Thanks, Lou. I suppose I can get the diatomaceous earth at a big box store (maybe) or more likely, a private plant nursery.

Do you think Neem Oil will work for the beetles? I've tried it already with so-so results, but I'm wondering if you've had any experience with it.

Sheri

Sheri,
I have no experience with Neem Oil. I actually don't use much of anything else because I grow inside my greenhouses and screen-greenhouse. The BB plants were the only thing I put outdoors other than my orchard trees. 20 mule team borax sprinkled lightly on the greenhouse floors and diatomaceous earth on the plant leaves is the extent of my precautions. Mostly the bugs spread the plant diseases and I try to keep bugs out. I probably will start having all the problems when I grow outdoors next spring.

Misty and Misty Blue are the same BB plant, just some of the online merchants used the two different names for the same plant when they listed them online.
Lou

Lou,
Thank you for all your tips, there are very helpful. I did put them in separate pots and have kept them moist (but not drowning). I am not 100% sure what pH the soil has but I do have new light green growth and they all seem happy. I did use an organic soil that had Canadian moss in it (I read somewhere that Canadian moss was better...?)...but the bag didn't indicate what the pH was.
My apologies for not replying sooner to acknowledge your reply and to thank you but I am also new to this site and hadn't realized you replied.

Michelle

Bamboo rabbit,
Thanks for the great info. Just wondering where you get the Tiger 90 sulfur? I'm in Homosassa and the local feed stores want about $60 for a 50# bag of soil sulfur. Also, any good sources for sunshine blues? Thanks, again.

Hopsalot,

Come spring Lowes will probably have the Sunshine blues, that is where I got mine. As a rule I buy from the commercial growers but they don't mess with the sunshines.

Where I get the Tiger 90 is Helena chemical. I get all my fertilizer from them as well as the prices and quality can't be beat. $12 for a 50lb bag of 10-10-10 or $10 for a 50lb bag of the Tiger 90. The down side is the closest Helena plant to us is in Dade City.

OK, we bought 4 bushes at Lowes in Brooksville recently, they were on sale. Having picked blueberries in this area for the last 5 years, I know enough that they fruit right around May. So why are these bushes flowering now? And is this a problem? Since we will probably get frost any time now, will it damage them for next Spring? This may be a dumb question for you experts but I haven't a clue.

Rita,

I picked a couple cups of blue berries yesterday......it happens. BB in pots tend to bloom at odd times anyway. I would pick the blooms off as plants that young should be growing not blooming. I would remove the blooms this spring as well. The frost won't hurt the BB plants but will kill the blooms.

Rita,

The low chill varieties of blueberry plants will often flower in the fall having met their low chill requirements. My blueberry bushes will make a few flowers almost every year at this time. Some years I've removed the flowers and some years I didn't and doesn't seem to make much difference in the spring crop either way. It's the price we pay for living on this alien planet called Florida.

Lou

ADDENDUM;
I agree with Bamboo, on new young blueberry plants always remove the flowers the first year so they can concentrate their strength on growth.

Lou

Thanks for the great info, although DH ain't gonna like me decapitating next year's crop, I'll blame it all on you experts, that's the ticket!

bamboo,

"mix it 75% pine fines and 25% peat"

what size are the pine fines?
can i use pine fine "dust" instead of peat?
will this mix work in a container?

thanks

i built a raised be in early spring and did all pete and pine mulch as decribed and bought tiny one gallon emerald and windsor ( i think?> ) they may have been jewels i cant remember.....anyway they did fantastic all year and about trippled in size and were very very happy. i fertilized very lightly about every 8 weeks with an acid lovers fert.....they are watered daily by a timered irrigation system. in the last few weeks they have lost most of their leaves and look barron......they are not dead and have plenty of little buds everywhere but definately look barron? is this normal and ok......i thought they were supposed to be ever green?

Joe,

I missed your question, sorry. The pine size pieces are up to about 1/2". They sell them at Walmart in a purple bag just called pine mulch. Yes you can use just pine fines with no peat. The commercial folks use no peat due to cost. It is nice to add something to tighten up the pore space.used coffee grounds or even a bit of sand on top and watered in.

J-grow,

Some varieties here in Florida are evergreen and some are not. I like my plants to keep their leaves until Christmas but have one variety that is already bare. The little round fat buds will be your flower buds in a couple months.

thank you......should i continue watering daily this time of year or cut back to every other day?

