View Full Version : Blueberry
Ohio'sBest
08-31-2009, 11:52 AM
I know it takes a few years for a blueberry plant to fruit if growing by seed. How long would it take for a cutting or a TC? Does the cutting retain the age of its donor plant?
Richard
08-31-2009, 02:14 PM
Cuttings will flower and fruit the next spring -- and sometimes in a "false spring" we occasionally have herein the fall. TC's are supposed to take two years. I obtained some a few months ago. They just might flower this coming spring, but the plants will not be large enough to produce a significant crop.
The recommendation I got from a blueberry farm was to pick all flowers off the bushes for the first 2-3 yr so that the bush would put more energy into growth.
sunfish
08-31-2009, 04:40 PM
That is the same info I was given . But it is easier said than done.
stevelau1911
12-26-2009, 04:07 PM
I'm seeing my first seedling germinate out of a batch of 200+ seeds. I'm hoping these are hardy plants because they'll have to stay inside for another 3-4 months before I can put them outside.
damaclese
12-27-2009, 09:30 AM
i want to grow blue barres so badly but i always thought that here in the hot desert south west it would be imposable but I'm told that there are variates that can thrive here so I'm going to try some in a pot i thought pots would be better as i can control their PH
lorax
12-27-2009, 10:47 AM
Pauly, when summer rolls around again for me (June or so), remind me to collect seed from the blueberries that grow in our altitude deserts. They'd probably do great for you in Vegas.
sunfish
12-27-2009, 01:46 PM
i want to grow blue barres so badly but i always thought that here in the hot desert south west it would be imposable but I'm told that there are variates that can thrive here so I'm going to try some in a pot i thought pots would be better as i can control their PH
DWN: Blueberries in Containerswith Ed Laivo (http://www.davewilson.com/homegrown/promotion/bluecontainer.html)
stevelau1911
12-27-2009, 02:19 PM
These guys seriously take a month to germinate in regular room temperature. They also start out nearly microscopic. It was pretty hard to even take a picture of them, but hopefully they will put on some size quickly afterwards.
<a href=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=28219&ppuser=6098><img src=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=28219&size=1 border=0></a>
stevelau1911
01-06-2010, 05:03 PM
These guys have started germinating almost 2 weeks ago and they are still about the same size without even dropping their seed caps yet. I think they either require a lot more light or just grow very slow. I might need to add some sulphur to hopefully get them to start growing.
For someone who has grown them from seed, do they grow extremely slow for the first few weeks, maybe first few months?
djmb74
01-06-2010, 07:14 PM
all this talk of blueberries... I have been trying to set aside some extra money(haha) to get 10-20 plants next month!
Blueberries are my favorite I grew up as a kid in Seattle with my grandmother having 25 blueberry bushes and eating them all the time. Some great memories...
conejov
01-06-2010, 07:42 PM
Speaking of Blue Berries! I just Bought 2 Plants their about 4ft tall. I got brightwell & tifblue. But I'm undecided if I want to put them in a big planter so as to be able to control their soil conditions or plant them in ground and just amend the soil around them and eventually put other plants that require the same soil conditions,
Any Suggestions?
john_ny
01-06-2010, 08:41 PM
I'm not sure what type those varieties are. There are northern highbush (the type that produce the most commercial crops), northern lowbush (mostly wild types that we find growing in the woods), something called southern highbush (never heard of these, until the last couple of years), and rabbit-eye (which I thought, until recently, was the only kind that could grow in the south.)
However, where I live, blueberries grow quite well. Staten Island is actually closer to New Jersy, than it is to the rest of New York, and New Jersey is just about the blueberry capital of the U. S. The important thing for these (northern highbush) is they need acid soil (Miracid, or Hollytone, etc.) Many blueberry varieties are named after towns in NJ.
I don't know what varieties you can grow where you are, but I've seen the northern ones grown as far north as Quebec.
stevelau1911
01-06-2010, 09:12 PM
I have northern high bush varieties mixed from a grower in kentucky.
