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tara_w

First time gardener, attempting blueberries

tara_w
14 years ago

Me and my fiance just bought some land and we are ready to start gardening. After much research, we decided our first endevor would be blueberries. We purchased 6 plants, each in 1 gallon pots. We bought climax, tifblue, and beckiblue. Just planted them today. Mixed in some peat moss with the soil and a fertilized made for azaleas and thouroughly watered them.

So my question is, how often do I water now, and how long do I water each plant? The lady told me "like rainfall" but I dont understand... How many seconds/minutes should I water each plant and when? Every day or every other day? Any input would be appreciated.

Also, any other fruiting plants/vegetables would you recommend for someone new. I have full sun throughout my property.

Thanks in advance,

tara

Comments (5)

  • tedevore
    14 years ago

    "like rainfall" is pretty vague. I wouldn't know what to do with that either.

    I'm sure there is good advice on-line you can find. I have grown tifblue and premier (also rabbiteye-type bluberries like yours) for a few years now. I planted mine in fall, and watered well (probably about 4+ gallons per plant)
    maybe once a week for five or six weeks. I haven't hardly watered them since then, and they do fine on their own. They are just getting ripe now and loaded with berries, and covered with netting since yesterday so the birds don't get them all. Kind of like the blueberries you find at the edge of the woods, they are tough once they get established. So you can probably just water them in real good once a week for several weeks in the summer and then let them go. Mulch them good with pine straw and leaves, which also may help to keep the soil on the acidic side--they like that. Others who have been growing them longer can probably give you more advice.

    If I had sun and the space to grow them, I would love to grow muscadines,
    a persimmon tree, and maybe a peach tree.

    Todd

  • tara_w
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thanks for the good information. I would love to grow peaches.

  • bama_gardener
    14 years ago

    tara, if you go to www.aces.edu and click on Publications then do a search for blueberries, you will be able to pull up all the information you need on growing blueberries in Alabama. You can also call the extension agent in your county for questions you might have. The website will also give you lots of info on anything you might want to grow in your area.
    I have been growing blueberries for a couple of years and have also found them to be very easy.
    I hope this helps.
    Beverly

  • tedevore
    14 years ago

    There is a good article today in the Washington post about growing fruits
    at home in hot & humid climates, including blueberries, figs, juneberries,
    persimmons, etc.

    The link below.....

    Here is a link that might be useful: home fruit growing

  • Bamateacha
    14 years ago

    Several years ago my dad brought me 6 gallon-sized blueberry bushes. My husband planted them on a hill near the house and we promptly forgot about them. For the last few years we have thoroughly enjoyed those bushes. We always have more than we can possibly use and family, neighbors, and friends pick blueberries, too. We rarely give them supplemental watering. They've done well on their own.