On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 09:25:15 -0500, "Jim Lewis"
wrote:

r I mulched my 2 dozen blueberries with pine straw
then complained to my local Florida fruit-specialty nursery


LOL blueberries in florida and the problem is the mulch?

Read some literature on blueberry production in habitats suited to
growing bberries and pine straw is used.

On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 09:25:15 -0500, "Jim Lewis"
wrote:

Blueberries are sensitive


maybe it's residual glyphosate.

LOL blueberries in florida and the problem is the mulch?

Read some literature on blueberry production in habitats suited to
growing bberries and pine straw is used.

Actually, Tom, southern blueberries are NATIVE to Florida, and are pretty
widely grown in the northern part of the state, where they are also found
wild in the woods and the national forests. I think they're sometimes called
rabbiteye blueberries or some such thing. They are a variety of vaccinium -
vaccinium ashei - the other blueberries are vaccinium corymbosum. Both
produce edible blueberries, although the southern ones are a little less
complex in flavor (to my palate) and more mealy in texture. I have never
heard about problems with mulching them with pine needles however. The IFAS
unit of the University of Florida is located in Quincy, Florida now,
(although part of their project may still be located in Monticelly, Florida)
and experimentation on this variety of blueberries is part of their mission.
If I were living in Florida I would contact them to find out about how best
to grow the blueberries there.

"gregpresley" wrote in
:



LOL blueberries in florida and the problem is the mulch?

Read some literature on blueberry production in habitats suited to
growing bberries and pine straw is used.

Actually, Tom, southern blueberries are NATIVE to Florida, and are
pretty widely grown in the northern part of the state, where they are
also found wild in the woods and the national forests. I think they're
sometimes called rabbiteye blueberries or some such thing. They are a
variety of vaccinium - vaccinium ashei - the other blueberries are
vaccinium corymbosum. Both produce edible blueberries, although the
southern ones are a little less complex in flavor (to my palate) and
more mealy in texture. I have never heard about problems with mulching
them with pine needles however. The IFAS unit of the University of
Florida is located in Quincy, Florida now, (although part of their
project may still be located in Monticelly, Florida) and
experimentation on this variety of blueberries is part of their
mission. If I were living in Florida I would contact them to find out
about how best to grow the blueberries there.

What's kind of interesting is the nursery is reported as recommending the
addition of muricid and then oak leaves as mulch. I'm assuming muricid is
some type of acidic supplement, but aren't oak leaves going to make the
topsoil more basic (and therefore eventually getting you back to where you
started)? Of course that doesn't answer why the blueberries were
underperforming with the pine mulch.

Anyway, just to keep things straight, the original post was about pine
needle compost, not mulch.

I believe tannins in the oak leaf mulch will at least temporarily acidify
the soil. 6.8 or thereabouts.
"Salty Thumb" wrote in message
...
"gregpresley" wrote in
:



LOL blueberries in florida and the problem is the mulch?

Read some literature on blueberry production in habitats suited to
growing bberries and pine straw is used.

Actually, Tom, southern blueberries are NATIVE to Florida, and are
pretty widely grown in the northern part of the state, where they are
also found wild in the woods and the national forests. I think they're
sometimes called rabbiteye blueberries or some such thing. They are a
variety of vaccinium - vaccinium ashei - the other blueberries are
vaccinium corymbosum. Both produce edible blueberries, although the
southern ones are a little less complex in flavor (to my palate) and
more mealy in texture. I have never heard about problems with mulching
them with pine needles however. The IFAS unit of the University of
Florida is located in Quincy, Florida now, (although part of their
project may still be located in Monticelly, Florida) and
experimentation on this variety of blueberries is part of their
mission. If I were living in Florida I would contact them to find out
about how best to grow the blueberries there.

What's kind of interesting is the nursery is reported as recommending the
addition of muricid and then oak leaves as mulch. I'm assuming muricid is
some type of acidic supplement, but aren't oak leaves going to make the
topsoil more basic (and therefore eventually getting you back to where you
started)? Of course that doesn't answer why the blueberries were
underperforming with the pine mulch.

Anyway, just to keep things straight, the original post was about pine
needle compost, not mulch.

oops, guess I'd better put the dunce hat on. Thanks for the
enlightenment!


On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 22:16:33 -0800, "gregpresley"
wrote:



LOL blueberries in florida and the problem is the mulch?

Read some literature on blueberry production in habitats suited to
growing bberries and pine straw is used.

Actually, Tom, southern blueberries are NATIVE to Florida, and are pretty
widely grown in the northern part of the state, where they are also found
wild in the woods and the national forests. I think they're sometimes called
rabbiteye blueberries or some such thing. They are a variety of vaccinium -
vaccinium ashei - the other blueberries are vaccinium corymbosum. Both
produce edible blueberries, although the southern ones are a little less
complex in flavor (to my palate) and more mealy in texture. I have never
heard about problems with mulching them with pine needles however. The IFAS
unit of the University of Florida is located in Quincy, Florida now,
(although part of their project may still be located in Monticelly, Florida)
and experimentation on this variety of blueberries is part of their mission.
If I were living in Florida I would contact them to find out about how best
to grow the blueberries there.

"Tom Jaszewski" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 09:25:15 -0500, "Jim Lewis"

wrote:

I mulched my 2 dozen blueberries with pine straw
then complained to my local Florida fruit-specialty nursery


LOL blueberries in florida and the problem is the mulch?

Read some literature on blueberry production in habitats suited
to
growing bberries and pine straw is used.

