On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 22:46:44 +0100, "Mike Lyle"
wrote:

Pam Moore wrote:
On Tue, 9 Aug 2005 13:41:17 +0000, undergroundbob
wrote:


My blueberries have gone blue overnight! Just surprised because I
thought it would be a gradual process...a gentle shading from
green.

Can any of you knowledgable boffin types give me a layman's
explanation of what happens when a berry ripens, how the colour
changes etc?

In the meantime, acting casual, hoping the birds don't spot them
until they're good to pick.

The only way you'll know if they are ripe is to taste one. They
need
to ripen a bit more, I'd say. Try one of the bigger berries. If it
comes off easily, it's probably ripe, if there is any resistance
when
you pull leave it a bit longer. They can stay on a while, but watch
out for birds. I had no trouble but some people have.

Pam in Bristol

I'm not knocking blueberries at all. (They taste best with an equal
quantitiy of chocolate, by the way.) But the fact is they evolved for
acid environments; it's good gardening fun to grow things out of
their normal range, but if you want a decent yield of fruit, you
should forget about them, and go for any of the millions of
microspecies and cultivars of blackberries and raspberries. I can
never make up my mind about God; but if he's there, he certainly
knows what he's doing -- a lot more than you and I do, anyway. Grow
what your soil will allow to flourish: anything else is just fun and
games.

ButMike, surely fun and games make life more interesting and
challenging!
Should I not have grown my bluberry bush in a pot and got a great
sense of satisfaction from getting a good crop?

Pam in Bristol