Poorly Blueberry what to do?

[hamster]

Hi all, I have a large blueberry bush, which is not looking very well any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

I put my bush in the garden about 12 months ago thinking it was going to die, wasn't doing anything in the pot, but instead it grew and grew. No flowers this year very unhappy. So I moved it to acid soil in a pot a few weeks ago.

Lots of it has died but a bit remains ok, its very lopsided with the windy weather, shall I just leave everything till the winter to rejig it in the pot and prune out the dead branches? Will it recover?? Thanks for your help. I've had it about 5 years but cant remember when we last had any blueberries.

[Aberdeenplotter]

Blueberries don't like being moved about and take a long time to settle in after being transplanted. Prune out any dead wood now and also take the opportunity to give the bush a good shape and then leave it to its own devices. I moved all my blueberries out of pots into the ground three years ago and only now looking like getting a decent crop.

[hamster]

Thanks for that, I really wanted it to be in the ground to make it easier to look after, but now Im going to leave it in the pot, with the acid soil and see what happens.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Hamster your location might help, but if its been in he pot a few weeks after following APs advice I would give it a good dose of ericaceous feed and don't forget rainwater only.

Colin

[Creemteez]

Go for a walk in the nearest pine forest and collect a bag of fallen pine needles. Mulch the pot with the needles. It helps keep the moisture in and helps maintain an acid environment.

[hamster]

Thanks will do next door has a large crimbo tree overhanging us, will have some of that, they wont mind. (They do let us trim the tree) Have got some acid plant food will administer!

[Hillwalker]

....and don't forget rainwater only.

Or if you don't have a rain butt, use filtered or low calcium, cheap bottled water. If you live in a soft water area, straight from the tap is fine. Although, I'd leave the water in a watering can overnight in order for the chlorine to evaporate.

[chris]

Adding vinegar to tap water is supposed to help too. That said, recently I've read a lot of not getting too hung up on watering only with rain water.

They also like to have "wet feet", as they're a bog plant really - mine are waterlogged really, the saucer is always full of water, and they're doing very well. I'll be planting mine in the garden at some point mind, they're probably a bit pot bound now.

If you read pigletwillies blog, he mentions growing cranberry + blueberries in the ground on his allotment and has some useful tips.