|
Blueberries
Anyone have success growing blueberries? I must be doing something
wrong. Planted a bush 7 years ago "Bluecrop" and after 7 years I have a very healthy 10 feet tall bushy tree that has never had a single fruit on it! Every spring it has lots of catkins, but that's all. Any suggestions on what is wrong or should I just take the chainsaw to it and convert it into firewood? -- David in Normandy. |
Blueberries
On 13/06/2013 19:46, David in Normandy wrote:
Anyone have success growing blueberries? I must be doing something wrong. Planted a bush 7 years ago "Bluecrop" and after 7 years I have a very healthy 10 feet tall bushy tree that has never had a single fruit on it! Every spring it has lots of catkins, but that's all. Any suggestions on what is wrong or should I just take the chainsaw to it and convert it into firewood? Are you sure it's not a Willow of some sort? |
Blueberries
On Thu, 13 Jun 2013 20:46:21 +0200, David in Normandy wrote:
Anyone have success growing blueberries? I must be doing something wrong. Planted a bush 7 years ago "Bluecrop" and after 7 years I have a very healthy 10 feet tall bushy tree that has never had a single fruit on it! Every spring it has lots of catkins, but that's all. Any suggestions on what is wrong or should I just take the chainsaw to it and convert it into firewood? Catkins? Well, I guess from the pictures there are cascades of flowers but to me catkins are fluffy lambs tails on wind pollinated trees. http://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/B...Bush_Bluecrop/ says that it is self fertile. Probably worth getting another bush or two of different varieties to cross fertilise just in case. No problems with lack of insects at pollination time? I have a (nameless) blueberry which I rescued from the allotment (wrong kind of soil) and it is growing well and cropping in a pot on the patio. I have just acquired another two rescued blueberries from another garden which seem quite well grown but are not cropping at all. We shall see what they do next year. I assume that it is growing in acid soil? If not, it may grow but not fruit well. However, if it is flowering and known to be self fertile then pollination seems to be the issue. Next year, get your pollinator in your hand and give it a good going over :-) Cheers Dave R |
Blueberries
On Thu, 13 Jun 2013 20:46:21 +0200, David in Normandy wrote:
Anyone have success growing blueberries? I must be doing something wrong. Planted a bush 7 years ago "Bluecrop" and after 7 years I have a very healthy 10 feet tall bushy tree that has never had a single fruit on it! Every spring it has lots of catkins, but that's all. Any suggestions on what is wrong or should I just take the chainsaw to it and convert it into firewood? I planted 2 bushes last fall, they do have berries on them this spring. Mine is a self pollinating type. They do need acid soil, I assume you've got that? -- Gardening in Lower Normandy |
Blueberries
On 13/06/2013 21:36, David.WE.Roberts wrote:
On Thu, 13 Jun 2013 20:46:21 +0200, David in Normandy wrote: Anyone have success growing blueberries? I must be doing something wrong. Planted a bush 7 years ago "Bluecrop" and after 7 years I have a very healthy 10 feet tall bushy tree that has never had a single fruit on it! Every spring it has lots of catkins, but that's all. Any suggestions on what is wrong or should I just take the chainsaw to it and convert it into firewood? Catkins? Well, I guess from the pictures there are cascades of flowers but to me catkins are fluffy lambs tails on wind pollinated trees. http://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/B...Bush_Bluecrop/ says that it is self fertile. Probably worth getting another bush or two of different varieties to cross fertilise just in case. No problems with lack of insects at pollination time? I have a (nameless) blueberry which I rescued from the allotment (wrong kind of soil) and it is growing well and cropping in a pot on the patio. I have just acquired another two rescued blueberries from another garden which seem quite well grown but are not cropping at all. We shall see what they do next year. I assume that it is growing in acid soil? If not, it may grow but not fruit well. However, if it is flowering and known to be self fertile then pollination seems to be the issue. Next year, get your pollinator in your hand and give it a good going over :-) Cheers Dave R I'll check the pH, the soil may not be acid enough. I googled the catkins and what I get seems normal: http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=blu...ch&hl=en&gbv=1 I bought the plant from a garden centre and still have the label for it; so in addition to the catkins it looks definitely like the real plant. The leaves also look the same as on the label. -- David in Normandy. |
Blueberries
On 13/06/2013 21:36, David Hill wrote:
