I think they must be really pot bound by now - they've become quite big bushes. I've fed them twice this year with acid loving plant feed and always gave them rainwater.

Just wondered if anyone had real experience of the change in flavour between a young plant in a pot compared with a more mature one in the ground. What do you think Trillium?

Cheers.

[waddecar]

I have 3 bushes: Patriot, Brigitta and Bluecrop all planted December 2005 as bare root one year old in a raised bed on the plot - they are all thriving and we get very good yields - so ground conditions are clearly ok.

However flavour has been disappointing, though looking back to last years notes i made some encouraging noises regarding flavour of Birgitta and Bluecrop. Picked a few Patriot (which is much earlier than the others) yesterday and there is some improvement! I dont think that it is just wishful thinking.....that there is some improvement in flavour as the plants mature.

They do have a long way to go before they approach the flavour of Canadian grown berries.

Also dont expect to get supermarket muffin flavour from your berries unless you can find some way of adding lots of "e"numbers to your ground - but would you want to?

Brian

[Livinhope]

We have three blueberry bushes which, because of our chalky soil, have to be grown in pots.  I have tried bbs' from different sources and the 'blueberry man' from Somerset comes to our farmers market.  In my experience blueberries always have a rather delicate flavour compared with most other soft fruits.

[greenun]

big soft juicy fruits are almost always tasteless,  too much water.

[Trillium]

3L pots aren't very big for the roots a blueberry plant will make if this is their permanent home, so if possible, get large pots, about 10L or so and replant one bush per pot, with gravel at the bottom for drainage and then lots of ericaceous compost and some rotted manure. Blueberries are essentially a bog-edge plant and do like their water, so some regular watering is necessary, but the roots don't like to sit in water hence the bottom gravel.

Again, flavour is in the variety, and as said, varieties need time to mature for flavour. Many of our Canadian varieties are available in the UK so it's down to individual taste on sweetness or tartness or mid-road flavour. That said, no plant makes nice fruit if root stressed, which is likely John's problem at the moment regardless of all the fertilizer and rainwater he provides.

And livinhope is right, blueberries don't have a grab-your-tastebuds tang that raspberries and such have. It is a more delicate flavour but once those bushes are in regular production, you'll see the difference. Patience, patience, patience  :happy:

[tosca100]

I'll try not to worry that the birds have had most of ours this year then! Maybe next year they will have more room instead of being cramped up with loads of other stuff.

Next year......