Blueberries again
Re the discussion a while ago as to whether blueberries need a
pollinator, did any of you see the item on blueberries on GW tonight, from GW Live at the NEC? The lady who runs a blueberry nursery said that you must have 2 different varieties. Well, I only have one, and it has a heavy crop of fruit. No, none of my neighbours grows blueberries. This is the 3rd year I have had a good crop. Any opinions why? Pam in Bristol |
Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message from Pam Moore contains these words: Re the discussion a while ago as to whether blueberries need a pollinator, did any of you see the item on blueberries on GW tonight, from GW Live at the NEC? The lady who runs a blueberry nursery said that you must have 2 different varieties. Well, I only have one, and it has a heavy crop of fruit. No, none of my neighbours grows blueberries. This is the 3rd year I have had a good crop. Any opinions why? Are you getting blueberry and black currant mixed up? Blackcurrants need no pollinator and are setting fruit now, but blueberries are much later so I'm surprised you have a heavy crop already. My blueberries are only just flowering. Janet There's at least one blueberry that self-pollinates - that's the reason I bought mine, unfortunately I can't remember it's name :-( I've got 2 plants that have cropped heavily for the past 6 years. They both set fruit this year about 2 weeks ago (and that's in the NE of England!) Perhaps you've got the same type as me? Jeff |
I have only one, called Bluecrop and it had berries this year, until a
branch blew off a tree and smashed it and container. It's recovering now but still looks a bit miffed There's at least one blueberry that self-pollinates - that's the reason I bought mine, unfortunately I can't remember it's name :-( I've got 2 plants that have cropped heavily for the past 6 years. They both set fruit this year about 2 weeks ago (and that's in the NE of England!) Perhaps you've got the same type as me? Jeff |
Janet Baraclough wrote or quoted:
The message from Pam Moore contains these words: Re the discussion a while ago as to whether blueberries need a pollinator, did any of you see the item on blueberries on GW tonight, from GW Live at the NEC? The lady who runs a blueberry nursery said that you must have 2 different varieties. Well, I only have one, and it has a heavy crop of fruit. No, none of my neighbours grows blueberries. This is the 3rd year I have had a good crop. Any opinions why? Are you getting blueberry and black currant mixed up? Blackcurrants need no pollinator and are setting fruit now, but blueberries are much later so I'm surprised you have a heavy crop already. My blueberries are only just flowering. I'm in the same city as Pam - and my blueberries lost their flowers about a month ago now - and now have many large unripe fruit on them. -- __________ |im |yler http://timtyler.org/ Remove lock to reply. |
On Fri, 17 Jun 2005 22:03:43 +0100, Janet Baraclough
wrote: Are you getting blueberry and black currant mixed up? Blackcurrants need no pollinator and are setting fruit now, but blueberries are much later so I'm surprised you have a heavy crop already. My blueberries are only just flowering. NO Janet. I do know my black currants from my blueberry! Janet Pam in Bristol |
On Fri, 17 Jun 2005 22:08:49 GMT, Jeff wrote:
Janet Baraclough wrote: The message from Pam Moore contains these words: Re the discussion a while ago as to whether blueberries need a pollinator, did any of you see the item on blueberries on GW tonight, from GW Live at the NEC? The lady who runs a blueberry nursery said that you must have 2 different varieties. Well, I only have one, and it has a heavy crop of fruit. No, none of my neighbours grows blueberries. This is the 3rd year I have had a good crop. Any opinions why? Are you getting blueberry and black currant mixed up? Blackcurrants need no pollinator and are setting fruit now, but blueberries are much later so I'm surprised you have a heavy crop already. My blueberries are only just flowering. Janet There's at least one blueberry that self-pollinates - that's the reason I bought mine, unfortunately I can't remember it's name :-( I've got 2 plants that have cropped heavily for the past 6 years. They both set fruit this year about 2 weeks ago (and that's in the NE of England!) Perhaps you've got the same type as me? Jeff Could be. Mine MIGHT be Top Hat, but it might not! The fruit is just beginning to show a hint of coulour. It is loaded with fruit. Pam in Bristol |
"Tim Tyler" wrote in message ... Janet Baraclough wrote or quoted: Are you getting blueberry and black currant mixed up? Blackcurrants need no pollinator and are setting fruit now, but blueberries are much later so I'm surprised you have a heavy crop already. My blueberries are only just flowering. I'm in the same city as Pam - and my blueberries lost their flowers about a month ago now - and now have many large unripe fruit on them. I have small as-yet unripe fruit on mine (Cambridgeshire). V pleased with them for the first year of growing them. -- Brian "Anyway, if you have been, thanks for listening." |
Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message from (Steve Harris) contains these words: In article , (Janet Baraclough) wrote: Are you getting blueberry and black currant mixed up? LOL! You haven't grown blueberries, have you! Yes, it's in the part of my post you must have forgotrn to read before you snipped it. Like the OP, I have just the one bush and loads of berries. I reckon about 70% of the flowers set fruit. At this time of year? Yes. Even in North Yorkshire I have a full fruit set on two different cultivars Bluecrop and Bluejay and they are only marginally behind the black currants in size. Flowers are all long gone. They got a torrential watering by thunderstorms yesterday. Fortunately we live up at the top of a hill so no flooding here. It still punched out a few bits of road with underground water pressure though. Regards, Martin Brown |
In article ,
(Janet Baraclough) wrote: LOL! You haven't grown blueberries, have you! Yes, it's in the part of my post you must have forgotrn to read before you snipped it. Oh, I read it but I do wonder exactly where the confusion about the difference between blueberries and blackcurrents lies. The things in my garden I call blueberries flowered 2 months ago, produce sweet blue fruits, narrow leaves, brilliant autumn colour, green stems etc. and were sold to me as blueberry. The idea that anyone could mix them up with blackcurrents is "LOL" Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com A useful bit of gardening software at http://www.netservs.com/garden/ |
On Sat, 18 Jun 2005 13:10:48 +0100, Janet Baraclough wrote:
The message from (Steve Harris) contains these words: In article , (Janet Baraclough) wrote: Are you getting blueberry and black currant mixed up? LOL! You haven't grown blueberries, have you! Yes, it's in the part of my post you must have forgotrn to read before you snipped it. Like the OP, I have just the one bush and loads of berries. I reckon about 70% of the flowers set fruit. At this time of year? Janet. Yep, mine are well on the way - green but developing a slight bluish blush. -- Tim C. |
I have bought some this year which are allegedly self-pollinating - Gold traube (sp?). No idea where they originate from. First berries swelling up just now, despite the plants looking like not much more than stickes when they arrived.
Bob |
Well that's you told Steve ;-)
Jeff Janet Baraclough wrote: Not at all. ISTR, we've had people on urg confuse blackberries and blaeberries, blackcurrants and bilberries in the past. To the uninitiated they are all small dark juicy fruit starting with B. It's very common for people to completely misunderstand what someone else said (as you have demonstrated twice) , misidentify plants, or simply call them by the wrong name. Or sometimes, on urg, they think one word and type another. I've done that myself. Whenever someone here does that, and one notices or suspects it, it's just polite and friendly to check it out, as I did. I don't have any trouble distinguishing blackcurrants and blueberries, either plant or fruit. Neither does Pam. It is however highly likely that some reading this group, could not visually recognise and identify either blueberry or blackcurrant bushes or fruit. Just as there are people who aren't familiar with the difference between marrow and pumpkin, french and runner bean, etc. I hope that is clear enough for you to understand now. Janet. |
On Mon, 20 Jun 2005 18:39:31 +0000, undergroundbob wrote:
I have bought some this year which are allegedly self-pollinating - Gold traube (sp?). No idea where they originate from. First berries swelling up just now, despite the plants looking like not much more than stickes when they arrived. Bob Sounds like a german variety to me. I've got only 2 Bluecrop plants and last year (the first year) they produced maybe a handful each. This year they've got about 10 times as many. -- Tim C. |
On Fri, 17 Jun 2005 22:03:43 +0100, Janet Baraclough wrote:
Are you getting blueberry and black currant mixed up? Blackcurrants need no pollinator and are setting fruit now, but blueberries are much later so I'm surprised you have a heavy crop already. My blueberries are only just flowering. Be surprised then. They don't all *need* another pollinator. (They may produce more with one of course) And my two small bushes are laden with fruit without any other plants in the neighbourhood, still green, but blueing off nicely. The first raspberries have been picked, and the first blackcurrants are ready - still a fair number of unripe ones though. Redcurrants are almost all red and almost perfectly ripe. -- Tim C. |
Has anyone dealt with a good mail order supplier of blueberry plants.