On 13/06/2013 19:46, David in Normandy wrote: Anyone have success growing blueberries? I must be doing something wrong. Planted a bush 7 years ago "Bluecrop" and after 7 years I have a very healthy 10 feet tall bushy tree that has never had a single fruit on it! Every spring it has lots of catkins, but that's all. Any suggestions on what is wrong or should I just take the chainsaw to it and convert it into firewood? Are you sure it's not a Willow of some sort? Positive. The leaves and catkins are identical to those that show up on a google image search for "blueberry catkins". -- David in Normandy. |
Blueberries
On Thu, 13 Jun 2013 22:11:38 +0200, David in Normandy wrote:
On 13/06/2013 21:36, David.WE.Roberts wrote: On Thu, 13 Jun 2013 20:46:21 +0200, David in Normandy wrote: Anyone have success growing blueberries? I must be doing something wrong. Planted a bush 7 years ago "Bluecrop" and after 7 years I have a very healthy 10 feet tall bushy tree that has never had a single fruit on it! Every spring it has lots of catkins, but that's all. Any suggestions on what is wrong or should I just take the chainsaw to it and convert it into firewood? Catkins? Well, I guess from the pictures there are cascades of flowers but to me catkins are fluffy lambs tails on wind pollinated trees. http://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/B...Bush_Bluecrop/ says that it is self fertile. Probably worth getting another bush or two of different varieties to cross fertilise just in case. No problems with lack of insects at pollination time? I have a (nameless) blueberry which I rescued from the allotment (wrong kind of soil) and it is growing well and cropping in a pot on the patio. I have just acquired another two rescued blueberries from another garden which seem quite well grown but are not cropping at all. We shall see what they do next year. I assume that it is growing in acid soil? If not, it may grow but not fruit well. However, if it is flowering and known to be self fertile then pollination seems to be the issue. Next year, get your pollinator in your hand and give it a good going over :-) Cheers Dave R I'll check the pH, the soil may not be acid enough. I googled the catkins and what I get seems normal: http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=blueberry +catkins&btnG=Search&hl=en&gbv=1 I bought the plant from a garden centre and still have the label for it; so in addition to the catkins it looks definitely like the real plant. The leaves also look the same as on the label. Have a read of http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/...?topic=52376.0 Blueberry fruits come from white flowers. http://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/images/75/ blueberry_bluecrop_flower_001.jpg I don't see how you can get blueberry fruits from catkins! Cheers Dave R |
Blueberries
snip I'll check the pH, the soil may not be acid enough. I googled the catkins and what I get seems normal: http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=blueberry +catkins&btnG=Search&hl=en&gbv=1 I bought the plant from a garden centre and still have the label for it; so in addition to the catkins it looks definitely like the real plant. The leaves also look the same as on the label. Have a read of http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/...?topic=52376.0 Blueberry fruits come from white flowers. http://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/images/75/ blueberry_bluecrop_flower_001.jpg I don't see how you can get blueberry fruits from catkins! Oops! Try http://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/Blueberry_Bush_Bluecrop/ for the proper picture. IMHO your catkin is not part of the blueberry, and the links for the Google query on 'blueberry catkins' agree. Some serious investigation needed - you may have a cuckoo in your garden. Cheers Dave R |
Blueberries
On 13/06/2013 22:26, David.WE.Roberts wrote:
On Thu, 13 Jun 2013 22:11:38 +0200, David in Normandy wrote: On 13/06/2013 21:36, David.WE.Roberts wrote: On Thu, 13 Jun 2013 20:46:21 +0200, David in Normandy wrote: Anyone have success growing blueberries? I must be doing something wrong. Planted a bush 7 years ago "Bluecrop" and after 7 years I have a very healthy 10 feet tall bushy tree that has never had a single fruit on it! Every spring it has lots of catkins, but that's all. Any suggestions on what is wrong or should I just take the chainsaw to it and convert it into firewood? Catkins? Well, I guess from the pictures there are cascades of flowers but to me catkins are fluffy lambs tails on wind pollinated trees. http://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/B...Bush_Bluecrop/ says that it is self fertile. Probably worth getting another bush or two of different varieties to cross fertilise just in case. No problems with lack of insects at pollination time? I have a (nameless) blueberry which I rescued from the allotment (wrong kind of soil) and it is growing well and cropping in a pot on the patio. I have just acquired another two rescued blueberries from another garden which seem quite well grown but are not cropping at all. We shall see what they do next year. I assume that it is growing in acid