Blueberry Bushes

[Heidi]

At the weekend my husband and I bought 2 blueberry bushes - however we somehow managed to get different varieties!

Will this affect the bushes producing fruit etc? As i know some veg/fruit etc doesn't do well when cross pollinated.

[Nicos]

Hello there Heidi!
Nope- you did the best thing
They need to be different varieties- so well done ( even if it was accidental!! )

[skegblade]

Nicos is right Heidi; they'll cross pollinate each other and you'll get more berries and better berries on each bush

[Heidi]

Wow great!

It was a complete accident - we'd picked up one bush and were walking away towards the tills when one of the staff stopped us and said to get more fruit etc we'd need another bush - so my husband went back and picked another. It wasn't till we'd got home i noticed the tags were different.

Oh well fingers crossed then!

[wheatleys wheels]

You'll be absolutely fine. With the different varieties there is no issue regarding pollenation and if anything you will get much stronger crop of berries by doing this.

Was just wondering though what soil you had them in? I ask this as a lot of people do not realise they require acid soil and not neutral or lime soil. I lost a couple of bushes before realising this so I try to save others from this hardship.

Good luck with your crop and enjoy it's fruits.

[Grandpadragon]

Heidi remember where you got them because the staff there are knowledgeable and alert and that aint always the case.
Let us know when you make the Blueberry muffins and we'll all be round

[Heidi]

Thanks for the advice.

We potted them up into bigger better pots last week and used ericasous (no idea how that is spelt!) soil for it. They seem to like it, as now lots of leaves have unfurled and we've got our first lot of white bell flowers on both bushes now.

Generally how long after flowering does it take for the fruit to appear/mature and ripen for picking?

[wheatleys wheels]

Sounds like you've done the right thing... the ericaceous soil (I might be wrong with the spelling too) is the correct thing to use. When watering dont use your tap water if you can help it if it comes from a lime source as it will neutralise the soil rain water is best. The flowers are a good sign something right is happening. I'm not exactly sure how long as I had a pollenation issue and didn't get any fruit last year. (I only had the one bush unlike this year) but make sure you get cross pollenation and then the fruit will appear in due course. I remember the wild blueberries in the states were in full tasty fruit by July maybe that will give you an idea. Enjoy