"NC" wrote in message ...
michael adams wrote:
"NC" wrote in message
...


Morning all. Bought a blueberry bush yesterday at a local plant fair - I
eat loads of them so thought I'd have a go at growing. Doing some
googling this morning, it appears that they need a low pH soil - some
have even said 4.5 ! I am planning on planting it at the back of my veg
bed (to cover up a bit of the fence). How do I go about making sure the
soil local to the blueberry has sufficient acid levels, whilst
maintaining a fairly neutral pH in the rest of the bed ?? If I use an
acid fertiliser, will this not 'leak' into the rest of the veg patch and
cause problems ??



If you haven't decanted it, and the Plant Fair is still there
today, then I'd suggest taking it back, explaining the situation
and asking if you can exchange the plant for something else.
Or asking for your money back, if you ask really nicely.

Inadvertently buying plants which need "special treatment"
as it would in that situation, is merely buying an ongoing
problem for yourself. In less than ideal conditions the plant
quite possibly won't thrive and thus won't produce the quantity
of fruit you were expecting. Whereas if you'd just bought it
as an ornamental then you could possibly put up with a lack
of performance. As it would still fill the gap.

Failing that, given that you bought the plant to fill a gap then
you could possibly consider a large container of some kind
- more expense unless you're happy with scavenged stuff, the
bottom of a plastic dustbin etc. - or dig out an appropriate size hole,
maybe again insert half of an old plastic dustbin in that to act as
a barrier - and fill the hole with ericaceous compost - more
trouble and expense.

Or abandon the gap filling idea and plant it somewhere else.

Putting plants in unsuitable soils won't necessarily kill them
it may simply make them perform a loss less well than they would
if they had better conditions. As might happen with the veg on
the margin of your veg plot as well, depending on the proximity.


michael adams

Michael - thanks for the advice. The plant was only £8 for a fairly
decent size - I'm prepared to give it a go and see what happens. I wont
expect a bumper crop...
I've bought some ericaceous compost from B&W this morning (on special,
only about £1 for 70l). What are your thoughts on digging a decent size
hole, adding 50/50 ericaceous/soil and using the odd bit of feed twice a
year ?? I will make sure there is a couple of feet between the base of
the plant and the nearest veg.
I could put it in a pot but am relunctant as it will look a bit odd, or
bury it in something as you suggest (I dont have anything to hand, so I
would need to buy something to suit).

....

After you dig the hole, any impermeable barrier you put between
the compost in the hole and the surrounding soil will prevent
leaching across the "border". Also you may want to create a
barrier of some sort to keep the roots within the ericaeous compost.
This barrier will be buried anyway - just sticking out at the
top so can be cut out of old compost bags, old growbags, any heavy
duty plastc sheeting you can find, old polypropolene tarpaulin
whatever. So just line the hole with any of the above, if you
dont have anything else to hand, and they should do just as well.
You just need an impermeable barrier of some kind. Whether heavy
duty plastic will contain the roots is another matter
as I'm not familiar with the rooting habits of blueberries. And as
its buried and away from any UV light plastic will last for ever
in that situation, and nobody but you need ever know its there.
Then you can adjust your feeding and compost mix in the light of
the results you obtain each year.


michael adams

....










I would really like to give it a go - if it fails, I'll just dig it up.