soil? If not, it may grow but not fruit well. However, if it is flowering and known to be self fertile then pollination seems to be the issue. Next year, get your pollinator in your hand and give it a good going over :-) Cheers Dave R I'll check the pH, the soil may not be acid enough. I googled the catkins and what I get seems normal: http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=blueberry +catkins&btnG=Search&hl=en&gbv=1 I bought the plant from a garden centre and still have the label for it; so in addition to the catkins it looks definitely like the real plant. The leaves also look the same as on the label. Have a read of http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/...?topic=52376.0 Blueberry fruits come from white flowers. http://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/images/75/ blueberry_bluecrop_flower_001.jpg I don't see how you can get blueberry fruits from catkins! Cheers Dave R You've got me wondering now! The image I found on Google for "Blueberry catkins" apparently belonged to someone else who looked like they ended up with something other than a blueberry! My catkins look just like his... so I've got the same plant he'd got - whatever it is! Wonder if there was a nursery cock-up somehow and the seedlings / young plants look similar to another (weed) tree? -- David in Normandy. |
Blueberries
On 13/06/2013 21:12, David in Normandy wrote:
On 13/06/2013 21:36, David Hill wrote: On 13/06/2013 19:46, David in Normandy wrote: Anyone have success growing blueberries? I must be doing something wrong. Planted a bush 7 years ago "Bluecrop" and after 7 years I have a very healthy 10 feet tall bushy tree that has never had a single fruit on it! Every spring it has lots of catkins, but that's all. Any suggestions on what is wrong or should I just take the chainsaw to it and convert it into firewood? Are you sure it's not a Willow of some sort? Positive. The leaves and catkins are identical to those that show up on a google image search for "blueberry catkins". Sorry to still disagree with you, I think you were sold a pup. I have checked the are three main types of blueberries — low-bush, high-bush and rabbit-eye — all with fairly specific growing requirements. But thanks to the work of hybridizers, new crosses are much more forgiving. but none have catkins. http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/2010/...production.htm explains about the male and female parts of the blueberry flower. I agree that if you google Blueberry catkins it does show pictures, but no explanation, and these 2 letters as part of a chain go with my idea of it being a willow. Strange flowers on blueberry « Reply #5 on: May 01, 2013, 08:33:28 »Blueberries don't produce catkins..but...in past I've had tree seeds settle amongst my shrubs and those were very blueberry like when they started to grow. I suspect it is some type of willow as I've seen the seeds 'fly' in big clouds in wind during spring. Only way for them to stop their 'fly' is to get court in undergrowth.. usually in the base of shrubs. The new growth from these seed look very much like new growth on blueberries...straight whippy growt...and the leaves are not that different neither, maybe just slightly bigger. It is very easy to miss them and knowing how fast willow grow..two year old 'seedling' start to be almost same size with the blueberry bush. Really irritating thing is...they are bugger to get rid of You know if you have willow growing among your bush by cutting the odd one down and if it soon sprout with good amount new growth..that it! Blueberries are much slower to produce new growth. Logged -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- squeezyjohn Quarter Acre Posts: 59 Strange flowers on blueberry « Reply #6 on: May 01, 2013, 09:37:21 »Well - it's a bizarre coincidence that 2 bushes had the same problem .... but you were right. After being sure that the 2 things were coming from the same plant - I had a rootle around to loosen the soil and gave a pull on the rogue element. It had a separate root system so was obviously a different plant. How bizarre for 2 of the 3 bushes have that happen in one year! And by a plant that has such similar stems & leaves. Thanks for the advice Logged David @ the damp and now wind free side of Swansea Bay |
Blueberries
On 13/06/2013 22:59, David Hill wrote:
