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 ??

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

"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.

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.

Good idea - I'm looking forward to learning all of these tricks ! I have
a fair number of heavy duty bags around - left over from the horse
manure that I obtained from a local farm. I'll give them a go. Maybe
even use a double barrier incase the routes are particularly aggressive.
Thanks again!

ps - just tested the soil with a kit from B&Q, looks like its more on
the side of alkaline than acid, so even more of a reason to use proper
compost and a barrier

"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 have neutral soil, so I grow blueberries in large plastic pots which cost
only about £4 each from places like Wilkinsons. I use 100% ericaceous
compost from B&Q, and fertilise in spring with ericaceous fertiliser. I
keep the pots well watered in summer (blueberries must be kept always moist)
and I cover the plants with netting when the berries emerge.

This site gives info on how to lower soil acidity:
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/...rt.htm#general

Good luck.

Mel 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 have neutral soil, so I grow blueberries in large plastic pots which cost
only about £4 each from places like Wilkinsons. I use 100% ericaceous
compost from B&Q, and fertilise in spring with ericaceous fertiliser. I
keep the pots well watered in summer (blueberries must be kept always moist)
and I cover the plants with netting when the berries emerge.

This site gives info on how to lower soil acidity:
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/...rt.htm#general

Good luck.

Thanks. I've spent the afternoon sorting out my patch. I've put the
blueberry plant into a large heavy duty plastic bag of 100% ericaceous
compost (B&Q) and sunk it deap enough to as not to be able to see the
bag. The entire 70l bag of soil is in there so there is plenty of room
for the roots - prob about the size of an extra large pot.
Hopefully it'll take OK and grow nicely - time will tell !
Good tip re the netting -I'll make sure I have some on standby...

NC wrote:
[...]
Thanks. I've spent the afternoon sorting out my patch. I've put the
blueberry plant into a large heavy duty plastic bag of 100% ericaceous
compost (B&Q) and sunk it deap enough to as not to be able to see the
bag. The entire 70l bag of soil is in there so there is plenty of room
for the roots - prob about the size of an extra large pot.
Hopefully it'll take OK and grow nicely - time will tell !
Good tip re the netting -I'll make sure I have some on standby...

I hope you made adequate drainage holes in the bag before sinking it! I
don't know, but I think I'd have slit right across the bottom. What
would be really instructive would be for you to grow another one simply
in a hole filled with ericaceous mixture with no bag, and maybe yet
another in the ordinary soil, and compare results.

--
Mike.

"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.

I have neutral soil, so I grow blueberries in large plastic pots which
cost
only about £4 each from places like Wilkinsons. .

Thanks. I've spent the afternoon sorting out my patch. I've put the
blueberry plant into a large heavy duty plastic bag of 100% ericaceous
compost


Also, blueberries crop much better with cross-pollination, so it's best if
you have another variety nearby that flowers at the same time as the one you
already have. I have 3 different varieties - Bluecrop, Stanley and another
one whose name escapes me right now.
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...berry_care.asp for more
advice.

"NC" wrote in message ...
Mel 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 have neutral soil, so I grow blueberries in large plastic pots which
cost
only about £4 each from places like Wilkinsons. I use 100% ericaceous
compost from B&Q, and fertilise in spring with ericaceous fertiliser. I
keep the pots well watered in summer (blueberries must be kept always
moist)
and I cover the plants with netting when the berries emerge.

This site gives info on how to lower soil acidity:
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/...rt.htm#general

Good luck.

Thanks. I've spent the afternoon sorting out my patch. I've put the
blueberry plant into a large heavy duty plastic bag of 100% ericaceous
compost (B&Q) and sunk it deap enough to as not to be able to see the
bag. The entire 70l bag of soil is in there so there is plenty of room
for the roots - prob about the size of an extra large pot.
Hopefully it'll take OK and grow nicely - time will tell !
Good tip re the netting -I'll make sure I have some on standby...

....

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

....

As you said blueberries love a pH of 4.5, but they will do fairly well in a
ph of 5.5 to almost 6. Most of the plants you like, will do better in a pH
of about 6 to 6.5. If the pH gets too high (9.5 and above), the only thing
you will be able to raise is weeds. The best way to take a pH test is to
take about 3 samples from your garden area, mix them up together, and have a
laboratory test it for you for a small fee. Our colleges will do it for us
here.

Dwayne (From Kansas)


"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 ??

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 !
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 ?

"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 ?

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.

No problem... Its always worth posting a follow up - otherwise people
looking in the archives just hit a dead end...

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. )

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

snip

Good thing about making this mistake was that it was easy to dig up and
lift out the whole bag! I've cut the bottom off, lined the sides of the
hole (about 3' diameter - as big as the space would allow) using the
original plastic plus another piece and re-planted the blueberry (its a
northland by the way *). As you say, a ten minute job may well make all
the difference in a plant which should be there for many years.

I have a space next to it that would accommodate another - I'm very
tempted to buy a different variety for cross pollination. Crocus have
one that looks good... although maybe I should see how the first one
gets on - I dont want to overcrowd the patch in the first year !

* 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 ?)

According to various sites, blueberries need to be kepy moist. I have
broken up the soil at the bottom of the hole, but not added any gravel.

Thanks again for the tips - I'm very pleased that I posted the question !


* PLANT DESCRIPTION
A cross between the lowbush and highbush blueberry, in midseason
'Northland' produces abundant sweet, bright-blue fruit with a wild
blueberry taste on plants that reach 3–4 feet. This extremely productive
cultivar's blooms withstand light frost. Blueberry foliage turns fiery
red in fall, giving it great ornamental value as well. I didn't know
this last point - should look god alongside my Jap maple!

well.. after all that, its now in a pot !! Figured it was better all
round that way, and after getting the nod from the boss (space is
limited, so a pot needed to be 'discussed!) I've now dug it up again.
Its in 100% ericaceous compost so should now be happy.