I would cut back.....no leaves means not much need for water. You still don't want the pots to dry out of course. How big of pots are they in?

they are in a 35' x 5' raised bed

Head spinning reading all of this good info. When and where would you go to purchase a couple (say maybe 3) BB plants to grow in containers on my screened in lanai?
I live in Land O Lakes, there are BB farms near here is that a source anyone would suggest for plants?
Starting gardening now (at 60); I love BB's and would like to give them a try.
The heat right now on the lanai is already searing! I guess I should wait to buy & plant?
Thoughts welcome.

HydroPapa,
I first grew my BB plants in my pool screen cage in pots so I know you can grow them in your lanai. I'm not sure the BB farms near you will sell any plants but It don't hurt to ask. I have found them in all sorts of places, online, BB farms, big box stores, etc.

I now grow them outdoors in the 55 gallon blue barrels cut in half. I now have over 60 plants. I just finished putting in another 12 barrels sunk into the ground.

That's a nice setup there, Lou. I've been thinking of doing something similar with my tomato buckets. Now I'm sure I'm going to do it. I'm sure my wife 'thanks' you as well for the holes I am about to dig this weekend...

@loufloralcityz9 Thanks for your response. I am going to give them (BB's) a try. I will probably keep them inside the lanai to start with (because the crows around here are as thick as thieves, not to mention deer, rabbits, and assorted 4 legged crawlers).
There are some available in Home Depot (small pot) for $3.98 a plant. I might buy a few to try both soil in containers and hydroponically in a drip fed bucket...

Hydro,

Be careful of the plants at Lowes or Home depot. Normally the 1 gallon pots are fine but sometimes they have smaller pots and those are northern blueberries that won't fruit here. Why they do that I have no idea.

And definitely steer clear of the bare-root bagged ones. While I have not done the bare-root blueberries, my wife got the bare-root grapes, raspberries and blackberries, none of which were labeled with their variety. Of the three we were only able to enjoy fruit from the raspberries last year, the other two are still trying to get to fruit bearing size. I think it will be a few years before we get to enjoy the grapes.

So if you get the bare-root bagged offerings, you could be waiting a long time before you get to enjoy the blueberries. And if you're anything like my wife, then anything longer than 'now' is just too long to wait. :)

Home depot had them in 1 gallon pots; think I'll give them a try:)

Leekle,

It is very likely the grapes are a northern type bunch grape and if so they will likely dies from Pierces disease.

It's possible on both counts. Personally I'm not too worried about it. I love me some fresh grapes, but this is something I would have waited until we have our own land to grow them rather than while we're renting a lot. After seeing vines up north in Michigan, it's only the really big ones that really produce enough to make it worth it. Judging from the amount of growth we got last year, I imagine by the time this one gets large enough, we'll be about ready to move. At which point, I would either have to leave it here or cut it back so much that I would essentially be starting over.

That said, I don't want to hijack this thread away from blueberries, so I'm not going to pursue any more info regarding the grapes here.

Post moved.

This post was edited by NKUSigEp on Thu, Sep 26, 13 at 20:07

Concerning pruning. Last night I was reading through various articles when I stumbled upon one from BH&G, "What to prune and when." In this article, they mentioned pruning Blueberries and that you should "prune stems older than 3 years to the ground." Instead of over 3 years, I think I would substitute BR's recommendation of 'if doesn't grow up, cut it'. But I admit that I wasn't expecting to some day cut the stems all the way back to the ground. When I initially planted my shrubs, I pruned them back to four stems per shrub and had it in my head that those four would be all I would allow to grow. But now it seems that come next year, if they start sending up new stems, I should let them go. Is this correct?

Leeekle,

Some varieties of BB want more stems and some less. The recommendation of older than 3 years cut it to the ground is a bit odd. I would say more like 5 years but the bush will tell you when that main cane needs removed....it just won't look as robust and production will suffer. When you do cut that main it will trigger the plant to produce more stems but most bushes do that anyway most years.

Far as how many stems I allow 6-7 to grow if the plant wants to do that.

I will have to keep that in mind for the future, thanks.

Okay, another question for the guru(s). While out taking notes on the yard today, I noticed my Jewel had two flowers opening on it and other buds getting ready to pop open. The Emerald doesn't look like its far behind either with some rather swollen buds. I didn't think we had seen enough chill hours for this to be happening, but it is. And February, the month of Cold Snaps is coming. I remember last year BR set up a mister to keep his plants wet/frozen to avoid frost damage and I remember the physics logic behind it. I just want to verify that I will need to do this in event of a freeze... or since I only have two bushes should I go with blankets and prayer?