On 13/06/2013 21:12, David in Normandy wrote: On 13/06/2013 21:36, David Hill wrote: On 13/06/2013 19:46, David in Normandy wrote: Anyone have success growing blueberries? I must be doing something wrong. Planted a bush 7 years ago "Bluecrop" and after 7 years I have a very healthy 10 feet tall bushy tree that has never had a single fruit on it! Every spring it has lots of catkins, but that's all. Any suggestions on what is wrong or should I just take the chainsaw to it and convert it into firewood? Are you sure it's not a Willow of some sort? Positive. The leaves and catkins are identical to those that show up on a google image search for "blueberry catkins". Sorry to still disagree with you, I think you were sold a pup. I have checked the are three main types of blueberries — low-bush, high-bush and rabbit-eye — all with fairly specific growing requirements. But thanks to the work of hybridizers, new crosses are much more forgiving. but none have catkins. http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/2010/...production.htm explains about the male and female parts of the blueberry flower. I agree that if you google Blueberry catkins it does show pictures, but no explanation, and these 2 letters as part of a chain go with my idea of it being a willow. Strange flowers on blueberry « Reply #5 on: May 01, 2013, 08:33:28 »Blueberries don't produce catkins..but...in past I've had tree seeds settle amongst my shrubs and those were very blueberry like when they started to grow. I suspect it is some type of willow as I've seen the seeds 'fly' in big clouds in wind during spring. Only way for them to stop their 'fly' is to get court in undergrowth.. usually in the base of shrubs. The new growth from these seed look very much like new growth on blueberries...straight whippy growt...and the leaves are not that different neither, maybe just slightly bigger. It is very easy to miss them and knowing how fast willow grow..two year old 'seedling' start to be almost same size with the blueberry bush. Really irritating thing is...they are bugger to get rid of You know if you have willow growing among your bush by cutting the odd one down and if it soon sprout with good amount new growth..that it! Blueberries are much slower to produce new growth. Logged -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- squeezyjohn Quarter Acre Posts: 59 Strange flowers on blueberry « Reply #6 on: May 01, 2013, 09:37:21 »Well - it's a bizarre coincidence that 2 bushes had the same problem .... but you were right. After being sure that the 2 things were coming from the same plant - I had a rootle around to loosen the soil and gave a pull on the rogue element. It had a separate root system so was obviously a different plant. How bizarre for 2 of the 3 bushes have that happen in one year! And by a plant that has such similar stems & leaves. Thanks for the advice Logged David @ the damp and now wind free side of Swansea Bay I'm beginning to think you must be right. The catkins on my tree match those given on a google search of "blueberry catkins" BUT the associated posts with that follow a similar trend to those in this thread i.e. that it isn't a blueberry and the guy bought a "cuckoo". Looks like I've got the same cuckoo! It is likely the mistake was made at the plant nursery that grew the plant. Erm... do you think if if I dug up the 12 feet tall tree and took it back that they'd swap it? LOL -- David in Normandy. |
Blueberries
On 13/06/2013 22:07, David in Normandy wrote:
On 13/06/2013 22:59, David Hill wrote: On 13/06/2013 21:12, David in Normandy wrote: On 13/06/2013 21:36, David Hill wrote: On 13/06/2013 19:46, David in Normandy wrote: Anyone have success growing blueberries? I must be doing something wrong. Planted a bush 7 years ago "Bluecrop" and after 7 years I have a very healthy 10 feet tall bushy tree that has never had a single fruit on it! Every spring it has lots of catkins, but that's all. Any suggestions on what is wrong or should I just take the chainsaw to it and convert it into firewood? Are you sure it's not a Willow of some sort? Positive. The leaves and catkins are identical to those that show up on a google image search for "blueberry catkins". Sorry to still disagree with you, I think you were sold a pup. I have checked the are three main types of blueberries — low-bush, high-bush and rabbit-eye — all with fairly specific growing requirements. But thanks to the work of hybridizers, new crosses are much more forgiving. but none have catkins. http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/2010/...production.htm explains about the male and female parts of the blueberry flower. I agree that if you google Blueberry catkins it does show pictures, but no explanation, and these 2 letters as part of a chain go with my idea of it being a willow. Strange flowers on blueberry « Reply #5 on: May 01, 2013, 08:33:28 »Blueberries don't produce catkins..but...in past I've had tree seeds settle amongst my shrubs and those were very blueberry like when they started to grow. I suspect it is some type of willow as I've seen the seeds 'fly' in big clouds in wind during spring. Only way for them to stop their 'fly' is to get court in undergrowth.. usually in the base of shrubs. The new growth from these seed look very much like new growth on blueberries...straight whippy growt...and the leaves are not that different neither, maybe just slightly bigger. It is very easy to miss them and knowing how fast willow grow..two year old 'seedling' start to be almost same size with the blueberry bush. Really irritating thing is...they are bugger to get rid of You know if you have willow growing among your bush by cutting the odd one down and if it soon