Mandy

I don't grow them because my soil and water pH are totally wrong for them, although I keep threatening to create a bed for them (via purchasing tons of peat moss and using it instead of the local soil....not that I'd plant in pure peat but the soil mix would have more peat than not).

Of all the folks who regularly post here, I believe Scott is by far the most experienced with blueberries and I'm sure he'll see this thread and post some comments.

I did a search and found an older thread with a lot of blueberry planting info on it and have linked it below. Within that thread there's also a couple of other links to other blueberry info for Oklahoma.

To be successful, I'd plant blueberries obtained locally if at all possible. Many mail-order plants turn out to be a disappointment (and I am not talking about Peaceful Valley Farm Supply specicifically because it is one of my favorite gardening suppliers) because the plants are not grown in this climate and are not well-adapted here. Keep in mind that with blueberries the soil and water pH are of the utmost importance, and so is good soil drainage.

Dawn

My soil ph is about 6.2 where I'm looking to put them but I wonder if I should wait until next year and do a raised bed along the fenceline so I can mulch it better once they're in. I'll have to think about that. We do have one blueberry bush about 3 feet from the fenceline where I'm thinking of planting and it's really pretty but it hasn't really produced berries...it just looks pretty. I figure the ph might be the problem. I know it stays moist enough where it's at.

I'm willing to go to the expense of peat moss and amending to put them in because we love blueberry cobbler and jam around here :) Also, I'm not against thinning off the bushes so they have a stronger root system :)

I'm debating doing them in pots the first year like Scott mentioned. That would go along with the time it takes for putting in a raised bed up there.

I'm not in a hurry. I want to do it right.

Thanks for the help.

Mandy

I feel pretty good saying you will be successful with a slightly raised bed of 100% peat moss and 3-4 inches of acidic mulch on top, along with careful watering and light acidic fertilizing. Other than that, it is iffy. I don't really know anyone who has had success around here with just a few planted directly in their garden.

The problem, of course, is that you will have not only the $6 to $10 dollars to buy each plant, but also $6 peat moss per plant, the $3 mulch per plant (each year), and the couple of dollars for fertilizer per plant. It really adds up if you have to pay for all of that stuff at full retail price. Then if you go out of town for two weeks in July, you may come home to find them all dead.

It's still worth it to me though.

If you have a Lowe's in your area, you might check their garden center for broken bags of peat, mulch, etc. for your blueberry bed start-up. They typically sell for $1.00 per bag or less. Most of the rips in the bags are very small so you are getting almost full bags. This will certainly take some of the bite out of your initial cost of setting up the bed.

My hubby and I usually stroll through the garden center each visit just to see what's available. On our last trip we filled our pickup bed literally full of goodies (several bags of top soil, tons of peat, a few cypress/cedar/pine mulch or nuggets and a bag of potting soil for my houseplants). We spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $16-$18 for the truckload (several soil bags were only 50 cents each).

You may have already been aware of this option but I thought I'd pass along the tip just in case. Happy planting!

Lynn

BTW~ does anyone know of a way to tell the age of the blueberry plants offered at the big box stores? Would I be safe to assume those 12"-18" tall plants sold in the 1-gallon buckets would be first year plants?

Thanks!

These are all varieties recommended for southern gardeners. Most blueberries hale from the NE where acid soil and cool temps prevail. New cultivars for the south that tolerate our extreme heat are fairly recent on the market. So make sure you purchase these. I'm experimenting as well and may go with potting them rather than in-ground.

Susan

Susan, I'll be sure to look closely at the "grown in OK" blueberries when I'm checking out the stores. I'm considering doing a few in pots as well.

Appreciate all the help.

Mandy

I have had success with all the plants from Lowes that were grown at the facility near Lake Tenkiller (Park Hill). I would suggest getting these 1 gallon berries (2 yr old) from there in the spring, though. The ones I got this fall were very rootbound, so the extra summer in the pots was probably a bad thing.

I'm so glad you mentioned your plants were grown in OK. In an attempt to determine the age of the plant, I had read the label forward and backward but completely overlooked that they were grown at a nursery in the eastern part of the state. Hopefully, locally grown will increase their success rate. I called the nursery to see if they typically shipped retailers anything other than 1-year old plants and was told that what I had was indeed 1-year old and in a 8" container not a one gallon (I'm apparently dimensionally challenged). Oops!

Mandy,

Definitely keep an eye peeled for the 'broken bag' pallet at Lowe's. It really is a great bargain if you have a lot of area to cover. It's just like Christmas - you never know what you're going to get. ;->

Scott,

Lowe's offered three different varieties but I purchased two Blueray plants based on your recommendations on related discussions. I hope these do well as they look very healthy. Although having to wait two more years for berries will be a true test of a girl's patience.

I plan to grow them in large containers and keep them in a protected area of my patio during the harshest part of the winter. I'm crossing my fingers as these plants sound rather high maintenance. If they do well, I may add on more varieties so I'm sure I'll have more questions for you and the group.

Thanks to all! Hope everyone is enjoying this glorious weather outside. I wish it would hang around a little longer.

Lynn

I had always heard that BBs were cool weather crops so I never really even considered growing them, thinking I would just stick to Otis Spunkmayer muffins LOL! Purchasing the 2 at Walmart was just a spontaneous thing when I discovered they were locally grown cultivars.

I should have done much more research, but que sera sera. I've always been kind of a "learn as you go" personality and sometimes I've been successful, but sometimes I have failed miserably. I hope I can be "okay" with growing blueberries.

Wish me luck, and wish all of you luck as well.

Susan

As far as our success rate, the only thing I know for sure is that whether you've been gardening for one month or for fifty years, we're all "learning as we go".

Lynn

I just read an interesting tidbit about when to harvest blueberries, that they should be allowed to fully ripen b4 picking. Unlike some fruit, they will not ripen any more after picked. I would imagine there will be a learning curve for me on this until I get it down right. Also, ripened blueberries don't fall off the bush like some other fruit, either.

Maybe this is true of all berries?????

Susan

One thing I should have mentioned again is that if you are south of I40 or so you should make sure the variety can get the needing chilling hours there. I don't think I would have tried these northern highbush standards of Duke, Bluecrop, Blueray, and Elliot if I was south of I40 much.

I will try to take pictures of each of mine so you get an idea of how they look in years 2,3,4, and 5.

Scott, I am right on top of I-40 virtually, so hope I get enuff cold for them. They did very well in the heat,tho, that we had during June and July. Will temperate winters affect production?

Another benefit of BBs is the leaves turn red in fall! What's not to love about them?

Susan

I so want these to thrive!!!!!!!

Paula