I have fairly alkaline soil up here in upstate NY so I'm going to have to mix in some pine mulch to amend the soil before I plant the blueberries. I just need to find products that can acidify my soil so that blueberries can survive in my area.
What would be something fairly cheap that can amend a lot of soil for blueberries?
john_ny
01-06-2010, 09:54 PM
Hey Steve,
Battery Acid! I'm not kidding. You have to be very careful about quantities, but I once had a tropical fish import business, and there were little kits that regulated the Ph up or down, for hoobyists, but when you had to adjust thousands of gallons, you had to find something cheaper.
djmb74
01-06-2010, 10:06 PM
The commercial blueberry growers I have spoken to said they do best in a pot. They grow them in 100% pine bark. Been communicating with someone in blueberry business for ages over the last few months and he is the one I will be getting my plants from...
I will be going with a few different varieties so I can harvest from april to july....
Speaking of Blue Berries! I just Bought 2 Plants their about 4ft tall. I got brightwell & tifblue. But I'm undecided if I want to put them in a big planter so as to be able to control their soil conditions or plant them in ground and just amend the soil around them and eventually put other plants that require the same soil conditions,
Any Suggestions?
I have over 17 varieties (plus a few un-named) so that I can get fresh berries from April into August--mostly rabbit-eye and southern highbush. Blueberries can grow from Florida to Canada--as long as the soil is acid.
As for options for acidification, aluminum sulfate is pretty cheap, ammonium sulfate can be used as an acidic fertilizer, but like the earlier post said sulfuric acid (battery acid) will do. Just be careful--add acid to water (not the other way around or it can explode --more or less). It gets very hot when mixed, but I would mix it with water and pour it on the soil. I would start with just a few ounces is 5 gal of water and see how much that changes the pH.
stevelau1911
01-06-2010, 11:36 PM
I have over 17 varieties (plus a few un-named) so that I can get fresh berries from April into August--mostly rabbit-eye and southern highbush. Blueberries can grow from Florida to Canada--as long as the soil is acid.
As for options for acidification, aluminum sulfate is pretty cheap, ammonium sulfate can be used as an acidic fertilizer, but like the earlier post said sulfuric acid (battery acid) will do. Just be careful--add acid to water (not the other way around or it can explode --more or less). It gets very hot when mixed, but I would mix it with water and pour it on the soil. I would start with just a few ounces is 5 gal of water and see how much that changes the pH.
It looks like I might be able to get the most out of my money by using aluminum sulfate since I can get for under a dollar per pound. Sulfuric acid looks extremely expensive so I'm not sure if is concentrated enough to be worth it.
Would an item like this look good? Aluminum Sulfate 50 lb Low Iron - eBay (item 380013335133 end time Jan-21-10 14:43:56 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/Aluminum-Sulfate-50-lb-Low-Iron_W0QQitemZ380013335133QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0? hash=item587a8f525d)
I think I might need 3 applications per year of about 3lbs per square yard so I might need a 90lbs of it every year if my blueberry patch is 10 square yards.
conejov
01-06-2010, 11:46 PM
I'm not sure what type those varieties are. There are northern highbush (the type that produce the most commercial crops), northern lowbush (mostly wild types that we find growing in the woods), something called southern highbush (never heard of these, until the last couple of years), and rabbit-eye (which I thought, until recently, was the only kind that could grow in the south.)
These Two varieties are a Rabbit Eye type.
djmb74
01-07-2010, 07:35 AM
Thanks to the university of Florida's agricultural department there are a bunch of varieties for the south!
Bluegem, Sharpblue, Floridablue, Aliceblue, Beckyblue, Avonblue,Bonita, Chaucer, Choice, Misty, Windy, Snowflake, Marimba, Star, Southmoon, Santa Fe, Bluecrisp, Jewel, Sapphire, Emerald, Windsor, Milennia, Southern Belle, Sebring, Savory, Florida Rose
These are the varieties I will be picking up to grow. Already producing fruit, the gentlemen I am getting them from has set aside a few plants that are ready to be re-potted into bigger pots.