sprout with good amount new growth..that it! Blueberries are much slower to produce new growth. Logged -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- squeezyjohn Quarter Acre Posts: 59 Strange flowers on blueberry « Reply #6 on: May 01, 2013, 09:37:21 »Well - it's a bizarre coincidence that 2 bushes had the same problem .... but you were right. After being sure that the 2 things were coming from the same plant - I had a rootle around to loosen the soil and gave a pull on the rogue element. It had a separate root system so was obviously a different plant. How bizarre for 2 of the 3 bushes have that happen in one year! And by a plant that has such similar stems & leaves. Thanks for the advice Logged David @ the damp and now wind free side of Swansea Bay I'm beginning to think you must be right. The catkins on my tree match those given on a google search of "blueberry catkins" BUT the associated posts with that follow a similar trend to those in this thread i.e. that it isn't a blueberry and the guy bought a "cuckoo". Looks like I've got the same cuckoo! It is likely the mistake was made at the plant nursery that grew the plant. Erm... do you think if if I dug up the 12 feet tall tree and took it back that they'd swap it? LOL It's surprising just where Pussy Willow will appear, and they grow so fast. |
Blueberries
On 14/06/2013 00:04, David Hill wrote:
It's surprising just where Pussy Willow will appear, and they grow so fast. I've spent the last couple of hours doing interactive tree identification and the closest match so far is a goat willow - Salix caprea. Though the underside of the leaves isn't silver nor furry. The female catkins are a perfect match though. The leaf shape is a match too. -- David in Normandy. |
Blueberries
On 13/06/2013 19:46, David in Normandy wrote:
Anyone have success growing blueberries? I must be doing something wrong. Planted a bush 7 years ago "Bluecrop" and after 7 years I have a very healthy 10 feet tall bushy tree that has never had a single fruit on it! Every spring it has lots of catkins, but that's all. Any Catkins? Mine has smallish flowers. Roughly like single petal tulips and actually only just in flower. But it needs a mate that flowers at the same time and is a different cultivar to get a decent fruit set. If your flowers are as late as mine you could still nip off to a garden centre and get it a mate so you get fruit this year! suggestions on what is wrong or should I just take the chainsaw to it and convert it into firewood? Invest in a second one and all will be fine (apart from having to net it to keep the birds from eating them before you do). I have even more bother keeping them off the jostaberries. -- Regards, Martin Brown |
Blueberries
On 13/06/2013 20:36, David.WE.Roberts wrote:
On Thu, 13 Jun 2013 20:46:21 +0200, David in Normandy wrote: Anyone have success growing blueberries? I must be doing something wrong. Planted a bush 7 years ago "Bluecrop" and after 7 years I have a very healthy 10 feet tall bushy tree that has never had a single fruit on it! Every spring it has lots of catkins, but that's all. Any suggestions on what is wrong or should I just take the chainsaw to it and convert it into firewood? Catkins? Well, I guess from the pictures there are cascades of flowers but to me catkins are fluffy lambs tails on wind pollinated trees. http://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/B...Bush_Bluecrop/ says that it is self fertile. And at the bottom of the cluster of pictures has one of what the flowers actually look like. Inverted small white single tulip shaped lampshades over a pale green style and stamen. A bit like wild bilberry but growing a fair bit taller. Mine did not enjoy last summer at all. Probably worth getting another bush or two of different varieties to cross fertilise just in case. No problems with lack of insects at pollination time? I have a (nameless) blueberry which I rescued from the allotment (wrong kind of soil) and it is growing well and cropping in a pot on the patio. I have just acquired another two rescued blueberries from another garden which seem quite well grown but are not cropping at all. We shall see what they do next year. A pair always crops better provided that there are insects about when they flower which is a problem this year! I got zero gooseberries!!! I assume that it is growing in acid soil? If not, it may grow but not fruit well. However, if it is flowering and known to be self fertile then pollination seems to be the issue. Next year, get your pollinator in your hand and give it a good going over :-) Cheers Dave R Basically if it has catkins then it is not blueberry. Go and play hell with the garden centre that sold it to you. (even better if you still have the label as proof of purchase) -- Regards, Martin Brown |
Quote:
Blueberries are in the same family as bilberries and have small bell shaped flowers - look at the V corymbosum link just below the line of images in the search you posted. |
Basically if it has catkins then it is not blueberry.
