dclegg, they grow them commercially here, south of you about 70 or 80 miles. They are starting to ripen now. there are certain varieties that do better in Fl. but don't know the names. check with your Co Ext office for info.

Sheri, I would think while it looked ripe, it still needed a day or two. I also think a larger, more mature plant will also produce a tastier berry. Most of my plants are quite leafed out already, but my rabbiteye's are not as far along.

dclegg, Southern Highbush varieties do well in FL, but some rabbiteye's will do ok too. Do a search on edis.ifas.ufl.edu for blueberries in Florida.

Gary

I grow the Sunshine variety here in SW Florida, Z10 and have lots of berries. It is a blueberry variety for the south. I grow them in containers on my lanai so the birds can't devour them.

When my blueberries first turn blue, they are still a little sour but a week or two later they are sweet. Not sure if there is a formula for time. I have had the blueberries in the containers for almost 5 years now. The plants are leggy because of the caged lanai thing, but I interplant to make up for it and the bushes don't seem to mind.

The first of my blueberries to ripen is 'Princess'. They are a little sour but that will be perfect for cooking when the plants get larger and produce more. So, sour isn't always a bad thing.

Are blueberries self pollinating? I would love to grow some on my screen enclosed patio. What about raspberries?

It is recommended that 3 varieties of blueberries be grown near each other with 2 being the minimum.

Sunshine Blue is self-pollinating, requires less than 150 chill hours a year, is a bush type no taller than three feet and has evergreen foliage...can be used as a hedge.

I just have two Sunshine. They are great for containers and I get enough berries for cereal in the summer. A hedge would be great looking. The flowers are pretty, white with pink edging.

My variety is also Sunshine Blues. I think it is great that we here in South Florida can grow real blueberries which used to be thought of mainly as a northern fruit.

One more question for you blueberry experts out there. When the summertime comes with all of its heat and humidity, should I move my containered berries to a part sun, part shade area? Right now they are mostly getting full sun.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Sheri :-)

Assuming that the pot stays moist enough in full sun, that is what blueberries prefer. If you have any issues being able to water it properly, some shade in the afternoon can help.

Sheri,

Are the plants you're talking about the ones Lisa sent to Ricky's swap? I have some but they are no where near a foot tall yet. If so, what the heck have you done to them?

Anybody else out there with some of these babies from the swap? If so, how are yours doing?

FWIW, I understand that fully ripe - that is, sweet - blueberries detach easily, almost falling off their stems into your hand. If it takes more than a touch to pick them, then they're not quite ripe yet.....

Worked for me - but then I lost 2 of my 3 young plants to a cold snap this Winter = (
I'll be shopping for new 1s this coming weekend @ the Greenthumb Festival = )

Thanks dghays and carolb for the tips.

Tomncath, yes, those are the ones Lisa sent to Ricky's swap!
I have them in 7 or more gallon containers planted into store-bought compost, pine bark, peat moss, and dressed with occasional azalia fertilizer and garden sulphur. They stay moist if I water them deeply for about a week in dry weather. I've been picking some of the smaller berries off but the ones I've left on are getting larger. A few of the leaves had some brown spots on them and I was hoping they'd be all right. Now it appears they are getting some new leaves which I am glad about.

Do you leave any of the berries on yours since the plants are still so small? I couldn't bear to remove them all.

Thanks,

Sheri

Hi Sheri,

No, I've been picking all the berries off, and I do have a lot of new growth but it sounds like mine are much smaller than yours. I've got mine in Al's gritty mix in one gallon containers, morning dappled sun, afternoon shade, watered once a week with white vinegar/Foliage Pro 9-3-6. Can you post pictures for growth comparison? I'll snap a few pictures of mine before next weekend.

Tom

Tom,

I'll try to have a few pictures of them up by sometime next week.

Take care,

Sheri

Hi Tom and Everyone,

Had a few more nice large, plump, and ripe blueberries on my plants recently. Picked one today, ate it, and it was a lot sweeter than the first one I picked. Had a real delicious blueberry taste! Yes, I left it on a little longer than the first one. Probably why it was sweeter, too.

What do you all do if the birds become a problem? Use chicken wire I guess, right? Is there a way to get it around them when they are in large containers?