I'm not sure what you find so amusing about blueberries in
Florida. There are eight native blueberries growing in the woods
right around my home. Down the road, there's a farm that has 150
acres in blueberries, and they've been thriving there for more
than 30 years.

As for pine straw, the folks I talked to specialize in growing
fruits of all kinds; they pointed out exactly what was happening,
and when I removed the pine straw and added oak leaves as a
mulch, the plants' leaves lost that pale yellow look and they
started bearing prolifically.

Methinks one shouldn't laugh unless one is certain. Florida is a
helluva large state, north-south and east-west; it stretches from
the colder half of USDA zone 8 (where I live) to USDA 11. It has
more species of trees -- including more species of temperate zone
trees -- than any other state but Tennessee and Kentucky (and
Hawaii, as far as tropicals go).

Phoo!

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - VEGETARIAN:
An Indian word meaning "lousy hunter."

The IFAS
unit of the University of Florida is located in Quincy, Florida
now,
(although part of their project may still be located in
Monticelly, Florida)
and experimentation on this variety of blueberries is part of
their mission.
If I were living in Florida I would contact them to find out
about how best
to grow the blueberries there.


Yeah, I did. I'm a Master Gardener and most always check with
the various extension offices. They recommended an "acid" mulch,
but failed to specify. When contacted after the folks at "Just
Fruits" Nursery told me about pine needles, they said: "Oh.
Yeah, that's right." :=/

The Vaccinium species that grow in this area a

V. arboreum, sparkleberry (very common in my woods)
V. corymbosum, highbush blueberry (the second most common
Vaccinium)
V. darrowii, glaucous blueberry (scarce)
V. ellottii, Mayberry (quite common)
V. myrsinites, evergreen blueberry (maybe)
V. stamineum, Deerberry (a few)
V. tenellum, dwarf blueberry (many in my woods)

Local blueberry breeders have take V. corymbosum and V. elliottii
as the basis for the local U-pick-em blueberry industry.

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

What's kind of interesting is the nursery is reported as
recommending the
addition of muricid and then oak leaves as mulch. I'm assuming
muricid is
some type of acidic supplement, but aren't oak leaves going to
make the
topsoil more basic (and therefore eventually getting you back
to where you
started)? Of course that doesn't answer why the blueberries
were
underperforming with the pine mulch.


An earlier message in this thread mentioned the chemicals that
are present in pine needles that inhibit growth in some plants.

Oak leaves are quite acidic as they break down. As Dave said,
they add tannins to the soil (tannins from decaying leaves --
pine, oak, bald cypress and others -- is the reason the south has
so many acid, black-water streams).

As for the "muricid", if that's what I said it was a typo -- I
mean Miracid, a commercial fertilizer for acid-loving plants. My
fingers often don't agree with my brain.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - VEGETARIAN:
An Indian word meaning "lousy hunter."

On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 16:36:52 -0800, Tom Jaszewski opined:

On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 09:25:15 -0500, "Jim Lewis"
wrote:

Blueberries are sensitive


maybe it's residual glyphosate.

Actually, blueberries (same family of roses) have very poor root systems and depend highly
on a fungal mat being present.

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 17:15:27 GMT, animaux
wrote:

On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 16:36:52 -0800, Tom Jaszewski opined:

On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 09:25:15 -0500, "Jim Lewis"
wrote:

Blueberries are sensitive


maybe it's residual glyphosate.

Actually, blueberries (same family of roses) have very poor root systems and depend highly
on a fungal mat being present.

Just an update on my blueberry bushes that I transplanted several
months ago. I use cottonseed meal and peatmoss in the prepared hole.
The root system was hair-like and somewhat small. They reponded well
are doing exceptionally well in a sunnier location. I have a heap of
sawdust aging and composting that I plan to use as mulch for the
blueberries in the spring, as recommended in a few gardening books. I
am still leary of of the nitrogen depletion of using sawdust, and
found that Miracid (applied at half rate) brings the foliage back to
the deep green color. But my b-bushes are now in winter sleep (east
Tennessee).

"Jim Lewis" wrote in news:bri4gh$jrp$1
@news.utelfla.com:

What's kind of interesting is the nursery is reported as recommending
the addition of muricid and then oak leaves as mulch. I'm assuming
muricid is some type of acidic supplement, but aren't oak leaves going
to make the topsoil more basic (and therefore eventually getting you
back to where you started)? Of course that doesn't answer why the
blueberries were underperforming with the pine mulch.


An earlier message in this thread mentioned the chemicals that
are present in pine needles that inhibit growth in some plants.

Oak leaves are quite acidic as they break down. As Dave said,
they add tannins to the soil (tannins from decaying leaves --
pine, oak, bald cypress and others -- is the reason the south has
so many acid, black-water streams).

As for the "muricid", if that's what I said it was a typo -- I
mean Miracid, a commercial fertilizer for acid-loving plants. My
fingers often don't agree with my brain.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - VEGETARIAN:
An Indian word meaning "lousy hunter."


Yeah, it was a typo, but it was on me.

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 11:35:32 -0500, "Jim Lewis"
wrote:

Methinks one shouldn't laugh unless one is certain.


Methinks you are correct, my apologies.....

staring into corner dunce hat on....

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 11:35:32 -0500, "Jim Lewis"
wrote:

Methinks one shouldn't laugh unless one is certain.


Methinks you are correct, my apologies.....

staring into corner dunce hat on....

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 11:35:32 -0500, "Jim Lewis"
wrote:

Methinks one shouldn't laugh unless one is certain.


Methinks you are correct, my apologies.....

staring into corner dunce hat on....