Go and play hell with the garden centre that sold it to you. (even better if you still have the label as proof of purchase) [/quote] I would guess what happened is that the blueberry died, but a self-seeded Salix caprea or cinerea grew - this might have happened in the nursery (in which case supplier is definitely to blame) or afterwards - in which it depends on whether it was vigour of plant or suitability of cultivation that was the problem. If the catkins are as in the google pictures, then they look to be female - it's the male tree that has the golden pollen-encrusted pussies. |
Blueberries
On Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:49:00 +0200, David in Normandy
wrote: On 14/06/2013 00:04, David Hill wrote: It's surprising just where Pussy Willow will appear, and they grow so fast. I've spent the last couple of hours doing interactive tree identification and the closest match so far is a goat willow - Salix caprea. Though the underside of the leaves isn't silver nor furry. The female catkins are a perfect match though. The leaf shape is a match too. I've got a goat willow growing in a clump of penstemon. I certainly didn't put it there! Pam in Bristol |
Blueberries
On 14/06/2013 13:31, Pam Moore wrote:
On Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:49:00 +0200, David in Normandy wrote: On 14/06/2013 00:04, David Hill wrote: It's surprising just where Pussy Willow will appear, and they grow so fast. I've spent the last couple of hours doing interactive tree identification and the closest match so far is a goat willow - Salix caprea. Though the underside of the leaves isn't silver nor furry. The female catkins are a perfect match though. The leaf shape is a match too. I've got a goat willow growing in a clump of penstemon. I certainly didn't put it there! Pam in Bristol I've just sawn mine down; got some good sized logs off it for the wood burning stove. It was completely overshadowing the rest of the soft fruit, casting shade on the raspberries, gooseberries and blackcurrants. Can't believe I've been nurturing such a monster. I gather it won't be got rid of easily either and will push out fresh shoots. Looks like it will be an ongoing job now cutting it down. -- David in Normandy. |
Blueberries
On 13/06/13 19:46, David in Normandy wrote:
Anyone have success growing blueberries? I must be doing something wrong. Planted a bush 7 years ago "Bluecrop" and after 7 years I have a very healthy 10 feet tall bushy tree that has never had a single fruit on it! Every spring it has lots of catkins, but that's all. Any suggestions on what is wrong or should I just take the chainsaw to it and convert it into firewood? Doesn't sound like a blueberry bush to me. It should have pink or white bell-shaped flowers. -- Rusty Hinge |
Blueberries
On 13/06/13 22:07, David in Normandy wrote:
On 13/06/2013 22:59, David Hill wrote: On 13/06/2013 21:12, David in Normandy wrote: On 13/06/2013 21:36, David Hill wrote: On 13/06/2013 19:46, David in Normandy wrote: Anyone have success growing blueberries? I must be doing something wrong. Planted a bush 7 years ago "Bluecrop" and after 7 years I have a very healthy 10 feet tall bushy tree that has never had a single fruit on it! Every spring it has lots of catkins, but that's all. Any suggestions on what is wrong or should I just take the chainsaw to it and convert it into firewood? Are you sure it's not a Willow of some sort? Positive. The leaves and catkins are identical to those that show up on a google image search for "blueberry catkins". Sorry to still disagree with you, I think you were sold a pup. I have checked the are three main types of blueberries — low-bush, high-bush and rabbit-eye — all with fairly specific growing requirements. But thanks to the work of hybridizers, new crosses are much more forgiving. but none have catkins. http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/2010/...production.htm explains about the male and female parts of the blueberry flower. I agree that if you google Blueberry catkins it does show pictures, but no explanation, and these 2 letters as part of a chain go with my idea of it being a willow. Strange flowers on blueberry « Reply #5 on: May 01, 2013, 08:33:28 »Blueberries don't produce catkins..but...in past I've had tree seeds settle amongst my shrubs and those were very blueberry like when they started to grow. I suspect it is some type of willow as I've seen the seeds 'fly' in big clouds in wind during spring. Only way for them to stop their 'fly' is to get court in undergrowth.. usually in the base of shrubs. The new growth from these seed look very much like new growth on blueberries...straight whippy growt...and the leaves are not that different neither, maybe just slightly bigger. It is very easy to miss them and