Blueberries on the patio.

[jennybain]

Hi - I have just bought 3 blueberry plants for growing on the patio and wonder if anyone has any tips for me. I have them in 20 litre containers at the moment, in ericaceous compost/grit.
I know to take care with the fertilisers I use and only buy for acid-loving plants, but do I need to worry about watering? The water up here is soft anyway but do I need to collect rainwater?

[jennybain]

oh - by the way, the varieties are Chandler, Birgitta and Earliblue.

[pigletwillie]

If you can, do Jenny but dont be overly anal about it. They are hardy plants that thrive in pots. Having different varieties will maximise your yield of fruit over time.

Chandlers have really big fruit but all three are good.

[jennybain]

Great. I have high hopes for these guys......fingers crossed I might even get fruit next year.

[pigletwillie]

I have bought some 2 year olds in the past that gave a bit of fruit but its from year 3 that they really get going. By year 5-6 they will be producing lots of fruit.

[jennybain]

right - well these ones are fairly big and the nursery 'promises' fruit the following year, but I don't want to get my hopes up. Are they best left in pots or should I consider planting them in the garden eventually?

[JennieAtkinson]

I've got two for pots this year, so thanks for the tip about fruiting Piglet - I may have to wait! I want to keep them in pots so that I can pop them into teh greenhouse if we get a gale of wind. I assume that long term they will be ok in pots? Just the usual planning ahead and feeding? Anybody any tips? Thanks.

[jools]

I have bought three different varieties in pots too. The only thing I can add is that I read they need to be exposed to frost so protecting them against wind is okay but don't leave them in there all winter, Jennie.
Jools

[jennybain]

yes, I think I read that somewhere too - if they don't get frost they don't fruit as well the following summer. Plenty frost in Scotland though.

[pigletwillie]

They dont need frost, just in excess of 1000 hours at less than10oC.

[JennieAtkinson]

Should be able to manage that!

[colkitto]

mulch them with pine needles and keep moist indry weather.dont plant 2 deep in container.

[mrskp]

My Chandler planted in a pot early last season is looking a bit leggy but plenty of buds. Can I make it bushier (which my Earliblue - I think - is) just by pruning, and when should I do it ?

I bought Earlieblue much later in the year and it's not even so much as lost it's leaves !

[eskymo]

I've got three in an old wine crate and they didn't produce much of a crop last year [first year] so I'm hoping for a better crop this year. I'm a bit worried about the quality of the soil though, so any ideas on what to do to improve it - or what I should give them as feed - I don't have a ready supply of pine needles.

[jennybain]

hi Eskymo - I see you are from sunny Fife too! I have 3 blueberries in pots and I have just been giving them general fertiliser for ericaceous plants. However, I read somewhere that tomato feed would be ok as well. ???