young blueberry bushes

[sonsmiley131204]

hiya all, i wonder if anyone can help me? i bought 3 blueberry bushes (young ones) about a month back now all the leaves seem to going brown and dying is there anything i can do to save them? thanks

[Jeanied]

Where are they planted - in pots or in the ground? They like to be in ericaceous compost that is kept on the moist side and they do not like to dry out. They prefer it if you water them with rainwater if your tap water is hard.

[sonsmiley131204]

thanks for your reply i shall get some different compost they are currently in pots at the moment, do you know a particular compost to get?

[FB.]

One word: drought.
Blueberries hate dry conditions and will rapidly die.

They thrive in soil that is always boggy, slightly acid and they don't like tap water (although if tap water is all you have in a drought, then what can you do?).

This year, even the boggy bit has dried out and the water butts (rainwater) are empty, so my blueberries are really struggling.

[Jeanied]

thanks for your reply i shall get some different compost they are currently in pots at the moment, do you know a particular compost to get?

Mine are just in ordinary ericaceous compost - from the garden centre.
If you only have tap water I read on here that you could add a spoonful of vinegar to acidify it a bit - but I haven't tried it as I still have a waterbutt full of rainwater!

[sonsmiley131204]

Thanks all i think all i can do is repot them and i might even try the vinegar bit lol

[Madasafish]

If in pots, put non draining seed trays underneath and add rain water.

If you use tap water, the chlorine kills them.

Blueberries need acid and MOIST soil..