Hi there

I never thought blueberry bushes were so finicky.... I recently got 2 from a local Agway. One was a jersey blue and one was an earliblue. the Jersey seems to be doing ok. The earliblue however is in poor shape. The leaves were not quite like yours - Mine are more of a death fromt he verge of each leaf in towards the stem. They started going from green to shade of yellow to rusty brown, dying.

So I tried the Blue miracle grow last week. I replanted also last week, making sure there was drainage. No change - The plant continued to fail. My 4 y/o daughter is devastated!!! .. :)

Anyway - Today, not willing to walk away just yet, I pruned it all back, leaving only the strongest leaves/branches. I pulled any berries from it. I freshened up the soil and spread about 1.5 cups of a special organic sulpher compound. I cannot think of the name of it, but the nursery recommended it over the alluminium sulfate - said it was better and safer.

Not sure what else to do - would love to hear opinions

thanks all

Dale:

The burnt tips isn't a pH issue. Either not enough water or too much fertilizer. If you haven't fertilized, then you'd have my opinion.

Issues with pH will take longer than two wks to develop. And won't show up as dead or burnt leaves and tips.

Keep them well watered this summer and they will likely be fine. After they are established if you want more growth, water weekly with a 1/5 strength fertilizer for acid loving plants. Within 6 wks of starting that fertilizer program they will be growing like weeds.

doogan:

Your problem does sound like a pH issue. It is much easier to get bb started if the pH issues are corrected before planting.

Sulfur is a good long term solution. But at this point you need something to lower the pH more quickly than sulfur. Some people use vinegar. I use sulfuric acid to acidify irrigation water. Check at your nursery for Ironite or iron sulfate or some other quickly acidifying agent.

The red spots on the leaves were on the plant when i bought it so it has been more than a couple of weeks for the red spots issue. Does anyone know what the red spots mean? How much water do blueberries need, I was under the impression that if the soil was damp (not wet) that they would be fine. Am I wrong? I sprinkled some ferts for acid loving plant around all of the plants and this is the only one that is showing the burnt tips.

thepodpiper:

It's best not to fertilize newly planted fruit trees/bushes until they have an established root system. This is especially so with blueberries as they are very easy to burn with fertilizer. Damp soil is good but on newly planted bb a little extra water probably won't hurt. Be especially careful to water well after fertilizing. That's why I suggested 1/5 strength fertilizer after the bush gets established. I have burned bb adding dry fertilizer to the soil surface. But have not adding the diluted fertilizer mixed in water.

Dale that looks exactly like a ph problem to me. Burnt leaf tips are a sign of over fertilization. The spotting all over the leaves is a bad ph problem as it tends to start out with the leaves turning lighter in color before it get to where they are not. Red comes from either a lack of fertilizer (usually "N") or something preventing the plant from being able to use the fertilizer like cold or improper ph.

Sulfur is the way to go long term but it takes a long time to start affecting ph.

Here is what I would doÂÂ

Mix some fertilizer for acid loving plants at 50% of the recommended dose. I use Miracid For Acid Loving Plants. Mix it in a solution that is two tablespoons of white vinegar per gallon.

TipsÂ

Water the plant a little bit just before you fertilize and do it again a little bit again after you fertilize them. A little bit is just that, a little bit. DonÂt let the water with the fertilizer and vinegar get on the leaves or it will burn them. If some gets on the leaves wash it off immediately as you water them right after you fertilize.

Or find some form of chelated iron made for foliar application. This is the best way to deal with immediate pH issues- it's all about iron absorption.

I agree with 'thisisme'. I have some dwarf bb plants and the first year I was having the same prob w/the red spots on the leaves which then led way to a major spidermite problem. After talking to my local nursery I adjusted the ph (bb prefer a more ACIdic soil) and that did the trick. And the burnt leaf tips is a sure sign of OVer fertilization«(trust me,I've burned up more plants than I'd care to admit this way to know) lol I would suggest you lay off the ferts for a bit,and adjust your ph. Then as long as the new growth isn't showing symptons,you can fertilize at HAlf strenth. I would also recomend you try an organic fert for acid loving plants as they tend to be more forgiving than the mirical grow. Hope this helps:)

Also you can add some coffee grounds and/or pine needles to lower ph. Or you could add sum ammonium sulfate which will work immediatly and will also boost your nitrogen.granulated sulfer will work too but it takes a bit longer for the microbes in your soil to break down. If your really passionate about your bb's you can get a digital ph pen and a bottle of ph down. Then just fill a bucket up w/water add ph down until your at the desired ph (for mine 6-6.5) and water. Good luck:)

Coffee grounds and pine needles do not lower pH. Grind up some pine needles and compare pH of water before and after making pine needle tea with it. I've lone observed the ineffecacy of pine needle acidification and a teacher posted this experiment to show the facts on this issue.