The early producing plants are southern highbush - Emerald, Star and Jewel variety. They produce mid April through mid May. The late season plants (Mid May to early July) are called rabbiteye - Woodard, Bluegem, Homebell, and Briteblue.
Stevelau--that looks like a decent price--most of what I have seen is 5# bags at local centers for about $4.
Martin, I have a lot of those varieties, I don't remember which are rabbit-eye and which are southern highbush, but some of the varieties I can remember are Tifblue, Woddard, Baldwin, Bonita, Arlen, Misty, Choice, Delight, Premier, Bladen, Briteblue, Gulf Coast, Centurion, O'neal (I may have lost that one), and one that I think is a northern highbush--Bluecrop--it actually produced here last yr. I have few others I can't remember off the top of my head as well as several that I got from other people that are not named.
I have been thinking about ordering Emerald, Star, Jewel and a couple others.
I managed a U-pick blueberry patch a couple yrs ago--you would not believe those bushes--I can pick up to 30#/hr in the middle of July! Those bushes are so loaded it is unbelievable. It was such a shame-- we picked about 3000 #s but there was at least 10,000 that fell on the ground!
Bananaman88
01-07-2010, 12:38 PM
Alex,
In our area, due both to high pH soils and lack of drainage, I think you'd be better off growing them in large pots or whiskey barrels. You can control your soil conditions much better that way.
Richard
01-07-2010, 01:00 PM
Alex,
In our area, due both to high pH soils and lack of drainage, I think you'd be better off growing them in large pots or whiskey barrels. You can control your soil conditions much better that way.
That's the recommended approach from nurseries and most people succeed with it. Note that the southern 'highbush' and 'rabbit eye' varieties are happy with pH in the range 5.5 to 6.0, while the northern and European species of Vaccinium thrive on a lower pH of 5.0.
Products sold as 'Hydrangea Blueing' are usually ammonium sulfate with a buffer. Great for lowering the pH. Granularized sulfur also works but watch out -- it is slow release and can come on strong as time passes. Be sure to get an inexpensive pH meter (~$15) and check the soil prior to adding more acidifier.
ewitte
01-08-2010, 06:09 AM
Last year was the first for my Blueberry trees. They were about 4-5ft tall when I got them but planted them only 3 months before winter and it was 6-8 months before the fruit. Didn't bother protecting them since there was only 20-30 berries between 3 plants so the birds got most of them.
stevelau1911
01-08-2010, 06:48 PM
Good News
Finally I have 72 seeds germinate, giving me enough to fill up my 72 cell seed rack. These guys are really tiny with the tallest one only being about 1/4 inch in height. I hope by around April when it's warm enough to put them outside that they will have well established rootballs.
I'm planning on transferring them all to 1-3 gallon containers and using a mix of pine mulch, manure, potting soil, and garden soil, then mix about a cup of aluminum sulfate in each pot. I'll let them fill out their pots and then either plant them the following year, or sell them.
Richard
01-08-2010, 07:54 PM
Congratulations Steve ! :woohoonaner:
I'm planning on transferring them all to 1-3 gallon containers and using a mix of pine mulch, manure, potting soil, and garden soil, then mix about a cup of aluminum sulfate in each pot. I'll let them fill out their pots and then either plant them the following year, or sell them.
Put some minerals into that mix too, for example horticultural sand.
It will take years to find out what your new blueberries are like. The majority are likely to make small berries and not very productive, but there is always the possibility that you have a new variety that is worthy of a patent with large sweet berries and highly productive.
Good luck.
stevelau1911
01-09-2010, 07:40 PM
Heres a picture of a blueberry seedling right after losing it's seed shell. Most of them still have their seed shells on, but there are currently over 72 that have germinated so I might have lots of plants to work with this spring.
<a href=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=28748&ppuser=6098><img src=http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=28748&size=1 border=0></a>
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