When do your Sharpblues start blooming? I have heard that is basically an evergreen type.

Have you tried Southmoon, Santa Fe, or Star? Star might be too high chilling for you but not the other two. My Southmoon basically blooms from October until now. Santa Fe starts very early but not much until spring. Star has a concentrated spring bloom under my conditions. Star drops part of it's leaves in the winter, the other two are evergreen. Mine are in the greenhouse Nov to April, outside in summer.

I'd like to get mine to bloom earlier, say full bloom in January. But am constrained by the chilling requirement of other plants in the greenhouse. I need a warmer spot for the blueberries after they have gotten their chilling. Seems to me Southmoon needs almost zero chilling, Santa Fe very little and Star maybe the 500hrs they say but no more.

I like Santa Fe best for eating, Star for easy picking and large fruit. All three are very good eating.

The Fruitnut

Sharblue started blooming in early January, and was evergreen along with Sunshine Blue, which started blossoming in mid-February. Oneil and Southmoon are blossoming right now. Somehow I got a Toro mixed in there, and its starting to bloom also.

We get only 400 hours of chill on a good year but I generally ignore chilling hour ratings on fruits and just plant what we want. It's usually our summer heat that kills them off, but if they survive they usually fruit. All apples will grow here and this year we're getting cherries also. I'm glad we tried blueberries, as they're wonderful and love it here.

Applenut

Mine are still twigs that are trying to blossom. Ah, to be in So. Cal. Way to go! I'm drooling already and agree with you about imports.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden adventure

I just planted eight blueberry bushes a couple of weeks ago, mostly southern highbush varieties but one northern that is said to do well here. Since my soil is naturally somewhat alkaline I planted them in heavily amended soil. I understand that keeping this bed acid will be an ongoing process, something I would not do for anything but blueberries, which I dearly love.

Applenut, I am looking forward to a similar moment of happy discovery in about three years. Tell me, do you have any problem keeping your soil acid? And keeping the birds away? I do understand I will probably need to net them when the time comes.

Rosefolly

Well it snowed here today so I won't be picking any berrys soon. You are pretty lucky. I do still have huckleberrys in the freezer from last summer and was thinking of making a cheesecake for Easter.

Rosefolly:

I tried for years to amend the soil but the blueberries still died a slow, painful death as they starved (it was horrible to watch).

I gave up on it and now just dig a big hole and discard that dirt, and fill it up with 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 minature bark, and 1/3 bagged compost, with soil sulphur chips mixed in and ironite for good measure. What a difference! The blueberries are acting more like the wild bushes that they are.

Commercial growers in California's central valley bring in tanker trucks of sulphuric acid and inject it into the soil (and you thought strawberry growers gassing the soil with methyl bromide was bad)to lower the pH; not something the average homeowner would try.

To all your Seattle folks, if it helps you feel better it hit 113 degrees here last summer, and often hits 100 degrees by April (which admittedly knocks out the fireblight for the year).

Applenut

Applenut, it may come to that in time. Thanks for letting me know. What I did for now was amend a 200 square foot area with 8 cubic feet of peat, 8 cubic feet of miniature bark, 20 pounds of those sulfur flakes, then topdress heavily with garden compost finished off with a mixture of shredded pine wood and needles (from a ground up tree). If doesn't work I'll step it up to your method. I really do not want to grow the blueberries in containers, but I rather like your in-the-ground container method.

Rosefolly

You know what they say....NO PICTURE...NO BERRY!! ;)

Nick

I am pretty jealous. Well in some ways about your blueberries already. Here in the northeast we wont be seeing blueberries until about late june or early july depending on the weather. Last year we didn't get to start picking unil July 4th because of a cold spell then a dry spell. Even with a watering system they wouldn't turn blue until they got a good natural soaking rain. Then we were picking like crazy to keep up with them. We wont flower until May. We have just under 300 bluberry plants but we have a couple of Honeyberry plants that will give us some berries around the end of May or beginning of June. Though not as sweet to eat off the bush until they are over-ripe they are tastey in muffins and such just like blueberries. We wont be digging in the ground anytime soon to plant anything new until Mid-late April. Hopefully by then all the snow/ice and frost will be gone. And then only shrubs and tree plants go in the ground. Gardens have to wait until late May usually.

My Sharp Blues are still green, as are Misty, South Moon, and Sunshine. Jubilee and OÂNeal are just beginning to set fruit. All except Sharp Blue still have flowers. TheyÂre in big, 15 gallon squat pots, planted in half LGM potting soil/ half peat moss, but would like bigger pots. They started blooming in November-December. The blueberries I tried to grow in the ground all died, even with complete soil replacement. In pots, I can move them in more sun when theyÂre ripening, for sweeter berries, then in more afternoon shade over the summer, as they struggle with the heat. The sunniest spots can then be used for later ripening fruit trees in pots.
The local hydroponics store has a soil treatment called "pH Down" that I plan to try sometime, for my acid loving plants. ItÂs mixed with water to lower pH. I saved as much rain water as I could for watering, but itÂs all gone now.
Blueberries for me are a little more fuss than tomatoes, but much less so than roses.

Live in southern california as well; I have Sharp Blue, South Moon, Sunshine, Misty, and Oneal all in pots. Misty, South Moon, and Sharp Blue all have berries a few weeks from ripe. Oneal and Sunshine just bloomed and should start to form berries soon.