I think your wrong.I never said to make a "pine needle tea". They only effect ph after they have been broken down by the microbes in the soil. And anyways,pine needles and coffee grounds aren't going to Hurt anything. And I don't need some smart as* contradicting my post. I was just trying to help. Take it with a grain of salt idc. And just because someone says there a teacher doesn't mean they Are one, I'm a rocket scientist...belive that?

This is an update on the same plant as the won pictured above. I have not fertilized since the starting of this post but I did add some water mixed with vinegar. Out of six plants this is the only one showing these signs, is this a PH issue. Thanks.

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Some of the burnt leaves could be from adjusting to higher temps, full sun, and lower humidity. Even though container grown plants don't suffer the transplant shock that bare root or ball&burlap plants, I still notice that lots of container grown plants have an adjustment period. The transport from the nursery to the seller can stress the plant and then the signs show up after you buy the plant. Even moving a container plant from part one place in your yard to another with more sun can cause some stress on the plant.

After planting container grown plants, check carefully to make sure the plant's root ball is damp between waterings. Sometimes it can be difficult to get enough water to the root ball with dense roots, even when the surrounding soil in the hole is damp. Until the roots have spread into their new soil, it is better to err on the side of too much water than not enough water. The exception might be if you have heavy clay soil and are getting lots of rain so that the soil is obviously too wet.

thepodpiper somethings going on there for sure. In general the leaves look a lot better; a lot healthier and greener. There are a lot of burnt leaves too.

Hard to say for sure what the problem is but these are the things first things that come to mind.

Did any of the ph adjusted water get on the leaves? If any did it would burn the leaves it got on.

I don't think its over watering or the leaves would be turning yellow. Which leaves a possibility of under watering but that may not be it either.

The brown crispy leaves could be leaves that were to badly damaged by your ph issue to recover.

When you lowered the ph the built up fertilizers in the soil became available all at once and could have burnt the leaves. To me there are to many healthy leaves for this to be the case.

My bet is its a combination of leaves that were to badly damaged to recover and perhaps they could use a little more water to cool the roots on hot days. Its just an educated guess but thats what gardeners do is make educated guesses. Of course if any of the ph adjusted water has gotten on the leaves then there you go causation solved.

Organic Craig,

I'm going to come to Harvestman's defense here, not because he needs me to, but because I agree with him.

You seem to be new to this forum, but myths like coffee grounds and pine needles lowering pH continue to come up on fruit forums, so when someone like Hman who, like myself, has read forums and publications intensively for some years, points out that it is a myth, it's not based on a cavalier comment, but based on past discussions (sometimes fairly indepth).

On the Nafex forum, pine needles and coffee grounds have been discussed extensively. The consensus (based on research and experience) seems to be that pine needles don't significantly lower pH, even after decomposing. Rather, the soil is already somewhat acidic, which is favorable for some pine species.

As far as coffee grounds, most of the acid is leached out in the coffee, and the grounds have no more acidifying affect than than any other organic material that breaks down. In other words, it's negligible.

I also enjoy trying to help people (that's why I frequently respond to newbies common questions, despite that I'm repeating the same information over and over). It's rewarding to help new people get started in fruit crops.

But when a regular and experienced poster has a different view, I suggest addressing the difference seriously, instead of resorting to name calling.

As an arm-chair approach, here is a link that discusses the effect of pine needles on soil pH:

Here is a link that might be useful: Do Pine Needles Make Soil Acidic?

Craig made the mistake of "taking things personally" which you should never do over the anonymous realm of the internet.

Always be kind....... and slow to take offense. most people mean well and do not intend to offend. Always be kind and tolerant.