[Grubbypaws]

Last year I bought the full season blueberry collection from T&M (chandler, earliblue and brigatta). All produced good quantities of fruit.

This year has been completely different. One plant ( ?brigatta) is in blooming health but has not given me a single blueberry. The other 2 are a sorry sight. One is probably dead and one looks distinctly poorly. I think they really suffered with the cold winter and dry spring. Both have produced a few berries.

The plants came without labels but I am guessing that the healthy plant is brigatta which needs another variety for pollination and the other 2 just weren’t up to the job!

Am I right? Should I see what spring brings to the 2 poorly plants or by another plant to pollinate the healthy one? Which variety should I buy?

[Auntiemogs]

Oh dear.  Sorry, I can't help much except to say have you used an ericaceous type feed as I know they are lime hating plants? Looking forward to seeing responses as I have just bought the same selection and have alkaline soil so potted them in ericaceous compost...
Margaret 

[JayG]

Your Sherlock Holmes-like deduction could well be correct as Brigitta has very low self-fertility even by blueberry standards!

It's very difficult to deduce what has gone wrong with the other 2 plants though unless you can point to some small difference in their growing conditions (wetter, drier, less suitable soil conditions - are they in pots?)

It would be risky to buy another plant without finding out what has happened to the others, but if you do it needs to be a mid to late flowering variety to match Brigitta.

[Grubbypaws]

They are all in identical pots in the same part of the garden planted in ericaceous soil fed with ericaceous type feed and mulched with pine needles. I will check the pH though just in case there is a difference.

Both poorly plants leaves turned red sometime ago and fell off. I really do think it is the case that Brigatta was hardier and survived the cold followed by a mini drought when I went away in March not expecting there to be no rain!

What mid to late variety do you suggest JayG?

[JayG]

They might just have shed their leaves early because they were a bit stressed (probably by the drought rather than anything else - they really don't like dry roots.)

Unless the whole plants die they might well be OK next year and there's not that much to be gained by buying a new potted blueberry at this time of year anyway.

Can't help with recommendations for mid/late varieties I'm afraid because both mine are earlies.

[Trillium]

Jay is right about blueberries needing constant moisture. They won't grow in swamps, but they do need it damp all the time. I put mine into a raised bed (you can also dig out an area) and lined it with heavy poly sheeting, punched some drainage slits in the bottom, then filled it with good soil and manure. Between rain and occasional watering, the plants have been healthy and fine. Each spring I add lots of sulphur powder and chicken poo, which they love. One bush sprang from about 12" square to about 4 ft tall and 3 ft wide in year 2! Forget which variety but I stuck with the common ones like Northland, North Country, Earliblue, Chicopee, etc. I've never heard of Brigitta so can't comment.

Yours might recover with lots of watering and some feeding. For winter, bury the pot in the ground for frost protection, and see what happens in the spring. The fertilizer/manure won't put out any growth right now but will help strengthen roots for next year (hopefully). You might need to do a bit of dieback pruning in spring.

[JohnB47]

I think they really suffered with the cold winter and dry spring. Both have produced a few berries.

Blueberrys shouldn't suffer from our version of  a cold winter - I think they are native to countries with much worse conditions. As already said, blueberries need constant moisture (i.e watered every day) so I wonder why you think they will have suffered from a dry spring. If you've let them get dry, there's your problem.

One of my three plants (can't remember the variety - Chandler or Duke) has red leaves now, the other two are still green, so I wouldn't worry about the leaf colour now - it's probably normal.

[Trillium]

Yes, changing leaf colour is normal for blueberries. They almost resemble burning bushes in fall, and each variety of blueberry changes colour in its own time. When lots of hard frosts come along, they'll likely be totally bare of leaves as mine are.

And yes, my winters can get pretty severe and blueberries love it. So dryness is the most likely culprit.

[Grubbypaws]

Thank you all.I obviously cant blame the cold and must accept that it was my fault 
I went on holiday without setting up my automatic watering system but it was March!! I like to use rainwater wherever possible so I only set up the system when I absolutely have to. Who could have guessed that it would be the driest spring for donkeys years 

[bigben]

Grubbypaws - I also bought the full season collection and planted them last year around Oct/ Nov. The plants arrived and were tiny, I thought they were going to die but they have put on a little bit of growth. Mine are in a narrow raised bed with a couple of bags of ericaceous compost added and some sulphur. I got a grand total of 5 blueberries this year! They have grown a little but I am hoping for better things next year. I am in Sunny Sheffield which is not too far from you but I think mine did suffer from not enough watering. Good luck for next year.