knowing how fast willow grow..two year old 'seedling' start to be almost same size with the blueberry bush. Really irritating thing is...they are bugger to get rid of You know if you have willow growing among your bush by cutting the odd one down and if it soon sprout with good amount new growth..that it! Blueberries are much slower to produce new growth. Logged -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- squeezyjohn Quarter Acre Posts: 59 Strange flowers on blueberry « Reply #6 on: May 01, 2013, 09:37:21 »Well - it's a bizarre coincidence that 2 bushes had the same problem .... but you were right. After being sure that the 2 things were coming from the same plant - I had a rootle around to loosen the soil and gave a pull on the rogue element. It had a separate root system so was obviously a different plant. How bizarre for 2 of the 3 bushes have that happen in one year! And by a plant that has such similar stems & leaves. Thanks for the advice Logged David @ the damp and now wind free side of Swansea Bay I'm beginning to think you must be right. The catkins on my tree match those given on a google search of "blueberry catkins" BUT the associated posts with that follow a similar trend to those in this thread i.e. that it isn't a blueberry and the guy bought a "cuckoo". Looks like I've got the same cuckoo! It is likely the mistake was made at the plant nursery that grew the plant. Erm... do you think if if I dug up the 12 feet tall tree and took it back that they'd swap it? LOL 12'? *12'?* My blueberries are about two feet high and three years old... -- Rusty Hinge |
Blueberries
On 13/06/13 23:49, David in Normandy wrote:
I've spent the last couple of hours doing interactive tree identification and the closest match so far is a goat willow - Salix caprea. Though the underside of the leaves isn't silver nor furry. The female catkins are a perfect match though. The leaf shape is a match too. Perfect match for what? -- Rusty Hinge |
Blueberries
On 14/06/13 08:14, Martin Brown wrote:
Invest in a second one and all will be fine (apart from having to net it to keep the birds from eating them before you do). I have even more bother keeping them off the jostaberries. Yes, if I turn my back on the jostaberries (now,some of those *are* over twelve feet) for a moment while they are ripening, the blackbas^h^h^birds strip them. -- Rusty Hinge |
Blueberries
On 15/06/2013 19:30, RustyHinge wrote:
On 13/06/13 23:49, David in Normandy wrote: I've spent the last couple of hours doing interactive tree identification and the closest match so far is a goat willow - Salix caprea. Though the underside of the leaves isn't silver nor furry. The female catkins are a perfect match though. The leaf shape is a match too. Perfect match for what? The catkins on my "blueberry" are a perfect match to those of the goat willow. The tree is now history, having been identified as a goat willow not a blueberry - I was sold a "cuckoo" 7 years ago, it is now cut up into logs and the rest of it is in a big heap ready for burning. The leaves of the goat willow bore a striking resemblance to the leaves of the blueberry as shown on the label that came with the plant, so the young plant was likely misidentified at the plant nursery from whence it originated. The tree had grown a lot over the last 7 years under my care and nurturing. I estimate it was around 15 feet tall when I cut it down yesterday! -- David in Normandy. |
Blueberries
On 15/06/2013 18:25, RustyHinge wrote:
On 13/06/13 19:46, David in Normandy wrote: Anyone have success growing blueberries? I must be doing something wrong. Planted a bush 7 years ago "Bluecrop" and after 7 years I have a very healthy 10 feet tall bushy tree that has never had a single fruit on it! Every spring it has lots of catkins, but that's all. Any suggestions on what is wrong or should I just take the chainsaw to it and convert it into firewood? Doesn't sound like a blueberry bush to me. It should have pink or white bell-shaped flowers. We,ve decided that and the tree has now been felled. |
Blueberries
On Sat, 15 Jun 2013 20:05:20 +0200, David in Normandy wrote:
On 15/06/2013 19:30, RustyHinge wrote: On 13/06/13 23:49, David in Normandy wrote: I've spent the last couple of hours doing interactive tree identification and the closest match so far is a goat willow - Salix caprea. Though the underside of the leaves isn't silver nor furry. The female catkins are a perfect match though. The leaf shape is a match too. Perfect match for what? The catkins on my "blueberry" are a perfect match to those of the goat willow. The tree is now history, having been identified as a goat willow not a blueberry - I was sold a "cuckoo" 7 years ago, it is now cut up into logs and the rest of it is in a big heap ready for burning. The leaves of the goat willow bore a striking resemblance to the leaves of the blueberry as shown on the label that came with the plant, so the young plant was likely misidentified at the plant nursery from whence it originated. The tree had grown a lot over the last 7 years under my care and nurturing. I estimate it was around 15 feet tall when I cut it down yesterday! :-) Just trying to visualise a 15' blueberry tree in full fruit. Ah, well, at least you have some logs. It also goes to show what strange results you can get from Google. Are you going to buy a blueberry bush or two to replace it? Cheers Dave R |