That is up to you.......once the flowers open if it hits 28 degrees they are done. whatever you can do to keep it from hitting 28 is what matters. The fruit itself can get hurt even at 30. You are not alone my bushes are blooming as well. We do have a week of cold nights coming and that will help with the chill hours and to slow them down.

With only two bushes put a stringer of C-7 Christmas lights on the ground around the base of each bush before you cover them with blankets. This should supply enough heat under the blankets to ward off the cold overnight. All you need is enough heat to keep the temperature above 28 as BR said.

My bushes are starting to bloom also and the bees were busy on them today.

Lou

Okay. Thanks guys. I'll dig through my bins, but I think all my lights are currently wrapped around my bananas and citrus trees. I will try the blanket route as I know the spray would end up hitting my firebush (already showing cold damage, but nothing surprising there) and my Firecracker plants (which have faired quite well for no protection at all). The spray would hit other plants as well, but most, if not all, are perennial and should bounce back. It has mostly been my few tropicals and the citrus I've been protecting. And now the impatient blueberries.

This is an incredible amount of BB information!

The one note I didn't see, is what is the best time to plant BB in northern Florida (Daytona Beach area)?

Best,

Elizabeth

Daytona would be just 30 or so miles north of me but the opposite coast. My favorite time to plant is November or December but anytime up through April. That is not to say you can't plant at other times but you have to be careful they do not dry out and thick mulch is your friend.

Thank you B Rabbit! I'm going to try and get several in this season still then...

No problem.....this thread is funny, when I posted to it in 2010 I had 70 bushes now over 200...ahh addiction.

We just bought five little BB plants, so it's lucky this thread was up.

I had forgotten about the relatively high ph of well-water or municipal water. We were thinking about planting the blueberries in a swale where we are going to drain gray water from the house the ph may go too high.

PN,

If that gray water is from a washing machine it will be VERY high PH as detergents are quite alkaline......

Well, for better or worse, I gave my blueberries a dose of slow release 'azalea' ferilizer today (urea based). With the forecasted temps over the next couple weeks, there's no stopping the bushes from going into full-bloom. I will have to cross my fingers and get the blow dryer out if a cold snap comes through.

Yes I suspected greywater will be high, higher even than the groundwater.

We are going to put them where we can irrigate with rainwater only.

Okay, got a golly gee whiz question:

If/when a person transplants a blueberry from one spot to another (in winter while they're dormant), should the following season be treated a a fresh planting? As in, remove flowers and berries to let the shrub focus on re-establishing itself? I have no intentions of moving my current shrubs, but if the situation ever calls for relocation I may want to get another shrub or two the prior year so I do not miss out.

It depends. If you are careful and get all the roots or almost all the roots you can stake the plant and let it produce no problem. If it is ripped from the ground and a lot of the root mass is lost it would be much better to remove the fruit buds. They really are not hard to remove and the roots are so wiry they tend to stay with the plant.

Bamboo said "They really are not hard to remove..."

I think you are referring to the shrubs/plants (not the fruit buds), right?

HI,
Just planted 2 BB in large pots on my balcony. I should have asked before I bought 3gal. plants. Is Jersey & Bluejay good pollinators foe each other?

Love the yard,

Sorry..I meant to say not hard to move....not remove:)

I'm about to set out my first blueberry bushes on a sunny hillside that I just cleared of multiflora roses. Can I use landscape fabric to keep the weeds down and mulch with year old wood chips? Am looking for the lowest maintenance possible! Thanks.

Hey guys, can you please help me with this. I bought these blueberries from Gurneys and I transplanted them into 6 gal pots with 50% peat moss, 25% compost, 25% soil with pearlite added for aeration. They have been watered with rainwater. The only PH meter I have is one bought from a HD which mainly reads 7 most of the time.

I'm trying to post more pics but I'm not sure how.

Read through the whole thread to get some good info on the care of them including ph info...

Looks like a combination of shock and over/underwatering. The PH makes a difference in the long haul but it shouldn't have affected it that quickly. You need to get the pH down and make sure it stays moist, not wet. Then cross your fingers it re-buds. From that picture I would have never guessed it to be a blueberry plant. :-(

Good luck.

Thanks ibarbidahl, The one in the picture is looking like its re-budding but still not doing well. The other one still isn't doing to well at all. I read somewhere that you can add vinegar to water to bring the PH down but haven't tried it yet.

Thanks for the input. :)