[bigben]

I got 3 blueberry bushes - (tiny plants) a few months ago and planted them into the ground as soon as they arrived (after removing the little pots they came in). I have since read they need ericacious soil. I have a tub of flowers of sulphur which someone said helps acidify the soil. What is the best way to sort out the soil for them now they are planted.?

Can I just sprinkle some sulphur on the surface  around them- if so what amounts

Would I be better buying some ericacious compost and spreading a layer across the bed they are in.

Should I dig them up, fill the hole with ericacious compost and replant - will the root disturbance cause more problems than leaving them?

[Aunt Sally]

I would dig them up and replace the soil with ericaceous compost and plant them back into that.

You could even plant them into large sunken pots of ericaceous compost.

[Lardman]

I forget who but someone mentioned sinking bags of compost and planting into that.

I've just done mine, Id already got them in 12" pots so a goodly amount of compost. When planting out I added sulphur pellets and some bonemeal to the hole, then scattered more sulphur over the bed at the recommend amount to drop the pH 1 level and forked it in.

If you're going to do something now is the time to do it, have you tested the pH of your soil anyway ? You may just get away with watering in an ericaceous feed.

[Kleftiwallah]

That's just what I'm going to do.  Planted them to get them in the ground and covered during the winter.  Now I'll dig 'em up and surround 'em with a bag of ericatious whatsit.   Cheers,    Tony.

[SG6]

A small hole with ericacious compost isn't going to be enough, a large hole with ericacious compost may last a year or two but after that the "acidity" will be lost. I would not bet on much over a year if it makes it that long.

A 12 inch pot isn't big for a blueberry, mine is in a 48cm pot and needs a bigger one.

Unless you can construct a bed that is pretty well isolated, all 4 sides and the base, then  whatever you add will eventually revert to the general/dominent soil properties that you have. If you have an acidic soil then fine. But they really do not like anything that is not acidic, neutral is not an option, mildly acidic is probably not liked either.

Also they do not like getting dry, so if in the garden in a hole then you will have to water them in summer. Do not consider tap water.

Best description I read was "They like an acidic peat bog."

[paintedlady]

Should I dig them up, fill the hole with ericacious compost and replant - will the root disturbance cause more problems than leaving them?

About 3 years ago I moved established (3-4 year old) blueberry bushes out of my garden to the allotment round about early March (earliest I could manage to get a bed ready so even earlier might have been better)  - the roots are fairly shallow but well spread out so no need to dig too deep a hole but make it wider than you'd expect - and filled it with manure at the bottom and bedded the root base in with ericacious compost mixed with some iron of sulphate.  I wasn't expecting them to do anything but they are surprisingly hardy bushes and produced a fantastic crop that year despite the move (bear in mind they were already established - don't expect much in the first couple of years of new plants).  I mulch them with fresh compost/manure, potash and the iron of sulphate every spring (just a handful each of the chemicals round the base) and let the rain wash it into the soil and they are fine.

[JayG]

The lengths you have to go to to provide and then maintain suitably acid soil for blueberries will depend on what the surrounding soil is like to start off with.

My soil is sandy so has virtually no free lime, and my two blueberry bushes have been perfectly happy with a dressing of Irish moss peat (yes, I know, but there are only two of them!  ) and a handful of Growmore each year (I added peat to the planting hole when originally planting them about 5 years ago.)

If your soil is chalky you obviously need to work a lot harder to keep the pH down (or grow in pots.)

Although blueberries don't like being left high and dry, don't undo all your good work by watering with tap water, especially if your water is "hard".

[Lardman]

My soil is sandy so has virtually no free lime

Did you test your soil JayG, if so what was it?

Its a sand pit here too. My weeds say poorly drained acidic soil (ferns, moss, dandelion and creeping buttercup) but my soil test kit says alkaline.

With regard to watering have you tried an additive to correct th pH, I am rather worried about the watering.

[JayG]

Did you test your soil JayG, if so what was it?

Last time I tested my open soil it was about 6.5. Soil chemistry is a lot more complicated than some would have you believe; I think mine reflects the pH of the rain that falls on it because in its unimproved state it lacks almost anything which would alter that figure either way ( ), which is why a bit of acid peat makes such a big difference!

As for watering, I use rainwater from water butts; I don't know anything about pH adjusting treatments (other than for aquariums!) but I would guess that water from a home ion-exchange water softener would be fine.