Blueberries and their soil

[JimmerG]

Hi All,

I'm dying to plant blueberries - but stuck with not-at-all acidic soil.

I'd rather not use pots, as watering them on a allotment would frankly be a bit of a bore.

SO - could I dig out a chunk of ground, fill it with ericaceous compost, horse poo etc, and then top dress with pine chippings each year? Would that work? Or would I need more acidifying action?

Thanks

James

[FB.]

I had the best success with blueberries when I dug a pit a foot or so deep and a couple of feet square, lined the bottom several inches with a plastic sack (with just a few small holes in it) to impair drainage then planted the blueberries so that their lowest roots were in the top half of the hole.

If you fill a pit with ericaceous compost I would expect leaching from the nearby soil to neutralise the acidity - and probably worms would gradually plough the soil and the compost together.

[Bigmallly]

Add some spent coffee from the likes of Co$ta if you can get hold of any.

[Two_Sheds]

we have a 5ft tall blueberry growing in about 3" of soil (alkaline soil) at the side of the car park on the lotty