"Bill Oliver" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Jim Lewis wrote:
pine needles contain polyphenols
and monoterpenes, both of which have been connected with the
inhibition
of the growth of some plants.

Do NOT use pine needles as mulch with blueberries!

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Only to
the
white man was nature a wilderness -- Luther Standing Bear
(Ogallala Sioux Chief)



Why not?


See above. Blueberries are sensitive to those things -- a fact I
discovered after I mulched my 2 dozen blueberries with pine straw
then complained to my local Florida fruit-specialty nursery that
the plants weren't doing well. They said to get rid of the pine
straw, give the plants a one-time dose of Miracid, and mulch with
oak leaves. I did and my berries have been doing better every
year since.

It pays to deal with a specialty nursery, or at least a _real_
nursery and not one of those mass-market "home centers."

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Only to the
white man was nature a wilderness -- Luther Standing Bear
(Ogallala Sioux Chief)