Tom, I want to post photos soon. I seem to have some difficulty posting pics on here and will probably need to have my 'techy' friend come over to help. Please post yours if you can, and I can tell you how they compare to mine, okay?

Thanks,

Sheri

Are blueberry bushes evergreen or deciduous?

Hi Sheri,

If yours are a foot tall these things are going to look pathetic, but here goes....

Tom

Saw some at Home Depot (Tyrone, St Pete) yesterday. Does anyone know what type they are carrying?

Tom, I would like to try one in a BWB, but you thought they need to dry out before watering again. Our friend to the south of me thinks they need full sun and stay wet. Sounds like a BWB might be the ticket. I am going to try to find a plant and give it a shot.

bernie

Hi Tom,

Actually, mine are about the same height as yours according to your photos! Would you say they are about 10 to 12 inches tall?

Love the yard, I think blueberries here in Florida are evergreen. Perhaps we can get more input on this.

Happy gardening!

Sheri

Bernie - after dang near killing these babies, in full sun, I think I'll leave them the way they are for now ;-) I've seen blueberry plants at HD for months now and they are not that expensive so I think using a BWB would be worth a try, but not with my Sunshine Blues....

Sheri - I'd say these are 10 inches in length/height, at best. And they are evergreen; most of the rest are not.

Tom

Tom or anyone,

Uh Oh! Noticed some what looks like aphids on a few of the new leaves this morning. Will soap spray help like it does for tomatoes?

Also, wondering how often to fertilize (azalea food) since the plants are in containers?

Sheri

I don't know Sheri, I'm new too. You'd better start a new post asking how to treat aphids on blueberries.

I'm feeding mine once a week with dilute Foliage Pro and water treated with white vinegar to make it acidic, for nutrient absorption.

Hi Sheri. Am new to growing blueberries as well. I have just started growing sunshine blue and misty here in Kenya.
A comment about aphids. I had a problem with aphids but waited too long before taking any measures. So I had to use a pestacide to get rid of them. However, I have used soapy water on my other blueberry plants showing some signs of aphids. Soapy water will do the trick as long as you pay special attention to young foilage, underneath the leaves and the inside of the shoots (they like to hide there).
You can try and add some oil (peppermint or canola) to the soapy water. Also you may see some aphids crawling in the soil as well. So be sure to spray there as well. The key is to give your plant a hard spray. Hope this helps.

Cheers!

BBM

Thanks tnat. I have added a little vegetable oil in the past when I sprayed my tomatoes and it worked better. I'll try it on the blueberries as well.

Happy gardening!

Sheri

Hi Sheri / anyone

I have the sunshine blue variety from two seperate vendors. The plants from one vendor that have flowered and have had one blueberry are much smaller in height than the plants from the other vendor (these plants have not flowered yet and don't show any signs of flowering either).

At first i thought that the plants were stunted because of the ph. But when I ordered new plants from the same vendor they were very short (10 - 15 cm in height) and had lots of flowers. The label says the plants are 2yrs old. Is it possible to have the same variety with two different growth patterns or are the plants younger than 2yrs?

I also noticed some of my plants (which have not flowered) are branching out. Is this normal? And should I be prunning the smaller branches?

Finally I had one blueberry on two of my plants but after heavy rains they fell off the plant. Could this be because the branch was not able to sustain the winds? My concern is about mummy berry.

Thanks and Cheers!

BBM

Hi tnat,

I think it's normal for the plants to branch out. One thing I read about and so didn't do was to ever put nitrate nitrogen fertilizer on them because it can burn them. Azalea fertilizer and garden sulphur are okay.

To tnat or anyone:

I put some soap spray mixed with vegetable oil on the plants to rid them of aphids and it discolored the unripe berries. Also, tended to make the leaves a bit limp. I'm wondering if vegetable oil and mild dishwashing liquid are okay for blueberry bushes? The mixture didn't get rid of all the aphids and I had to spray with a mild aphid insecticide. The leaves are looking fair.

Sheri

Hi Sheri

Thanks for your msg. We have been getting a lot of rain and since my plants are in pots I am hoping they don't suffer from too much water.

I hope your plants are doing better!

