On Mar 3, 1:38*pm, Brooklyn1 Gravesend1 wrote:
On Sat, 03 Mar 2012 16:02:12 -0500, PhoenixWench
wrote:









On 3/3/2012 12:24 PM, Higgs Boson wrote:
On Mar 2, 5:25 pm, *wrote:
On 3/2/2012 4:59 PM, Higgs Boson wrote:

Amici -

I put in two blueberry bushes last year. *Now they are moving into
Spring. *They are in large pots, getting plenty of sun& * *the right
amount of water, receiving light monthly applications of appropriate
fertilizer.

O'Neal is blossoming up a storm but just starting to leaf out, where
as Bountiful Blue is all leafed out, but zip buds.

Was it anything I did/didn't do? *Do I need to jog Bountiful Blue a
little? *With more fertilizer, or?

Why would two varieties act so differently?

This is So Calif coastal.

Tx

HB

According to what I just read, O'Neal is an extremely early producer,
which often means blooms before leaves. Bountiful Blue is not as early,
so it takes the time to leaf out before blooming. I have 6 different
varieties, and they all have their different habits, but I try to plant
them in pairs that have similar bloom-times so they can cross pollinate.
;-)

Thanks, Wenchie darlin'. *My post was more an "inquiring minds" type
of question. *I was speculating on the evolutionary survival value of
early leafing as opposed to early budding. * Also, ISTR that the
nursery told me that these plants don't need cross-pollination? *What
say you?

HB

The Bountiful Blue definitely indicated not needing a cross pollinator
though it would be more prolific with one - most sites recommend
Sunshine Blue.
O'Neal appears to be quite the independent one, however ;-)
Neither of these cultivars are suitable to my growing area - 5b in the
Catskills - they'd both freeze their kischkies off here. I currently
have 3 inches of snow slowly melting - neither leaves nor blossoms yet,
as all my blues are still snoozing ;-)

Same here... I think I'm on the other end of Greene County from you...
got a good 10" of the white stuff. *I don't expect any green on my
blueberries until like late April-early May. *Reached 61º today, snow
is melting fast... a very unseasonably warm winter, like no winter at
all.

It took YEARS -- DECADES! -- for the blueberry folks to develop
cultivars that could handle our mild climate (So Calif coastal).
Hallelujah! (wipes away drool...)

HB