Here is my last year pics of same blueberrys sure hope i can get help are they dieing are they just getting ready for winter .I havent been watering them much we have had so much rain .
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Angie:

It is normal for blueberry leaves to turn red as the plants enter the dormant season, which is now. Eventually, the leaves should drop off completely. Most blueberry plants are not evergreen, and will grow new leaves in the spring.

I am sure you have your reasons for having the bushes in pots buried in the ground, but eventually the root systems will become constricted by the pots and limit growth of the plants. Pots could also limit natural drainage in conditions of high rainfall. You are correct to stop watering when there is rain. Right now, all appears to be normal, and you should get some blueberries next summer.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Thx I have them in pots our soil is not right and its the only way I can have them they are sunshine blues .Are Sunshine blueberrys suppose to be so tall and mine arent very bushy .I wish I could put them in ground here in texas our soil is so full of clay and I was afraid they would die .I will pull them up and have a look to see how they are doing root wise thx again I feel better.Is there a way to make them bush out more I was afraid to prune them .

Angie:

I would not prune them, since if they are to have blueberries next summer most of them will be on or near the ends of those longer canes. This type of growth is very common with blueberries, which send up canes just like those in your photos. If you want to prune for a lower shape, do it immediately after the plants fruit. I don't think I would pull them up either right now. Let them go through the winter and produce some blueberries for you.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

If those pots are as small as they appear (a gallon size or less), that's *way* too small. If intend to keep them in pots in the ground, you'll need something much bigger. Having such a small pot could be contributing to the odd growth habit, as there isnt' a whole lot of room for new shoots to come up, and a restricted root system will result in reduced top growth.

Also, have you fertilized at all? If your fertility is low, that could also explain the slow growth. Again, others who are growing in pots could help you out with this.

As Don said, the red leaves are normal.

There are some other people on here who are successfully growing blueberries in pots. If none of them find this post, I'd perhaps create a new one titled something like "Growing blueberries in pots" and see what pot size they're using.

Those do not look like Sunshine Blue at all. SB is compact and bushy, with small leaves and hot pink flowers in spring. It also would likely be evergreen in your zone. Where did you get them?

Thx all and I will repot them but I got them on ebay and here is a pic of the flowers it had in spring we dont get much chill hours here so they must be sunshine blues to have bloomed.
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Kiwinut think you right i took them out of pot today and wow root bond andthe shallow roots had jumped out of the top of the pot and were every wear I planted them in ground with a good mix and some holly tone . Then went to check my other sunshine blueberry that were in pot on porch I had gotten them at lows about same time as the ones in pic and they are no were near root bound so i think I got something else on ebay not sure what kind of blueberry bush i have but its not a sunshine these have way to many roots and they deep too.They did give fruit last spring so they must be low chill I love them even if they not what I thought they were .

angie83:

The variety pictured is almost undoubtedly Misty, which is also well-suited for your climate.

Right now Sharpblue is evergreen and blossoming for us; Sunshine Blue is indeed more compact and also evergreen.

Applenut

Angie:

I think you did the right thing by getting the plants out of the pots, amending the soil, and resetting them. If there is a best time to do that, it is right now, and I may have been wrong to tell you resetting will stop you from getting a crop next spring. There is plenty of time over the next few months for the roots to become re-established.

I don't grow Sunshine Blue or Misty here, but the leaves of your plants are certainly smaller than any of my plants. It sounds like the Kiwi and Apple Nuts are really familiar with these varieties.

There is always a risk of buying a pig-in-the-poke when you get plants from E-Bay, but I agree that in this case you got some nice healthy looking plants whatever they turn out to be. Working some Hollytone into your soil was certainly helpful, but if your soil and your irrigation water is alkaline, it may be helpful to add a little elemental sulfur to the soil and scratch it in at least once a year. So far, at least, your plants show no sign of iron deficiency.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Ill keep yal posted on how they do Thx all so much for all the great help .I feel so much better about them and hope they will be fine I really did nothing for them all summer so am suprised how easy they are to grow they are sun lovers and here in texas we have alot of that.

Good luck with the blueberries in containers. We grow Patriot and Jersey in 20-inch and 24-inch diameter plastic containers. It's been five plus years now and we enjoy great production each year. The original mix was about two-thirds peat and one-third compost with five cups of perlite. We maintain two plus inches of shredded pine bark mulch, adding annually. It works. Good luck.