Blueberry Not Fruiting
Hi All. You were so helpful last week when I posted, I would like to ask
your advise again! I have a miniature blueberry bush - Vaccinium corymbosum 'Northsky' - on our balcony. I have had it around three/four years and it seems to flourish, and each year produces a mass of flowers, but it never fruits. It is supposed to be self fertile, so not having another plant isn't the problem here. We live in N. Derbyshire, the balcony is south facing, so it gets plenty of warmth and sun during spring/summer months. It is in full flower again at the moment but I know they will just fall off and that will be it - no berries! Any thoughts would be much appreciated! Thank you! Tracey |
Blueberry Not Fruiting
On 13 May, 11:20, "Tracey" wrote:
Hi All. You were so helpful last week when I posted, I would like to ask your advise again! I have a miniature blueberry bush - Vaccinium corymbosum 'Northsky' - on our balcony. I have had it around three/four years and it seems to flourish, and each year produces a mass of flowers, but it never fruits. It is supposed to be self fertile, so not having another plant isn't the problem here. We live in N. Derbyshire, the balcony is south facing, so it gets plenty of warmth and sun during spring/summer months. It is in full flower again at the moment but I know they will just fall off and that will be it - no berries! Any thoughts would be much appreciated! Thank you! Tracey It sounds as though you may have a pollination problem. How high up is your balcony? If you aren't getting the insects, you could try hand- pollinating with a sable paint brush. Put the tip of the brush in the centre of the flower and twiddle it around. It's all a bit laborious but I have done it successfully on apricots which were flowering in a cold spring and there didn't seem to be many pollinators around. Jonathan |
Blueberry Not Fruiting
Tracey wrote:
Hi All. You were so helpful last week when I posted, I would like to ask your advise again! I have a miniature blueberry bush - Vaccinium corymbosum 'Northsky' - on our balcony. I have had it around three/four years and it seems to flourish, and each year produces a mass of flowers, but it never fruits. It is supposed to be self fertile, so not having another plant isn't the problem here. I suspect it may well be. Allegedly self-fertile hides a multitude of sins. And it may not be the named cultivar on the label. Obtain a small cutting off someone elses blueberry and put it in a vase of water nearby if you don't have space for a pair. We used to do this to get our lonely pair tree to set fruit before it had a mate. We live in N. Derbyshire, the balcony is south facing, so it gets plenty of warmth and sun during spring/summer months. It is in full flower again at the moment but I know they will just fall off and that will be it - no berries! Any thoughts would be much appreciated! Thank you! If it is still in flower try a soft paintbrush to pollenate them and/or find a piece of another different cultivar in flower at the same time. Regards, Martin Brown ** Posted from http://www.teranews.com ** |
Blueberry Not Fruiting
Thank you Jonathan and Martin for your quick replies! We are on the second
floor, so not too high, and we overlook a large garden with lots of fruits trees - in fact a massive pear tree stretches right up and beyond the height of our balcony so close we can almost reach out and pick the fruit. Hence we seem to get plenty of insects, mainly wasps as they come for the pear tree, but also bees, butterflies, ladybirds, hover flies. I will try the paint brush trick though this afternoon - thanks for the tip both of you - and I will also try and get a cutting or another plant. Tracey |
Blueberry Not Fruiting
"Steve Harris" wrote in message ... In article , (Tracey) wrote: the balcony is south facing, so it gets plenty of warmth and sun during spring/summer months Other comments about fertilisation may well be right but I wonder if it is short of water? Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com A useful bit of gardening software at http://www.netservs.com/garden/ Thanks for the suggestion Steve. I always make sure the plants are well watered in warm weather and the blueberry only gets watered with rainwater whenever possible as that's what was recommended on the info tag that accompanied the plant. So I don't think that's the problem. I tried putting some coffee grounds on the soil the other day to see if that helps as I read it can. Tracey |
Blueberry Not Fruiting
The message
from "Tracey" contains these words: Thanks for the suggestion Steve. I always make sure the plants are well watered in warm weather and the blueberry only gets watered with rainwater whenever possible as that's what was recommended on the info tag that accompanied the plant. So I don't think that's the problem. I tried putting some coffee grounds on the soil the other day to see if that helps as I read it can. Ideally you'd compost them. Adding fresh grounds or tealeaves (for example) will reduce nitrogen. Of course, too much nitrogen could just be a problem too, However, it is difficult to overwater a blueberry - remember, the North American blueberry is otherwise known as the 'swamp blueberry'. -- Rusty Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk Separator in search of a sig |
Blueberry Not Fruiting
"Rusty Hinge 2" wrote in message k... The message from "Tracey" contains these words: Thanks for the suggestion Steve. I always make sure the plants are well watered in warm weather and the blueberry only gets watered with rainwater whenever possible as that's what was recommended on the info tag that accompanied the plant. So I don't think that's the problem. I tried putting some coffee grounds on the soil the other day to see if that helps as I read it can. Ideally you'd compost them. Adding fresh grounds or tealeaves (for example) will reduce nitrogen. Of course, too much nitrogen could just be a problem too, I won't add any more, hopefully the small amount I added just the once will be ok. However, it is difficult to overwater a blueberry - remember, the North American blueberry is otherwise known as the 'swamp blueberry'. Ah interesting, I didn't know that! -- Rusty Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk Separator in search of a sig Thanks Rusty! Tracey |
Blueberry Not Fruiting
The message
from "Tracey" contains these words: However, it is difficult to overwater a blueberry - remember, the North American blueberry is otherwise known as the 'swamp blueberry'. Ah interesting, I didn't know that! I have just (FSVO just) got a blueberry thus labelled. It is tiny ATM, but has set fruit all by itself. Thanks Rusty! Another thought struck me: the last blueberry I had was killed by vine weevil. It started its decline by not fruiting. I believe you can get a 'biological' control for vine weevil, in the form of some sort of harmless (not to vine weevil though!) nematode. Even if your problem isn't vine weevil, it can't do the blueberry any harm. aside Give your rhubarb at least one bucket of water a day! /aside -- Rusty Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk Separator in search of a sig |
Blueberry Not Fruiting
"Rusty Hinge 2" wrote in message k... The message from "Tracey" contains these words: However, it is difficult to overwater a blueberry - remember, the North American blueberry is otherwise known as the 'swamp blueberry'. Ah interesting, I didn't know that! I have just (FSVO just) got a blueberry thus labelled. It is tiny ATM, but has set fruit all by itself. Thanks Rusty! Another thought struck me: the last blueberry I had was killed by vine weevil. It started its decline by not fruiting. I believe you can get a 'biological' control for vine weevil, in the form of some sort of harmless (not to vine weevil though!) nematode. Even if your problem isn't vine weevil, it can't do the blueberry any harm. aside Give your rhubarb at least one bucket of water a day! /aside -- Rusty Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk Separator in search of a sig Thanks Rusty! Tracey |
Regarding Northsky not fruiting -- all the sources I have checked say it is not self-fertile, or only poorly so. You need a pollinator. Northland, Northcountry, and Northblue would do the trick (that is, assuming that bees are visiting your plant).
Donna - - - - - - Tracey said: I have a miniature blueberry bush - Vaccinium corymbosum 'Northsky' - on our balcony. I have had it around three/four years and it seems to flourish, and each year produces a mass of flowers, but it never fruits. It is supposed to be self fertile, so not having another plant isn't the problem here. |
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