Mine came from Parker's and though I've had some disappointments with them in the past, I'm very pleased with this one. Pam in Bristol |
On Fri, 17 Jun 2005 20:15:01 GMT, Pam Moore
wrote: The lady who runs a blueberry nursery said that you must have 2 different varieties. Well, I only have one, and it has a heavy crop of fruit. No, none of my neighbours grows blueberries. This is the 3rd year I have had a good crop. I found the answer to my own question on the RHS site..... http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...berry_care.asp If I had looked there first we would not have had the info and fun (?) this thread has generated. A PS to my question about supliers, does anyone know the name of the lady on GW last Friday, who exhibited blueberries at the NEC. Pam in Bristol |
The message 1119342188.e73145e8edf2d6d10d6448ac5a922916@teran ews
from Tim Challenger contains these words: On Fri, 17 Jun 2005 22:03:43 +0100, Janet Baraclough wrote: Are you getting blueberry and black currant mixed up? Blackcurrants need no pollinator and are setting fruit now, but blueberries are much later so I'm surprised you have a heavy crop already. My blueberries are only just flowering. Be surprised then. They don't all *need* another pollinator. (They may produce more with one of course) And my two small bushes are laden with fruit without any other plants in the neighbourhood, still green, but blueing off nicely. The first raspberries have been picked, and the first blackcurrants are ready - still a fair number of unripe ones though. Redcurrants are almost all red and almost perfectly ripe. I stopped pulling rhubarb three weeks ago and now have to be careful not to disturb the heffalumpses and bower constructors when I use the front gate. -- Rusty Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar. http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/ |
Pam Moore wrote:
On Fri, 17 Jun 2005 20:15:01 GMT, Pam Moore wrote: The lady who runs a blueberry nursery said that you must have 2 different varieties. Well, I only have one, and it has a heavy crop of fruit. No, none of my neighbours grows blueberries. This is the 3rd year I have had a good crop. I found the answer to my own question on the RHS site..... http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile...berry_care.asp If I had looked there first we would not have had the info and fun (?) this thread has generated. I like their phrase "protecting from birds if necessary". My experience has been that unless blueberries are netted before they show the slightest signs of colour the birds will quickly scoff the lot. Only the redcurrants seem to be immune from birds here. Incidentally my two year old Jostaberry bush has some fruit this year so they are also OK to fruit on relatively young plants. Regards, Martin Brown |
On Tue, 21 Jun 2005 10:34:29 +0100, Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
The message 1119342188.e73145e8edf2d6d10d6448ac5a922916@teran ews from Tim Challenger contains these words: On Fri, 17 Jun 2005 22:03:43 +0100, Janet Baraclough wrote: Are you getting blueberry and black currant mixed up? Blackcurrants need no pollinator and are setting fruit now, but blueberries are much later so I'm surprised you have a heavy crop already. My blueberries are only just flowering. Be surprised then. They don't all *need* another pollinator. (They may produce more with one of course) And my two small bushes are laden with fruit without any other plants in the neighbourhood, still green, but blueing off nicely. The first raspberries have been picked, and the first blackcurrants are ready - still a fair number of unripe ones though. Redcurrants are almost all red and almost perfectly ripe. I stopped pulling rhubarb three weeks ago and now have to be careful not to disturb the heffalumpses and bower constructors when I use the front gate. :-) I was chasing fireflies yesterday evening. -- Tim C. |
In article , Martin Brown |||newspam
writes I like their phrase "protecting from birds if necessary". My experience has been that unless blueberries are netted before they show the slightest signs of colour the birds will quickly scoff the lot. Only the redcurrants seem to be immune from birds here. Whereas in my garden the redcurrants are first to go. But then I don't grow blueberries. I do however grow loganberries and tayberries and similar, and it's taken the birds several years to discover them - even now, they don't take enough to be bothered. -- Kay "Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river" |
In article , Kay
