I'd first check the pH of the soil and irrigation water and adjust between 4 and 5 if necessary. Brady

That plant looks terrible, doubt it will survive. It looks to be in ground. And yes first thing is PH. As stated between 4 and 5 then we can talk about any other problems. Most ground soil is around 7. No blueberry will grow in that.

WOW! That plant is really unhappy! How often do you think this happens on a yearly basis around the good ole USA? I jumped all over a guy one day at a local fruit tree sale. He was in the blueberry section explaining to buyers how to plant blues in our local Houston clay soil. He said just plant them where ever you want as long as its in full sun and keep well watered. That was it! I heard him tell this to several people before I finally heard enough and had to question him. Turns out hes never grown blues but felt he knew enough to tell how ever many people before I got there how to kill every plant they sold. I guess its good business because when they kill those blues they come back to buy more fruit trees.

So did you just plant it in your local soil? Did you amend any thing at all?

Stalwartjah,

It looks like you just joined the forum. Welcome. This is a great place to learn.

I grow 4 blueberry bushes of different varieties in Ohio, but I am not an expert.

Because it's a blueberry in Ohio, it's likely that the soil it's planted in isn't acidic enough unless you aggressively altered the soil.

Immediate things that you could try to save it:
1) Hope it's NOT acidity. For most plants, yellow leaves indicate need for more nitrogen. You could try a high nitrogen fertilizer for ACID LOVING PLANTS like azaleas. Only use fertilizer for acid loving plants. Other fertilizers could kill your blueberry. Fertilizers will list composition something like 10-10-10. The first number is nitrogen. Look for something where the first number is high compared to the other 2 numbers.
2) If the problem is acidity, it might help to immediately start using water with a little vinegar mixed in. That might help a little, but it's unlikely to solve the problem.

If it's the soil, and that's likely, I think you'll have to dig up the plant. It will need to be planted in acidic soil. Other people have heavily amended an area (substantially larger than the bush) with maybe 50% peat. But I've read that doesn't work well in the long run.
You might have a little bit better luck if you amend the soil AND create a raised bed on top of that soil using 50% peat.

I am also in Ohio. My area does not have acidic soil. My simple solution is to grow blueberries in large pots. I use 14 gallon roughneck rubbermaid totes. I drill drain holes in the bottom. Create your own acidic potting mix (better than bagged stuff).
50% spaghnum peat moss
45% composted pine bark fines. (At my Home depot, it's packaged as SMALL pine bark mulch. Search this forum for other sources.)
5% perlite. (or skip this and use 50% pine bark fines.)
maybe mix in some controlled release fertilizer for acid loving plants. But it's probably pretty late in the year for long term fertilizer.
These ingredients are available at Home Depot, etc.

My pots are above ground. For winter, I insulate with a pile of leaves around the pots a couple inches higher than the pot. (They are producing well despite this winter's frigid temps.) However, this approach will require DAILY watering. This approach is easier than it sounds.

If you don't want the pot to show, bury the pot in the ground before filling with potting mix.

If daily watering is a problem, it would probably work if you bury the pot after cuting away large portions or even all of the bottom of the pot to exchange moisture with the surrounding area. But the walls of the pot should help to retain your acidic mix in the area of your bush. It would probably still need occasional watering, but maybe not daily.

Sorry if that sounds complicate. Really, it's not. I've only been growing fruits since 2010 or so. Blueberries are probably the easiest thing I grow. It's just that you have to provide acidic soil. (And you'll probably need a bird net.)

Don't get discouraged. If that plant doesn't survive, plan a new soil strategy. Place an order at a reputable on line nursery in January for the variety of your choice. (They'll mail your order when it's appropriate to plant. But you must order way early to ensure your choice of variety.)

Lots of good info on this forum about varieties. Due to Ohio climate, avoid southern high bush varieties that are much discussed on this forum but not appropriate for Ohio. Look for northern high bush or northern half high types.

In Ohio, the only part of the state where the soil is naturally acidic enough for blueberries is the SE part of the state. Some areas in the NE might also be OK. I'm from Akron originally, and my pH there was about 6.2 - good for most plants but still high for blueberries. The rest of the state is mostly neutral or slightly alkaline and would be a death sentence for blueberries.

This is what iron chlorosis looks like in a blueberry shrub. The most likely cause is high soil pH, due to residual lime that was laid down when this area sat at the bottom of the ocean, and was home to successive generations of marine life. Every time a diatom dies, the shell falls to the bottom, and accumulates in the sediment. You likely also have high clay content in your local soil. It is possible to lower soil pH, and the shrub will green up, but this might take 4 to 8 weeks, because the plant has to metabolize the nutrients that it takes in through the roots. One way to quickly lower soil pH is by dousing the soil with about 4 gallons of tap water, that has been amended with 5% vinegar, the kind that comes from the grocery store. Here in Madison, using our local tap water, it takes 12 fluid ounces of 5% white vinegar to lower the pH of the tap water from 7.6 to 5. I can't say the correct ratio of vinegar to tap water for your specific location, but this should give you some idea of an appropriate amount. Vinegar is an organic acid, and it will be consumed by bacteria that live in the soil, so the pH will eventually rise back to where it was originally. That is why commercial blueberry growers use sulfuric acid to lower soil pH. If you are able to get hold of some agricultural sulfur, perhaps at the nearest farmer's cooperative "feed 'n seed" store, you can use this material to lower soil pH. Sulfur is not sulfuric acid, it has to be metabolized by soil bacteria, and converted into acid. An application of agricultural sulfur can require two years to be completely metabolized, so this is a slow process. But it does work, and that is how I keep the soil pH down around 4.5, here in Madison.