The soap spray that I used was with tea tree (hand washing) soap and peppermint oil. I didn't use a pestacide on these plants as they were flowering and I didn't want to keep the bees away.

However I used a pesticide on some of my other plants that were not flowering and no signs of aphids yet.

From what I have read a lot people use a soapy water spray to get rid of aphids on blueberry plants. But then again I am pretty new at this as well.

Hope I didn't misguide you:( Check out these links in addition to gardenweb resources:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/02/earlyshow/saturday/main552156.shtml
www.nwipm.info/calinfo/bcipm7-3-08.doc
http://www.pestcontroloptions.com/insect-control/getting-rid-of-aphids
http://www.doc.state.nc.us/dop/health/mhs/News/jan00.pdf

Cheers!

BBM

Hi Tnat,

I'll check out those sites. Thanks.

Did you find peppermint oil at the health food store or pharmacy? And the tea tree soap? Where, please?

Sheri

Hi Sheri

I bought both the peppermint oil and the tea tree soap from the pharmacy. The health store had them as well but they were pricy.

From what I have read there are numerous ways to get rid of aphids. For instance there is a forum on gardenweb that talks about using garlic oil to get rid of aphids.

I guess its what works best for a particular situation.
Hope this helps and keep me posted!

Cheers! BBM

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/rosesorg/msg0409330911480.html
http://organicgardening.about.com/od/pestcontrol/a/spraysforaphids.htm

Hi tnat and everyone,

The rain seems to be making the blueberry plants put out more leaves and I think the aphids have gone 'bye-bye.' Sure hope so!

Sometimes it seems like the container soil gets too saturated with rainwater. What I do when the soil is too wet is to take a two-prong large fork and poke some holes around the plants (not too close to the plants) to provide better root aeration. So far, seems to be working pretty well.

Happy gardening!

Sheri

Hi Sheri

Good to hear that your plants are doing better.

As for my plants they are okay. Most have lots of leaves but no flowers. I have tested the soil ph it seems ok. But I am thinking that may be I need to add more sulfur to keep the ph at optimum level. I cannot add amonium sulphate as I have already put some.

Got a question do you know if there is a difference between sulphur powder and garden sulphur or flowers of sulfur or are they the same thing?

Would you know if I can use pumice for my blueberry potting mix?

Cheers

BBM

With all the rain, my containered blueberry plants are in very moist soil almost constantly now. They seem to be okay but I'm wondering if too soggy a soil will cause any problems. Anyone have experience with this kind of thing? I heard they like moist soil but this soil is quite wet, even though it's got peat and all the other recommended ingredients.

Thanks.

Sheri

Mine seem to be doing okay too, but they are in the gritty mix and I didn't screen the Turface so they do hold a little more water than I'd like. I've noticed that the older darker leaf tips burn when the mix stays too wet, but being so new to this I don't know if this observation is correct or not....

Tom

Hi Sheri!

I am having the same issue. We are having tonnes of rain and I am concerned that the roots may drown. The plants are looking alright however some of the leaves in the bigger pots look burnt. I mixed coir (coco-peat) with a potting mix for acid loving plants.
Is there anything I can do? I really don't want to transplant my blueberries and it seems that we will be getting lots more rain.
Should I top the pots with pumice stone or more coir?

Thanks.
BBM

Hi tnat,

Not sure about topping pots with pumice stone or more coir. Maybe somebody on here who's really experienced with blueberries will know.

I'm going to put a little azalia fertilizer and garden sulphur around them in a couple of days.

I think someone posted a site on here that deals with blueberries. That may help both of us find out some answers to our blueberry questions beside what our experienced friends on here can provide.

Have a great day. :-)

Sheri

I've been growing and enjoying my berries for 30 years now. In my area they are easy as they require very little care, a bit of water, shade and fertilizer twice a year.
Mine range from 3' to 12' tall with native berries mixed in, I think they may be huckleberries. They all will sucker and produce many more plants. I am still picking and filling up the frreezer.

Hi there its me again.

Does anyone know if blueberry plants can get the "black spots" fungus? I have lost 3 of my new plants to some strange disease and the fourth plant is on its way. I get these tiny black (or really dark brown) spots on the stem and eventually (2-3 days) the whole stem turns black and it dies. Its not scale insects. I don't know if its some other blueberry disease. I am hoping to save the plant. Please help!

