Blueberries in clay soil - will root bags do?

[Storming Norman]

Hi All,

I have 'improved' clay soil - not really acid enough for my blueberries but I would prefer to grow them in the ground not pots as they will be big and watering could be an issue.

Has anyone tried root bags to contain ericaceous compost and planted acid lovers in non acid ground? Did it work? Do root bags do the job well enough?

Thanks Ann

[pigletwillie]

I have clay soil Norman and have had 20 odd blueberries in the ground underplanted with cranberries for 4 years now.

Just dig a planting hole and fill it with half a bag of ericaceous compost mixed with some of the clay and plant your blueberry into that. Feed with a rhododendron / Azealia feed in the spring and give it some sequestered iron in the autumn. That keeps the acidity somewhere near.

There have been no problems at all.

[Storming Norman]

Thanks for this advice - David? I followed it this week.

One spade down was solid yellow clay - yuk - & very hard work.

Embarrassingly I read the GYO mag after this post and they suggested the same. They also suggested that using pine leaf droppings as a mulch. That was a revelation - just 100 yards from here is a local park with pine tree stands - the lovely pine leaf mould underneath was a joy to behold. I am sure you are not supposed to pinch it but a bucket won't do any harm.

By the way I do like your webpage and the handy advice. Where did you get those metal arches from and what do you plant to grow on them? Do they have much strength?

[pigletwillie]

Thanks Norman, I got them mail order for about £4.99 each. They last about 5 years before needing replacing. They generally have

2x grapevines
climbing french beans
runner beans
small squash that trail
tall peas
a rose, constance spry

They are suprisingly tough to be honest and have been a good buy.

[TonyF]

My soil here is seriously clay but I've dug in some sand and several bags of ericacious compost. I've posted the pine needles thing several times on here, think I originally got the idea from Beth Chatto or Joy Larkham.

I've just pruned my fir trees as part of the annual clean up and all the cuttings and dropped needles are keeping the already sprouting blueberries warm and fed.

[Storming Norman]

Thanks Tony,

I did try looking on the search first but it brings up all sorts of wide ranging posts on blueberries and grow bags that have a search word in but are not that related to the exact subject.

I gave it about 10 minutes looking and since I could not find it tried this way.

There must be a knack to searching properly to get what you want. Possibly I need to search for that!

All help like this is gratefully received - and it's even better to see that this advice has been proven to work.

Ann

[bramble]

have been growing heathers in plastic bage of ericacious for about 10 years and they are still doing fine.

[Furkin]

ericaceous fertiliser

I have a couple of potted Blueberries & bought some ericaceous fertiliser to make up with water.

My neighbour also has some sort of Pine hedging (may be laylandii) & two years ago I gathered up a couple of buckets of leaf cuttings & put them in a fish-tank & filled with water. It has stood out in full sun etc for about 18 months.

Will this 'water' be good as it is (if at all) ?
Would it need diluting ?
Have I wasted my time ?

cheers all.