Hi barbcoleus,

I grow blueberries here in Orlando seemingly with ease.

The only variety I grow now is SunShine Blue. Its soooo much easier than growing most anything else.

It has among the least required chill hours

Its self pollinating so you dont need two or more plants and hope that one is blooming while the other is waiting for pollen. That was my biggest complaint with the other types I tried growing.

It isnt too fussy about soil pH being right on exact.

Each plant only gets to be about 3ft x 3 ft

Each plant (mature plant) can provide some 10 lbs of very good tasting berries.

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If you can post the link from UCDavis where they send out bare root plants, I would appreciate it. I looked a couple of times and never could find the right place to check out.

Thanks
Tony

try here...

i ordered a bunch of cuttings, but none of them rooted. but i am SO NOT a good propagator... give it a shot -- and give me some, too!

Here is a link that might be useful: how to get the uc davis cuttings

Tony did you see the link that I M A posted. I found couple of varieties that are good for zone 10- Sharpblue and Misty so I ordered them. I have some luck rooting stuff so we'll see how it goes.
If I can get these to root, I'll order more, root them and spread the wealth!
Thanks for the link that was just what I was looking for!

I'd like to plant some blueberries here in the Tampa Bay area. When is the best time to plant?

Thanks
Bill

Barb,

Yes, I DID see the list, I plan on ordering some

Bill, anytime, but now may be best time of any.

bill,
check out jene's (www.tropicalfruit.com). it's located in tampa and carries a good selection of blueberries. a bit pricey, but if you don't have to pay shipping, the prices are ok.

plant them now. remember they take a full year to adapt to the soils and start growing. like azaleas. buy a cheap pH gauge and make SURE the pH is around 5.5. easy to do with wettable sulfur and some patience. oh, and plant them in raised mounds or beds of high-organic soil and then MULCH them like crazy.

So, how is everybody doing with the blueberries?

I just planted 4 blueberry bushes (Willis had a season closeout special). They were of fruiting size and I have about 10 berries, ripe and ready to pick.

hey -- those prices are great at willis. what kind did you get? i've given up on rabbiteyes... shb are the way to go. mine produced a few handfuls this year, but they're growing like crazy this year (their second in the ground) -- i have high expectations for next year.

I didn't get any from UC Davis and I didn't followup with anyone else.

Yummy!

I think I'm missing something here. What/where is Willis? My father-in-law wants to start some blueberries and this would make a great belated Father's Day gift.

http://www.willisorchards.com/

i've made 2 orders from them. no complaints. one grape they sent me has died -- i'm going to ask for a refund. we'll see how they respond.

Soil preparation must be done 3 months ahead of time if you used wettable sulfur to allow bacteria to work it into its desired form. Additions of peat and pine bark will help since they're both very acid in nature. Commercially BB are grown often in pure pine bark beds, and the roots usually stay in the pine bark. They must be watered often until established. I planted a 42' long bed recently, so far so good, but if you don't have naturally acid soil, it can be difficult. My soil is naturally acid, but I have to plant in a raised bed due to potential flooding.

Gary

Time to resurrect this post and see how everyone is doing....

I want to order 2-3 plants for the fall and plan to plant them in containers. I'm in Pinellas in a microclimate 10A. So, what do you folks think; Sunshine or Gulfcoast?

Here is a link that might be useful: Blueberry container soil