Blueberry plants

[Muddy_Boots]

Hi Peeps

I need advice as I've bought 2 Blueberry plants plus a goosegog when in Poundland during a moment of weakness (other bargain places with a similar name are also available). They are dormant at the moment and are almost bare roots but not quite, they do have buds showing. Planning to plant them in pots then transplant them onto my plot with other fruit bushes like the goosegogs later. I've been told they like acidic compost or soil conditions, is this true and if so what's the best compost/soil additive for when I plant them in pots then transplant them later.

Not at all sure with these but I do want to get the best performance out of them, if its keep them in pots then I will do that.

[BUFFS]

goosegogs will grow in any soil but blueberries need ericaceous (lime hating) compost to thrive, they hate normal neutral soil, so test your soil and unless it proves acidic you will need to grow them in about 50ltr tubs, to allow them to grow, and always use the ericaceous fertiliser as some of the others would not be suitable for blueberries..

[cptncrackoff]

Hi muddyboots, I got two blueberry plants last year, I just dug up a much bigger hole, then dumped a bag of ericaceous compost in the hole and planted..
Making sure they are watered with rainwater as well.

My soil around the plants is around ph 5.5on a very basic litmus and distilled water test, that will turn more alkaline as time goes on but for now they seem happy!

[Muddy_Boots]

Buffs, thanks for the reply just proves what I was told was true. My plot is ph neutral so that rules planting them out, I will get some ericaceous compost next time I go to a garden centre and make sure I get 50ltr tubs for them.

Result

cptncrackoff just read your reply as well, you have confirmed the other advice I was given to water them with rain water and not from the tap. Done a proper test on the whole of my allotment and all of it is a ph of 7 so its a a given that unless I fancy a lot of work to keep them acidic I will need to plant them in pots. They will look ok living at home as I've huge plans to landscape my garden now I've had two big trees removed, part of the plan is designing and building a pond + waterfall + relaxation area.

I will be posting that in here when I get my ar*e in gear to start this project.

[bario1]

I also bought 5 blueberry bushes, they were delivered in 9cm pots. My plan was to put them in 36 litre polythene pots (ericaceous compost) and bury them in the ground in their final positions. But looking at them, they are so small, should I pot them on gradually to encourage a strong rootball, like you would a chilli plant for example? And then put them in the ground in Autumn when they're a bit bigger?

[Invicta]

If you growing in pots I would recommend using John Innes ericaceous compost or at least mixing some with pure peat ericaceous compost. This is because it has soil as well as peat and the heaviness will make both the plant and the pot more stable when it is windy. I had problems with both when I grew in just peat based compost.

[cptncrackoff]

Buffs, thanks for the reply just proves what I was told was true. My plot is ph neutral so that rules planting them out, I will get some ericaceous compost next time I go to a garden centre and make sure I get 50ltr tubs for them.

Result

cptncrackoff just read your reply as well, you have confirmed the other advice I was given to water them with rain water and not from the tap. Done a proper test on the whole of my allotment and all of it is a ph of 7 so its a a given that unless I fancy a lot of work to keep them acidic I will need to plant them in pots. They will look ok living at home as I've huge plans to landscape my garden now I've had two big trees removed, part of the plan is designing and building a pond + waterfall + relaxation area.

I will be posting that in here when I get my ar*e in gear to start this project.

I wouldn't say it's a lot of work, I know mine have only been in the ground one year but they have grown well,loads of new shoots and plenty of fruit.
I literally added some acid compost to the ground, I will have to top it up with a few inches more every year, and mulch with acidic materials, our allotment has a bore hole which is much more acidic than the mains water we had until last year.

Early days but the plants really seem to be thriving.

I've just got to keep an eye on them.

I watched a lot of clips and decided to pop them in the ground..I tend to struggle with potted plants, I end up over watering or letting them dry out.
Plus after x amount of years the compost in the pots will be lacking in goodness and need additional feed or something to spice it back up!

[DannyK]

I also bought 5 blueberry bushes, they were delivered in 9cm pots. My plan was to put them in 36 litre polythene pots (ericaceous compost) and bury them in the ground in their final positions. But looking at them, they are so small, should I pot them on gradually to encourage a strong rootball, like you would a chilli plant for example? And then put them in the ground in Autumn when they're a bit bigger?

Over potting will kill them as soil will go stagnant. I'd go for 12.5cm pots initially.

[stevejohnson53]

I download the following information on pot sizes for blueberries, I hope it is of use to someone:-

Blueberry pot sizes.

A typical 1 year old 30cm high plant will need a 1l pot and then transferring to a 5L pot for 2nd year then a 20L pot for the 3rd year and a 40l pot thereafter, so a very large pot is required after the first 2-3 years (unless of course you do not follow the other recommendations in this advice, in which case the plant may never grow higher than when you planted it!)


Steve

[Muddy_Boots]

I download the following information on pot sizes for blueberries, I hope it is of use to someone:-

Blueberry pot sizes.

A typical 1 year old 30cm high plant will need a 1l pot and then transferring to a 5L pot for 2nd year then a 20L pot for the 3rd year and a 40l pot thereafter, so a very large pot is required after the first 2-3 years (unless of course you do not follow the other recommendations in this advice, in which case the plant may never grow higher than when you planted it!)

Thanks for that info Steve, makes me more confident that these will be ok if I follow all this good advice. Thank you everyone for the help with these.

[Grumpy Gardener]

Ive had my blueberry about 25 years and it's been in a 50cm tub for about 12 years now and went through various size pots before getting to 50cm. I top dress it with ericacious compost every year and repot about every 5. Lot of work but worth it with the amount of blueberries we get from it. The 50cm pot does restrict it to a manageable size. It's about 150cm high and similar diameter.
John