writes Whereas in my garden the redcurrants are first to go. But then I don't grow blueberries. I do however grow loganberries and tayberries and similar, and it's taken the birds several years to discover them - even now, they don't take enough to be bothered. I seem to recall that blueberries hate chalk so I have a suspicion I'd be wasting my money trying to grow them in my garden. It's a shame because I love them. I was looking for another bush fruit to grow besides blackberries, blackcurrants, raspberries and gooseberries, so would welcome advice. Are tayberries better than loganberries? We like quite sharp fruit so it would be nice to grow something similar to blueberries if possible. -- Janet Tweedy Dalmatian Telegraph http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk |
In article , Janet Tweedy
writes In article , Kay writes Whereas in my garden the redcurrants are first to go. But then I don't grow blueberries. I do however grow loganberries and tayberries and similar, and it's taken the birds several years to discover them - even now, they don't take enough to be bothered. I seem to recall that blueberries hate chalk so I have a suspicion I'd be wasting my money trying to grow them in my garden. It's a shame because I love them. I was looking for another bush fruit to grow besides blackberries, blackcurrants, raspberries and gooseberries, so would welcome advice. Are tayberries better than loganberries? better in what respect? What is you do not like about loganberries? We like quite sharp fruit so it would be nice to grow something similar to blueberries if possible. -- Kay "Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river" |
On Thu, 23 Jun 2005 09:46:23 +0100, Janet Tweedy wrote:
I seem to recall that blueberries hate chalk so I have a suspicion I'd be wasting my money trying to grow them in my garden. It's a shame because I love them. Put them in a box or small raised bed filled with rhododendron soil. -- Tim C. |
"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message ... The message from Pam Moore contains these words: Re the discussion a while ago as to whether blueberries need a pollinator, did any of you see the item on blueberries on GW tonight, from GW Live at the NEC? The lady who runs a blueberry nursery said that you must have 2 different varieties. Well, I only have one, and it has a heavy crop of fruit. No, none of my neighbours grows blueberries. This is the 3rd year I have had a good crop. Any opinions why? I bought some plants from that stand at GW at the NEC and the son ( the firms MD, I think) of the lady owner was giving everyone who asked some cultivation advice. He was adamant that a pollinator was necessary, ideally of a different variety. He said he often heard stories of people with single plants having excellent crops, but somewhere locally within bee-flying range there must be another plant which provides the pollen. It could be streets away but there will be one near somewhere usually unbeknown to the owner. |
The message
from "vsop" contains these words: I bought some plants from that stand at GW at the NEC and the son ( the firms MD, I think) of the lady owner was giving everyone who asked some cultivation advice. He was adamant that a pollinator was necessary, ideally of a different variety. He said he often heard stories of people with single plants having excellent crops, but somewhere locally within bee-flying range there must be another plant which provides the pollen. It could be streets away but there will be one near somewhere usually unbeknown to the owner. My bet is that he was wrong to use the word 'all'. -- Rusty Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/ |
Pam Moore wrote or quoted:
Has anyone dealt with a good mail order supplier of blueberry plants. Mine came from Parker's and though I've had some disappointments with them in the past, I'm very pleased with this one. My first two came from: The Dorset Blueberry Company http://www.dorset-blueberry.com/ Two large-but-expensive plants - one doing very well - the other currently looking poorly. This year I got two more - one from Hedging - http://www.hedging.co.uk/ ....and one from Wilkinson - http://www.wilko.co.uk/ The "hedging" one is doing fine - and was /extremely/ inexpensive. The Wilkinson one was also inexpensive - but was rather small and feeble to begin with - was put out too early by me - and was demolished by my slug population. Of these suppliers, Hedging - http://www.hedging.co.uk/ are the ones that are most likely to get my custom in the future. -- __________ |im |yler http://timtyler.org/ Remove lock to reply. |
Picked and ate my first 4 blueberries today!
Loads more to come. Pam in Bristol |
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