Blueberry growing!

Willeh · Joined: 26 Feb 2008 Posts: 1

Hello I'm new here,

I'm a chilli grower and I thought I should also grow Blueberries as
buying them from the supermarket is expensive and they don't have as
much of their useful nutrients and vitamins as opposed to being freshly
picked and eaten straight.
I'm interested in growing the variety 'Sunshine Blue' as it's compact
and is suited for container growth but other varieties such as
'Bluecrop' also catch my eye. I'll be buying online from Blackmoor
Nurseries.
Do Blueberries crop in their first year? They advertise the plants in
1l pots as 1 year old so they would have a thick main branch?

Any help regarding Blueberry growing and more specifically Blueberry
growing, would be great.

Thanks

--
Willeh

Archived from group: uk>rec>gardening

Charlie Pridham · Joined: 27 Sep 2007 Posts: 262

In article ,
Willeh.23a2e96@gardenbanter.co.uk says...
>
> Hello I'm new here,
>
> I'm a chilli grower and I thought I should also grow Blueberries as
> buying them from the supermarket is expensive and they don't have as
> much of their useful nutrients and vitamins as opposed to being freshly
> picked and eaten straight.
> I'm interested in growing the variety 'Sunshine Blue' as it's compact
> and is suited for container growth but other varieties such as
> 'Bluecrop' also catch my eye. I'll be buying online from Blackmoor
> Nurseries.
> Do Blueberries crop in their first year? They advertise the plants in
> 1l pots as 1 year old so they would have a thick main branch?
>
> Any help regarding Blueberry growing and more specifically Blueberry
> growing, would be great.
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
>
>
Test your soil, they need acid soil or you will have to grow them in
containers
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

GemBio · Joined: 04 Aug 2007 Posts: 5

Try the Agroforestry Research Trust for info & supply. Very useful
organisation when it comes to growing less than usual

www.agroforestry.co.uk

Blueberries, Cranberries and other Vacciniums
Blueberries, Cranberries and other Vacciniums
by Jennifer Trehane
Timber Press, 2004. ISBN 1-88192-615-9. 256 pp. £22.50.

You can probably find it cheaper scrounging around on Amazon, ebay, abe
books & suchlike.

JW

Charlie Pridham wrote:

> In article ,
> Willeh.23a2e96@gardenbanter.co.uk says...
> >
> > Hello I'm new here,
> >
> > I'm a chilli grower and I thought I should also grow Blueberries as
> > buying them from the supermarket is expensive and they don't have as
> > much of their useful nutrients and vitamins as opposed to being freshly
> > picked and eaten straight.
> > I'm interested in growing the variety 'Sunshine Blue' as it's compact
> > and is suited for container growth but other varieties such as
> > 'Bluecrop' also catch my eye. I'll be buying online from Blackmoor
> > Nurseries.
> > Do Blueberries crop in their first year? They advertise the plants in
> > 1l pots as 1 year old so they would have a thick main branch?
> >
> > Any help regarding Blueberry growing and more specifically Blueberry
> > growing, would be great.
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> Test your soil, they need acid soil or you will have to grow them in
> containers

--
Gemini Bioscapes
Plants & more on Ebay
http://tinyurl.com/hi6g

cliff_the_gardener · Joined: 04 Aug 2007 Posts: 18

Willeh
You will get a little fruit of a bush in its early years, but it is
only a small plant in a 1l pot.
When fully grown they can get up to 4-5ft tall.
Sunshine blue is an evergreen kind and produces in m garden, smaller
berries than bluecrop. I have an acid soil but have found that the
best method is to mix 1 part top soil, 1 part B&Q soil improver, 1
part peat (has to be peat rather than peat free) and 1 part grit
sand. This produces an acid soil, which is moisture retentive yet
drains. Blueberries dislike drying out - infact they die. Equally if
the roots are permanently wet they die also.
As well as Blackmoor, the Dorset Blueberry Company is worth checking
out. As mentioned in another post Jenny Trehane wrote the bookon
Blueberries and it is her fmaily that runs Dorset Blueberry Co.
Blueberries in tubs are fine so long as you can keep them watered. An
alternative solution is to bury the pot to reduce evaporation.
Good luck
Clifford
Bawtry, Doncaster, South Yorkshire

echinosum · Joined: 27 Feb 2008 Posts: 1

Willeh;776292 Wrote:
> I'm a chilli grower and I thought I should also grow Blueberries
> Do Blueberries crop in their first year? They advertise the plants in
> 1l pots as 1 year old so they would have a thick main branch?
He says he wants to grow them in containers, Charlie.
I bought one-year blueberries cheap from a DIY shop, and they fruited
fine the first year I had them and they had a thick main branch.
If you live in a hard water area, they don't like tap water, and they
need a lot of water, so you'll have to collect a lot of rainwater for
them.
You supposedly get a better fruit set if you have two varieties,
because cross-pollination is better, but I get a good fruit set from
the two seemingly same variety bushes I have.
I grow (compact) chillies in quite small containers, only about 3
litres. I think suitable containers for growing blueberries would
rather larger, be more like 25 or 50 litres.

--
echinosum

Jeff Layman · Joined: 27 Oct 2007 Posts: 89

cliff_the_gardener wrote:
> Willeh
> You will get a little fruit of a bush in its early years, but it is
> only a small plant in a 1l pot.
> When fully grown they can get up to 4-5ft tall.
> Sunshine blue is an evergreen kind and produces in m garden, smaller
> berries than bluecrop. I have an acid soil but have found that the
> best method is to mix 1 part top soil, 1 part B&Q soil improver, 1
> part peat (has to be peat rather than peat free) and 1 part grit
> sand. This produces an acid soil, which is moisture retentive yet
> drains. Blueberries dislike drying out - infact they die. Equally if
> the roots are permanently wet they die also.
> As well as Blackmoor, the Dorset Blueberry Company is worth checking
> out. As mentioned in another post Jenny Trehane wrote the bookon
> Blueberries and it is her fmaily that runs Dorset Blueberry Co.
> Blueberries in tubs are fine so long as you can keep them watered. An
> alternative solution is to bury the pot to reduce evaporation.

Being bone idle, I planted a blueberry in good old solid Sussex clay (pH was
about 6 or 6.5, if I remember correctly). It grew well and fruited every
year for about 7 years (late 80s to early 90s). Then it slowly started to
fruit poorly, and eventually died. But I never saw signs of chlorosis at
any time.

--
Jeff
(cut "thetape" to reply)

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