Over-watered blueberry (?)

13 years ago

I'm not sure if I over-watered my blueberry bushes.

I bought my blueberries about a month or two ago. Hearing conflicting advice about when to plant, I decided to wait until October or so to plant them so as to not shock them. I intend to plant in a mix of about 1/3 native-soil+compost-mix, 1/3 peat, and 1/3 pine+fir bark (all I could find).

They are currently sitting in full sun. Well, so I've been watering regularly (every 1-3 days, often every other day) thinking I couldn't over-water since they are in well drained pots from the nursery. We've had some strong winds knock them over. Then it had been maybe 4 days since I watered, and a couple days ago we had some really strong winds again knock them over. I set them up then the next day I noticed they looked really horrible. I'm not sure the cause. Thinking they were dried out, I heavily watered them then set them in the back in the shade.

Does this look like over-water to you, or something else? I'm thinking maybe I should plant them right away to give them room to grow.

Irrecoverable? Two of them look pretty great, but are just starting to show the same symptoms of the other four.

The leaves are very crispy. Some have the brown "water" marks you see in this picture, The vast majority are very crispy, and about half of those are curling crispy.

Featured Answer

Robert Swanson

7 years ago

I know this post is old, but this is for others who may have the same problem too. The leave can be burned by the sun's raise, if temps are very high. I hear they like full sun, but with filtered sun - especially in hot mid-July, August and September. During the hottest days, put them in a shaded area between the hottest hours, which is between 2 pm and 4 pm. I keep my blueberries in containers. If you plant them in the ground, I would find an area where large trees can filter some of the sun, but still get enough light, during the hottest times of the months at those hottest times of the day.

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Comments (8)

adam211
Original Author
13 years ago
Another shot
edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
13 years ago
From what you described I wouldn't say overwatered. If anything underwatered since you are in z8 and you say full sun and 4 days without water. In pots that size I would be watering everyday at least once. I would just keep them watered and hope they improve. I'm sure others will offer some suggestions.
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fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX
13 years ago
That's from not watering enough. Won't plant them now. Waiting is the right idea. They won't use much water now that the leaves are cooked. But keep them moist until fall then plant.
adam211
Original Author
13 years ago
It was 2-4 days, probably 3 maybe 4. Surprised they looked that bad that fast. The water seems to stay in the pots pretty well, I watered them heavily yesterday and today they still felt quite moist, although I had moved them to the shade and it was less hot.

I'll keep watering. Thanks for your fast responses!
ericwi
13 years ago
Potted blueberry shrubs need to be watered every day during the growing season. Maybe if the shrub was in a really big pot, with something added to the soil mix that had water retention properties, the interval could be extended beyond 24 hours. My potted shrubs are checked every day, and they need water every day.
johnnysapples
13 years ago
I have some of that on my blueberries too, and it seems as if it has been raining every day or two. Blue berries are hard to grow, for me anyway.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
7 years ago
Depends on where in zone 8 the OP was located. Here, blueberries are full sun plants, in containers or in the ground. But they do like consistently moist (not wet) soil. And potted shrubs do not necessarily require daily watering. Again, depends on the soil media and the container size. I don't water anything on a daily basis and I grow most of my plants in containers. And live where there is minimal rainfall (like virtually none) from July through September.