Cheers!
BBM

Sure sounds like a stem canker (fungal) to me. Pictures would help...does it look like this?

Hi there

I thought so too. But red spots in the picture are actually black on my plan. And it doesn't seem to have the bulls eye pattern. I have applied a fungicide but I have a feeling its too late. I will post pictures up tonight.

This is how we learn I guess :(.

BBM

Hi Everyone,

The rains and/or some other factor is really making my containered blueberry plants put out new branches and leaves. I recently fertilized them with an azalea fertilizer. Last time I put some garden sulphur on, too. Not this time, as yet. Does anyone know if it would be necessary since the fertilizer has a lot of acid?

There are still a few ripening berries on the plants. Trouble is as soon as they get the least little bit blue, they're gone! I'm thinking it is birds. How can I cover the plants since they are in containers? Is there a way to get netting or chicken wire over them since they are in 5 and 7 gallon containers? What do you all do?

Thanks,

Sheri

Hi Sheri,

I WANT PICTURES! Well? ;-)

Could be squirrels too, they'll get mine if I leave them on the plants too long but since the plants are so small I pick the berries early and discard them...as the plants mature I'll move them into my screened pool cage but for now I'll leave them in the shade of the oak tree just outside the cage....

Did I say, PICTURES PLEASE :-)

Tom

Hi Tom,

I do want to post the pics on here. Just have to figure out how to do it. I did put tomato pics on here once and hope I remember how to do it. If you could walk me through the procedure, that would be great.

The pictures are in my collection. The plants have grown about 3 or 4 inches since I took them. I'm going to try to post the photos very soon.

Sheri

Hi there.

I figured out that my plant had bacterial blight and had I just pruned the twigs out early it wouldn't have spread. Unfortunately my plant did not survive.
On the brighter side I still have 6 plants. One of them is doing well and I can finally see some flower buds forming. The other one also has some flower buds but its got very few leaves and stems.
The other four are in a different location and are surviving but they don't look so good. I checked the ph and its seems okay but some of the leaves are very light green including the internal veins. On some plants the tips are turning reddish purple. I read somewhere that it could be a phosphorus deficiency. These plants also have a lot of bugs eating away at the leaves. I have sprayed a neem based pesticide for this.
I personally think the problem is the drainage of the soil. The soil has coir mixed with an African violet potting soil that contains gypsym and organic matter. But we have been getting a fair amount of rain and I think its affecting the plants. I wanted to amend the soil by adding some more coir and pumice stone.
How would I do that without disturbing the plant? Any suggestions? Should I trans-plant it into another pot or should I add the amendments (coir and pumice) to the current pot? My worry is that trans-planting might damage the root system as they are well established. I could move it with together with the soil??

I would really appreciate some assistance. Also how can I add phosphorus to the plant?

Cheers!

BBM.

Since we know they have delicate roots I'd get them out of the rain if you can, instead of trying to repot them. Mine are still in only one gallon containers of the gritty mix so I can easily move them up under the eve of the house so that they still get adequate sunlight but very little water when it rains.

Tom

Hi.

Thanks Tom will try and find somewhere to keep the pots away from too much rain. How would I ammend the soil if need be in the current pot without damaging the plant?

Cheers!

BBM

Hi all! I am posting some pictures of some of my unhealth plants. Can any one help indentify what the problem could be. I think its a nutritional deficiency but I can't tell which one.

Unless its a virus! Please help

BBM

Here is a link that might be useful: Blueberry Pics:

Hi there. Its me again. I have posted some new pictures of my plants that seem to be suffering from some sort of deficiency. I think its magnesium and I have added some epsom salts and sprayed the foilage with an epsom salt and water spray.

How long do epsom salts take to work? Unless of course its not magnesium. Would really appreciate some assistance.

Thanks and cheers!
BBM

Here is a link that might be useful: Blueberry Pics

Wish I could tell you but I'm a newbie too. I didn't respond earlier because I was in the Bahamas for two weeks. While I was gone apparently we had five solid days of rain and my friend taking care of my blueberries didn't get them out of the rain for days, consequently I came home to some rather sad plants, after nearly drowning I'm hoping they will recover.

Tom