Blueberries
On 15/06/2013 23:06, David.WE.Roberts wrote:
On Sat, 15 Jun 2013 20:05:20 +0200, David in Normandy wrote: On 15/06/2013 19:30, RustyHinge wrote: On 13/06/13 23:49, David in Normandy wrote: I've spent the last couple of hours doing interactive tree identification and the closest match so far is a goat willow - Salix caprea. Though the underside of the leaves isn't silver nor furry. The female catkins are a perfect match though. The leaf shape is a match too. Perfect match for what? The catkins on my "blueberry" are a perfect match to those of the goat willow. The tree is now history, having been identified as a goat willow not a blueberry - I was sold a "cuckoo" 7 years ago, it is now cut up into logs and the rest of it is in a big heap ready for burning. The leaves of the goat willow bore a striking resemblance to the leaves of the blueberry as shown on the label that came with the plant, so the young plant was likely misidentified at the plant nursery from whence it originated. The tree had grown a lot over the last 7 years under my care and nurturing. I estimate it was around 15 feet tall when I cut it down yesterday! :-) Just trying to visualise a 15' blueberry tree in full fruit. Ah, well, at least you have some logs. It also goes to show what strange results you can get from Google. Are you going to buy a blueberry bush or two to replace it? Cheers Dave R Yes, probably, but purchased from a different garden centre! -- David in Normandy. |
Quote:
Hence a page of text hits talking about blueberries with a line of images of willow catkins. If you search instead for "blueberry catkins" (with the double quotes so that Google searches for the phrase not the individual words) it's interesting - David is not the only one - happened to two people on allotmentsforall.co.uk and one on growfruitandveg.co.uk Takes urglers to give an accurate id though! ;-) |
Blueberries
On 16/06/13 08:02, kay wrote:
It's Google being helpful, innit? "there aren't many results with blueberry and catkin in so I'll give you all the results which have either blueberry or catkin as well" Hence a page of text hits talking about blueberries with a line of images of willow catkins. I'd recommend the advanced search in Ixquick: www.ixquick.com -- Rusty Hinge |
Blueberries
On 16/06/2013 10:53, RustyHinge wrote:
On 16/06/13 08:02, kay wrote: It's Google being helpful, innit? "there aren't many results with blueberry and catkin in so I'll give you all the results which have either blueberry or catkin as well" Hence a page of text hits talking about blueberries with a line of images of willow catkins. I'd recommend the advanced search in Ixquick: www.ixquick.com Why? Since Blueberries dont have catkins you wont find anything of interest/value. |
Blueberries
On 13/06/2013 19:46, David in Normandy wrote:
Anyone have success growing blueberries? I must be doing something wrong. Planted a bush 7 years ago "Bluecrop" and after 7 years I have a very healthy 10 feet tall bushy tree that has never had a single fruit on it! Every spring it has lots of catkins, but that's all. Any suggestions on what is wrong or should I just take the chainsaw to it and convert it into firewood? I am surprised that no one has said anything about the fact that Blueberry leaves tend to have good Autumn colour whilst willow have none, well some do yellow a bit. David @ the damp side of Swansea Bay. |
Blueberries
On 16/06/13 12:51, David Hill wrote:
On 16/06/2013 10:53, RustyHinge wrote: On 16/06/13 08:02, kay wrote: It's Google being helpful, innit? "there aren't many results with blueberry and catkin in so I'll give you all the results which have either blueberry or catkin as well" Hence a page of text hits talking about blueberries with a line of images of willow catkins. I'd recommend the advanced search in Ixquick: www.ixquick.com Why? Since Blueberries dont have catkins you wont find anything of interest/value. I'd recommend the advanced search for *anything* - however, it will not discriminate between fact and fiction - that's not its job. -- Rusty Hinge |
| All times are GMT +1. The time now is 09:20 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
GardenBanter