Growing blueberries

[Primrose]

I'm very tempted to order a couple of blueberry bushes after seeing the feature in the September issue but understand it's a fruit that is notoriously difficult to grow successfully.
If anybody on here has grown them and produced a decent crop could you explain the secrets of your success, and how long it took for the bushes to mature and provide a decent yield . I'm undecided decided whether to try growing in in pots or in the soil but suspect that potted plants may never give a high enough yield to make it worthwhile. Convince me please !

[PLUMPUDDING]

I've got three different kinds and with plenty of ericaceous compost, ericaceous fertiliser and never letting them dry out completely (water with rain water), I've revived them this year. They have made much stronger growth and larger berries. They ripen over quite a long period and the varieties follow on from one another with a slight overlap. They are small to medium sized bushes and produce enough for a couple of handfuls on my breakfast every morning. If you look on the Trahern website there is lots of information and a huge range of varieties to choose from.

I've also found home grown ones have much more flavour than the shop bought ones. Don't forget to net them against blackbirds.

My favourite variety is Blue Gold for productivity and flavour. I've rather neglected them for a few years but with the extra tlc they should produce a lot more next year.

[robo]

I bought two around ten years ago ,we planted them in the back garden and forgot we had them I think we got two berries off them, when we got the plot around five years ago we moved them ,the first place we planted them is probably the only part of the plot that drains we moved them again about two years ago to a part of the plot that used to be a duck pond this year we have had more berries than ever before and they are still producing I do feed occasionally with tomatoe feed

[jethrotattydrill]

We have 4 bushes, 3 varieties. They will be 5years old now.
They grow in large containers of ericaceous compost which I top dress with pine needles and tea leaves regularly to maintain the acidity. Last year was best so far - we froze over 6lbs and used more in various other ways in addition.
As already stated don't let them dry out and water with rain water.
Give them a go

[Johnboy]

Hi Primrose,
We have a commercial Blueberry farm in our neighbourhood and they grow some of their varieties in large tubs but the tuubs are about three quarters buried in the soil. I have tried to ask the owners a question and they say everything is a trade secret.
I assume the buried pots would prevent the plants from overheating and also the soil locally is gererally Ph 7 (neutral)
as to the treatments they use I am clueless. The farm has about 50 acres down to blueberries so they must produce quite a few punnets in the season. They are also chicken farmers and knowing how acidic chicken manure is this may be part of their success but this is only a guess.
They have just invested in an anaerobic digester said to have cost over a million quid so they seem to be doing something right.
JB.

[dan3008]

Well thats why my blueberries didnt produce... My soil is fairly neutral (ph 6-7.5, depending where in the garden I take the sample)... Maybe I need to improve the soil a bit before trying again

[Westi]

I think my pots may be too small, but they were small plants when I got them 3 years ago so seemed loads of room. I do get berries, but not enough, & have to fight the birds constantly. I like the idea of sunken pots, then I could put them on lottie.
I will wait until my champion on the committee fights my corner to keep my 2 plots first though, with the plan to put Lottie 2 to fruit & Lottie 1 to veg.

Westi

[snooky]

My blueberries are grown in the tubs of washing machines and of tumble driers filled with ericaceous compost fed with the appropriate feed and they do well.I might look at burying next year in their pots as that method worked well for me when living in Cardiff.The tubs look ugly above ground.My so-in-law works for Hoover so I have an ample supply!

[PLUMPUDDING]

I received an interesting e-mail from Trehane blueberry nursery this weekend which had a very helpful video on pruning blueberries.
It says it can be done now, but if you wait until early in the new year the new buds will be a bit bigger so you can see where to prune to more easily, to encourage side shoots and blossom.

They also have some Camelia sinensis - tea plants - which another post mentioned.

Has anyone tried growing their own tea?

[robo]

Going on from what johnboy said, I feed every thing on the plot with chicken manure including the blueberries we have four bushes three of which are very small the fourth is around half way to its full size which I'm expecting to be around six feet ,this year was our best so far

[Diane]

I had a Camelia sinensis growing in a pot,for several years - and made "tea" with the leaves from the branch tips. It tasted rather unusual...but not unpleasant. The plant itself wasn't terribly interesting to look at - just a blob of green in a pot - and, to be truthful, I got bored looking at it. Gave it to a charity plant sale in the end. I can thoroughly recommend Trehanes nursery though - I live just up the road from it and spend many a happy hour wandering around their sales area. It's in the same road as Knoll Gardens - another excellent place to visit.

[PLUMPUDDING]

Thanks Diane, they were the only supplier of the particular varieties of blueberries I could find and I've been very pleased with them. I'm not sure about getting a Camelia sinensis now, but might try one and keep it in a pot and bring it into the greenhouse for the winter as there isn't really a sheltered place I could put it outside.