My first attempt at saving such a chloritic blueberry is iron sulfide, often labeled Copperas. Definitely begin acidifying soil and water as well, but Copperas is pretty fast acting at greening things up and getting nutrients into the plant.

You have a losing hand. Start over with a variety that is more tolerant to your soil like Hardyblue or Reka. They are both more adaptable to heavier soils, like mine and probably yours.

From the link below: "Spartan fruit is firm and very large with very good flavor. It does best on ideal sites but performs poorly in soils that have to be highly amended for blueberries."

Here is a link that might be useful: Blueberry Variety Review - Cornell Fruit - Cornell University

I am having trouble with my Sparten Blueberry, as well. I did amend my soil a great deal, however, I am still noticing some minor yellowing and I have added sulfer and even more compost. But, the biggest issue with Sparten is the fruits are very small. I just looked up Sparten and the fruits of Sparten are said the be the largest fruits. Now, that I know the fruit is not natually small, I am convinced, I am doing something wrong. I have ONeil planted next Sparten and it is healthy with large fruit and no yellowing issues.

The big question any time you talk about blueberries, is what was the non-amended soil pH and was is the pH of your irrigation water? Amending does help, but how you need to go about doing it depends a lot on what you are starting with.

I have done more research and I feel the issue is that the fruit is over borne. I did not prune the bush because it was young and I did not want to over prune it, but now I have prunced it to just a few strong canes and I hope next year for some berries.

Upated: I took photos of my blue berries and I looked at the dates on in April Sparten was fine, in May it was a bit yellowed, but now its really yellowed. I wonder why this has set in so quickly? The soil in this bed was terrible, all rocks and clay. But, I removed so much of it and I added so much compost and other types of admentments, that there is almost no native soil left. It is a small bed, a sort of space in between a concreate patio and a fence, so it was pretty easy to remove the soil from such a small space. Also Oneil is right next to Sparten and it looks perfectly green. I am thinking of buying some liquid iron spray. Treatments with more compost and coffee have not yeiled any improvements yet. I did notice what another person mentioned that Sparten does not do well in soils that need to be admended, so this may be at play. I bought it at a local nursery, and I assumed it would succeed in my area, as why would the nursery buy blueberries that would be sure to fail in my area, which is zone 9 northern california? By local, I mean, it is within one mile of my house. But, I don't know if I can save this bush, as it is rapidly approaching looking like the photo at the top of the thread.

Inspite of applications of sulfer, aluminum sulfate, vinegar, coffee, peat moss, home made compost with composted coffee grounds and wood products, Sparten still going downhill fast. I am now only watering with a watering can, and I add vinegar each time, to offset the alkaline water. I ran a soil test using a simple kit and the soil is acid, its not alkaline, so this is a mystery. Oniel is a southern low bush and Sparten is a northern high bush, I wonder if this accounts for some of the discrepancies?

I think Sparten may be turning greener. I treated it water soluable iron, but that may have caused some browning of the leaves. I am wondering how many more iron treatments to apply to Sparten, or should I just stop with the iron and continue the plan of adding compost to enrich the soil. I was also using vingear in the watering can, but I wonder if I over did that, so I went back to hose watering for now.

The photo makes it look greener then it really is for some reason. It was evening the the light was fading. But, if you check my post above you can see the progression of yellowing that occurred in a very short time. I could cut off that one stalk in the middle that looks very yellow, but I don't know if that is the right thing to do. It will be interesting to see if I can bring Sparten back from this yellowing situation. Note the browing of the leaves however. I may have over did the treatments.

June 8 2018

I think the Sparten is going to be ok. I think it may be a drainage issue. The soil that is very heavy with compost and peat is not draining fast enough, and the bush is getting too hot in the sun, so I am over watering. Now, that it is shaded with sheets in the hot sun, I can water less. It looks much better. I think I can give it as much as weekly iron treatments with water soluable iron without causing harm, but I don't know if I should do that. I think I will stick to monthly treatments only with the iron. What I read said, the water soluable iron won't build up in the soil.

I want to update this story has a very sad ending. After it started to green with the iron treatments it turned white, which could be too much iron or too low a ph. As I searched I came across three types of blueberry virus shoe string, shock and scorch. I did buy it at Friedman's which is a sort of a local nursery but it also a big box store. It's kind of half local store and half a big box store. So, I thought Spatan could have a virus because it has failed to perform for two and a half years, has yet to have any fruits that were not very small and tasted very bitter. Since I have two successful southern blueberries next to it, I discarded the bush. I have also had issues with hosta virus, hydrangea virus, and canna virus over the years, and sometimes when the plant fails in spite of the best care, that could be a virus.