Ummmm...hey, Ill-Man? What are sunshine blues???? Something edible, I'm guessing???

Marcia

ARRGGGG!!!

So, I call my St. Pete Lowes to make sure they have them...yup, we have them. Are you sure they are Sunshine Blue? Yup, they're Sunshine Blue. So I head down there in rush-hour traffic....

SHARPBLUE, not Sunshine Blue :-[

That is funny Tom, I could swear that I saw them at Lowes too. lol But that was before the freeze.

I have 3 blueberry bushes already and if everything else fails the u-pick farm near my house is the best place to pick as many berries as you want.

Come blueberry time, I will be eating blueberries.

Have a happy blueberry dreams! lol

Silvia

tom, you wants i should pick you up some bushes if they're still there?

silvia... mmmmmm.... blueberry pie. my absolute FAVORITE pie (and that's saying something)is this one, which is just outrageously good...

Here is a link that might be useful: blueberry pie

Thanks for the offer Michael but I don't have any plans to be over that way soon :-( On the other post they stated they were definitely Sunshine's. I don't understand how you folks have them and we don't. I'm going to call my local Lowes and see if he can't get me some....

Tom

What a boob I am. When I was there yesterday I went around the benches that had the blueberries and looked at 4-5 tags, all were Sharpblue so I made a false assumption. I just called them and it appears that Sunshines were mixed in with the Sharps.... I now have ten set aside for me to pick up this afternoon on the way home from work :-)

Hooray! Glad this has a happy ending.

But what's the difference between the two?

Never mind, read that it was the chill hours.

Good for you Tom, now you can be happy with your new mini blueberry farm.:o)

Mine are planted in just pine bark fines and rose tone fertilizer. They are doing good and have berries.

Silvia

I went to lowes this morning and picked up some of the Sunshine Blues (sounds like the song I was singing last week). ;>)
They had the Sharpblue also, and they looked to be the stronger plant, but that may be because the SS Blue have been picked over. According to the tag the Sharp Blue have the lowest chilling requirement, bigger fruit and are for a more southernly climate, to Z7. So why are the SS Blue preferred?

Thanks john

John,

I keep mine in containers so I can move them around for sun or shade and inside the pool cage when they are bearing, otherwise the birds and squirrels will get them. Having said that they are evergreen so they are more attractive in containers. Also, they only get about three feet high so they are more manageable in a container. Finally, they only require 150 chill hours, whereas the references for Sharp Blue are divided, some saying 300-500 chill hours, others stating as little as 150 hours but usually a minimum of 250 hours for good production.

Anyone out there that can give us your experience with Sharp Blue?

Tom

The other reason for the Sunshine blues is the whole cross polination thing...they don't need other blueberries in order to produce berries.

I was passing through Lowe's the other day and snagged 2 plants. They weren't on my "things to buy today" list but I have been wanted them so what the heck. I don't know what they had to do to get them to have fruit all over 'em.
This isn't the time they should have berries is it?

Yea Lowes-just came from Lowes and bought 3 Sunshine B berries $ 8.98 ea they look real healthy with lots of berries and flowers, new to these as well but from what I read here it would be better to remove almost all the buds and berries for better stem growth- correct ?
Also bought some Natchez Blackberries- sad looking but new buds are appearing, I ask the clerk there about it and he said don't worry they will come back but I will sell them at half price @ $ 4.49 each- so I bought 4.

i noticed that in addition to the sharpblues (southern highbush) that they are selling climax (rabbiteye) bareroot, over in the bulb section, few bucks/plant.

sunshine blues are also shb. bear in mind that 1) sunshines don't need a pollinator but they do pollinate other shb. 2) rabbits and shb don't cross pollinate... so, if you by the climax (by all accounts a good bush for central florida) make sure to have another rabbiteye, like becky, to pollinate it.

Mine also just got in some larger bluberries. From what I saw they were Climax, misty, Jewel, and a couple others. These were nice sized plants. At least 2ft tall and bushy in what looked to be 3 gal pots. They were $15 if I remeber right. Already wishing I built my bed twice as big.

I'm thinking these Lowes berries are from Agri-Starts in Apopka.

Here is a link that might be useful: Agri-Starts edibles.

Hope that we don't get anymore freezes because my in-the-ground blueberry bushes are beginning to flower nicely. I see lots of buds forming. I'm hoping for the best.

Since many of us now have Sunshine blue and Sharpblue, we should compare notes as they get older. I picked up some of the Sharpblues last week at Lowes too.

I'm optimistic that I may get enough to make a pie that looks as good as Siliva's posted pic!

Christine

Thanks Mannered Man. The big boxers should hire some of us as sales folk. Your sales pitch worked on me. May we have yummy blueberries and enough for pie for many years!
Sandshine