Blueberry advice please

[Primrose]

I'm thinking of rebalancing my soft fruit growing next year and re-homing one of my two redcurrant bishes as they yield far more than we can ever eat. A couple of questions

1 if I hard prune the redcurrant bush in late autumn, is that the best time to dig it up and rehome it?

2. I want to get two blueberry bushes to replace it
- can anybody recommend some good cropping tasty varieties from personal experience?
- is it better to grow two different varieties?
- can I plant one in the space vacated by the redundant redcurrant bush? (It hasn,t been heavily matured) as I am short of space ?

The few blueberry bushes I,ve seen actually cropping have never seemed to have many berries on them so I'm a little mistrustful of adverts which say "heavy croppers". Perhaps those growing them have just had the wrong kind of non acidic soil?

[robo]

I've three blueberry bushes none are a great cropped ,two of them we had in our garden for six years i think we had seven berries in that time

[Primrose]

This is what worries me Robo. The bushes aren't cheap and I really don,t want to waste my money.
We probably eat more of them than other soft fruits and growing space is in short supply so I would want them to be productive to make it worthwhile growing them.rather than buying them.

Is this because your soil is not acidic enough do you think? I don't think they're necessarily the easiest soft fruits to grow.

[Pa Snip]

I've never grown them, always been put off by seeing poor specimens in incorrect soil producing 2/5ths of nothing in the way of fruit. Not the easiest of fruits as you say.

[Geoff]

I have acid soil, high rainfall and I mulch them every year with manure as well as feeding and watering regularly and still the growth is weak and the yields quite poor. You do need two varieties according to the normally dispensed advice. Blackcurrants are way better value and equally, if not more, nutritious. Don't forget a superfood is an ordinary food with a marketing budget.

[robo]

We have two thornless Logan berries ,similar to blackberries but much larger ,my wife says it's like having a mouth full of wine when she eats one ,maybe they would be better for you

[PLUMPUDDING]

I've got three different blueberries, Herbert which is supposed to be the best flavour Bluegold which has had an excellent crop every year since I planted it, although the berries are a bit smaller than usual this year with it being so dry, and Top Hat which someone gave me and has plenty of fruit. My favourite is the Bluegold for flavour and yield. I've planted them in individual raised beds - small squares made from scaffolding boards. These are filled with ericaceous compost which I top up each year and feed a few times during the growing season. They have needed watering quite often this year. I've been able to pick a handful for breakfast every morning for weeks and also frozen a couple of tubfuls. There are still a few on the Bluegold.

I got the Bluegold and Herbert from the Dorset Blueberry Company, Trehane Nursery.

As for moving the red currants, they seem quite happy being moved any time after they've fruited so long as you don't let them dry out.
Also if you make a little raised bed with fresh ericaceous compost it will be ok to plant the blueberries where you've dug the currant up.

The Bluegold is by far the best followed by Top Hat and Herbert has good flavour but not many fruit, although that might be because it is too close to a plum tree which shades it a bit.

[sally wright]

Dear Primrose,
I would get some of the new sweet fruited blackcurrant varieties that are available. The two that come to mind are Ebony and Big Ben. They will do everything in the kitchen that a blueberry does, be more reliable and will give much better crops judging by all the comments above...
Regards Sally Wright.

[PLUMPUDDING]

Ebony is a lovely large black currant but will have finished ages before a blueberry and even though they are sweet for a black currant I wouldn't want a hand full on my muesli. I've just had a look at my blueberries and there are probably still a pound or so on the Bluegold and Top Hat. They have a lot more flavour than the huge ones they sell I the shops too.

[Primrose]

I do have a couple of blackcurrant bushes but we both fins them rather sharp which is why I'm looking for something which is rather more gentle on the palate. I also have a couple of blackberry bushes so the blueberries are really to fill a gap in the palate and for a fruit which can be eaten raw on cereals or desserts without puckering the mouth or needing vast amounts of sugar to counteract their sharpness.

[MattW]

I got frustrated with blueberries and invested in wineberries which have been more successful. Well, my three year old says so - she’s beaten me to them all so far