On 09/08/2018 17:07, Jenny M Benson wrote:
My sister bought 2 Bluebrry bushes last year and planted them in
ericaceous compost in tubs about 20" in diameter and about 15" deep. One
of the bushes flourished, as can be seen if you've looked at the link in
my post to the butterfly thread), although it only bore about 5 fruits
this year.Â* The other bush dwindled more and more and was reduced to a
few spindly sticks and hardly any leaves by the time it was thrown out a
few days ago.Â* The two bushes were positioned side-by-side and received
identical treatment.

It is never a good idea to throw out a dead plant too soon if you have
room to keep them. They may come back from the roots. One of mine
struggled one year. My guess is the pots were a bit too big for them.

My sister is giving up on fruit and giving me all her bushes which will
remain in tubs,Â* I plan to get another Blueberry as I understand there
will be better fruiting if I have two.

Ideally you want two different cultivars to get the best fruit set. You
will also need to net them if you ever want to eat any of the berries.

Is the probable reason for lack of fruit this year the fact that the
bush was very young or is it more likely bad weather at blossom time. (I
don't actually know whether it blossomed well or not.) Can I expect it
to perform at least reasonably next year?

Secondly, is there a "most likely" cause for the other bush to fail to
thrive?Â* They both looked equally healthy when purchased.Â* Would it be
best to discard the compost from that tub or will it be safe to use again?

Throw it on the garden and start again with clean compost just in case
it was a diseased plant. I'd not pot it into a container more than 2 or
3 inches bigger than the one it came in in the first year.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown