Blueberries

[GinaD]

Hi I've never grown blueberries before but I am going to have a go. Any advice on what bush/type to buy would be greatly appreciated 😀 also I want to grow them in a pot and I'm sure I'm right that they need to be in ericaceous soil.


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[Nicos]

Apparently they do better with 2 different varieties near each other.
I am aware that different varieties flower at different times, so you need to bear that in mind then buying them.
Don't think I've ever come across a flowering time chart time for blueberries though

And yes- spot on, they do need ericaceous compost.
Good luck with them!

[summer]

I can't suggest a type/variety to buy. I've had my two bushes for so long and can't remember…I think they might have been from the supermarket but have done very well and given lot's of fruit. However I can confirm you want ericaceous soil. Good luck.

[roitelet]

And lots of water.

[GinaD]

Thankyou 😀


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[Kirk]

Check out the Ken Muir website for blueberries.
Looked last week and they listed a few varieties and reasonable information on them.
At least you can read the types and decide how they sound.

2 are better then 1, as they are self fertile but not greatly so.

[Ja9]

Hi,I grow 3 bushes:blue crop,earliblue and northland .There is some overlap with the cropping but the berries are different which is nice.i now have them in a raised bed (ericaceous compost and slightly acidic base soil) and they are flourishing.I mulch with shredded christmas tree.Got 5 litres of blueberries last year. Hate to think how much that would cost in a shop! Wonderful on your breakfast,muffins and jam. I had them in pots before but you must cover them well from the birds. Make sure that the net is pulled well away from the plants or the birds will just stick their beaks through! Also secured at the bottom so they don't get trapped accidentally.
Blueberries are wonderful plants and I would highly recommend them: pretty spring flowers,blueberries and fantastic autumn colour. I also am trying pink lemonade which is a pink version.only in last year so yet to get a berry.Enjoy!

[whiskyman]

At the moment I have Earliblue and Herbert. I got 5x Bluecrop and 5x Duke arriving soon. I normally like to buy established plants so I don't have to wait too long for fruit. The Earliblue and Herbert are approx 4 years old and cost £10 each. The Bluecrop and Duke are only 2 year old but only cost £3 each but at that price I don't mind waiting couple more years for them to fruit.

[GinaD]

Great feedback, thanks everyone. One more question; what size pot do I need?


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[Bigmallly]

As big as you can get Gina, if they were in the ground it wouldn't be a consideration, you would just fill a hole with Ericaceous compost & plant into it.

[AllInContainers]

I have mine in 30L pots, and will increase pot size as needed in future years

[Penellype]

I've had Bluecrop for 2 years and bought Dixie last year in the hope of improving pollination. It wasn't bad but quite a few of the fruit were small, so I thought it would be interesting to see if they were bigger with a different variety as a partner. Ericaceous compost is essential as they apparently can't take up water if it is not acid, so I water them with rainwater as our tap water is rather hard. I keep them on wheeled trolleys so that they are easy to move around and I agree, netting is essential. They also need to be kept damp as their natural habitat is peat bogs.

The Bluecrop is about 4ft tall and is in an 18 inch round pot which is about a foot deep. The Dixie is much smaller - about 2ft high, and is in a 15 inch pot which is 10 inches deep. I will pot this up when it gets bigger, but I don't intend to repot the Bluecrop as it would be too heavy for me to lift.

[Ja9]

Some of them just do have smaller fruit,but sorry can't remember if my blue crop does. Certainly pollination helped by having a few plants

[GinaD]

Just to confirm, I need to buy at least a couple if varieties of bushes? And should I have the pots side by side? Thanks for all the advice, kids back to school next week so I'm off to garden centre in peace! 😀


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[Nicos]

I would say yep...2 or more varieties...and nope they don't need to be next to each other...although the bees would find it easier