Blueberries

[Patsy]

Anybody successful at growing blueberries? I've got a rather wet end to my allotment which I keep trying to improve with loads of strawy manure to open up the clay type soil. Strawberries which were there when I took the plot over seem to do pretty well but not much else.
I know blueberries like acidic soil , could I enclose an area, plant bushes with plenty of ericaceous? compost under and around and top up each year with same? On a previous thread about compost making somebody mentioned adding citrus peel and the resultant answer advised against it as it made the compost too acidic. Would I be able to make separate compost this way that was suitable for bluberries? Any ideas please.

[Jaxom]

I too would be most interested in any answers to Patsy's question as I wish to grow blueberries as well. At this moment in time I remove all citrus peel from my kitchem waste before adding it to the compost bin.
Jax

[plot 11 pam]

blueberries have done well in my allotment. I prepared a separate area in the fruit cage to keep the birdies off, and surrounded it with pressure treated wood.I dug down to where i could'nt dig any more and exchanged all the soil for ericacious soil. the area is only big enough for two 2 year old bushes but you could expand this idea.

[Lesley Jay]

Blueberries grow great in containers and Toby Buckland said that if you water them with rain water it will give them the right soil conditions.

[caz1]

I grow blueberries on my allotment, I had to do the same as above, I dug out a large area and replace the soil with ericacious soil, every year I top it up with manure from my friends. This manure has a mixture of straw and wood chippings, this tends to keep the soil acidic enough for them..I got 2lbs of blueberries off my two trees last years. good luck

[pigletwillie]

I have a fruit cage full of them. They reach maturity at about 5-6 years old by which time you should be getting 2-4Kg of fruit off each bush depending upon variety. They will generally give a bit of fruit each year, increasing until full maturity.

Mine are planted directly into the soil, to which was added ericaceous compost and shredded bracken. They are watered twice a year with sulphate of iron to keep the acidity, and much prefer rainwater if available but will cope with tap water. A mulch of pine needles, old peat grow bags or similar also keeps the acidity high.

Under NO circumstances dig in or add animal manure as it scorches the roots and WILL kill them.

You are always best planting at least two plants and preferably three or more to optimise your crop

[Nicos]

Pigletwillie - please tell me more about animal manure and blueberries. I want to relocate a blueberry patio bush and 3 new other varieties into a new caged area on our peat allotment. Unfortunately it will be in the one area of the plot which is about a foot lower than the rest and we were intending to raise the soil level by digging in loads of cow and sheep muck. The soil there has been neglected and is of poor quality, as well as being the most acidic on the plot. Now I wonder quite what to do! What would you recommend?? ...leaf mould??

[pigletwillie]

Blueberry bushes have no fine root hairs and strong substances such as manure, even well rotted stuff will burn the roots and kill your plants. You can incorporate high levels or organic matter such as peat, sawdust, leaf mould etc into the planting area.

When the leaves have emerged fully, usually towards the end of April, your plant will need its first feed. A balanced, ericaceous, fertiliser (rhododendron / azalea fertiliser) is recommended. A dessert spoonful (50g) is sufficient for young plants, sprinkled evenly over the root system of the plant. The amounts used should be increased slightly over the years. Fertilisers used for tomatoes and vegetables are generally not suitable as they do not contain the correct balance of nutrients.

Finally, NO MANURE.

[Nicos]

Thanks for that pigletwillie (how did you come up with that name???!!) i think you have just saved the lives of my fruit bushes as we were intending to dig in a huge pile of muck!!! Will have to go on a hunt to collect leaf mould now. Would seaweed do too??

[sewer rat]

I have read somewhere that sawdust is a good mulch for ericaceous plants

[pigletwillie]

Hardwood sawdust is more acid than softwood, you can also much will pine needles if you know anybody removing a leylandii or similar