Blueberry help please

[Welshmummy]

Hello all.

Am new to the forums so please bear with me!

I rescued a blueberry bush or 'the miscellaneous stick in a bucket' as the shop assistant at Focus refered to it. Well anyway it was a bargain at 30p

It has since come back to life and has leaves and Im sure we had a few blueberries trying to grow last year but Im wondering how to help it along.

Its currently still in the bucket I brought it in so think I need to replant him in a bigger pot as soon as possible and I know he needs ericacious cant spell! soil. I have also brought a feed for eri........ plants too to feed it with.

My question is will it do ok in a bucket and does it like dappled shade or full sun as I really cant remember and Ive been slowly moving him round the garden as its been cleared so Im trying to figure out the best place to plant it.

thank you.
x

[northepaul]

Hiya Welshmummy,
nice to meet you and welcome to the vine!
Blueberries grow very well in containers, and am I right in assuming its quite a small plant? You've been spot on with the acidic compost (I cant spell either ) and food - its the same ones that rhododandrons and azalias have.
I would suggest waiting to repot it until its completely dormant, ie when all the leaves have dropped off. Then when you remove the pot, you can also check that the roots arent too pot bound and that there are no horrid things overwintering amongst its roots (particularly vine weevils). I do this every year. Another tip is to maybe mulch around the surface of the the pot with pine leaves or needles if you can get them? Also try to water with only rainwater.
Hope that helps

Oh one more thing, I am guessing you dont know which blueberry it is? Most need a pollination partner, so it might be worth thinking about it next year.
Good luck and well done so far

[Aberdeenplotter]

I spoke to some one from SCRI at the Dundee Flower and Food Event about Blueberries and was told they take 4 - 5 years to really establish. That ties in with my own experience as this year is the first time I've had a decent yield from my bushes. They are now planted directly into the ground because they were doing nothing in pots but I maybe wasn't patient enough.

[Capsid]

They will need full sun to get sweet ripe berries. They don't need feeding a lot, a top dressing of leaf mould each spring will help. And only water with rainwater, tap water is too alkali.

[Two_Sheds]

Yep, don't give him too big a pot, just pot him on gradually ~ you don't want his roots to rot in lots of unused soil. Repot in the spring.

We have them in pots (Morrisons buckets) at school, and got a handful of berries this year (I think they're 2 or 3 year old plants, only a foot tall anyway)

[northepaul]

They benefit from being fed when in blossom and fruiting, I use liquid seaweed stuff, they love that.


Youre right that they wont fruit with a decent amount until 4-5 years old, they are also long living (15+) so you'll have the benefit for years to come.