"NC" wrote in message
...
I assume you only lined the sides of the hole with the plastic barrier?
Or maybe I didn't make myself sufficiently clear. And not the bottom
as well. By simply dropping the bag in. Because if you did, if we have
prolonged rain, unlikely but you never know, the contents of the bag
may become increasing saturated, and the plant will most probably die
as the roots wil be starved of oxygen seeping through gaps in the
soil structure. The lining needs only be at the sides to form a barrier
against the alkaline soil on either side and not at the bottom. So that
the
moisture level inside the barrier can equalise with the soil underneath
and so drain away.

michael adams


oops !

I'm as much at fault, as it isn't all that obvious and the original
explanation was a bit ambiguous. Its just as well you posted a follow
up as well, as many people don't.

What you're doing right now, might affect the plant for the next five
years or ten years i.e whether you spend five minutes or ten minutes
now, could have a big impact. (On the other hand you could just take
a chance and sling it in any old way not bothering about Ph and end
up with a bush burdened down with fruit - maybe all the cautions are
uneccesssary. )

Take it all out of the hole. Work over the soil at the bottom of the
hole. So it isn't totally impacted*. If you were sitting on a solid
clay pan one foot down, then you would have the same problem. Make the
hole as big as you have room for, to give the roots plenty of room
to move sideways and aerate etc. Restricting the roots to the size of
the bag is again a bad idea, if its unnecessary. The fact that you only have
sufficient ereicaceous compost to fill in a smaller hole is secondary.
You can compenstate for that with feeding to some extent. A lot of
compost is already ericaeous BTW i.e straight peat, but putting that
name on, adds to the price. You can't compensate later on, for having
made the planting hole too small. Not unless you dug a trench around
the outside of the plastic barrier and removed it that way.

So dig as wide a hole is is feasable, line the walls with plastic of some
kind, and that's about it.

michael adams

....

* I don't have the time right now to research the drainage preferences
of blueberries. If it needs good drainage you might want to think of
incorporate some gravel at the bottom of the hole.( Or again you could
just sling it in. Wish you hadn't posted ?)








Do I need to dig it up again - or do you think I would be OK proding
loads of holes through the bottom with a big long pointy stick ?