I have 5 Tifblue blueberries and they can grow up to 16’ if left unchecked. They are also supposed to be one of the most drought resistant of the rabbiteye’s. Along with these I have 3 varieties (I won’t mention the names because it might incriminate me) that are slower growing, but have an excellent taste, ripen earlier, larger fruit, and less drought tolerant. Put on 4 cleft grafts about 2 weeks ago and I noticed they are pushing buds. We will see together how they do. With old canes needing to be cut out about every 5-6 years will it be worth the effort assuming that they thrive?
I saw this video a couple years ago,but never tried doing it.These guys put out a number of videos on Youtube.I think their name is Fukuberry?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BDBtsmYMtA
I also read this article and obtained two Sparkleberry/Farkleberry plants and am waiting for them to get bigger to graft. Brady
http://oregonstate.edu/dept/NWREC/programs/berry-crops/grafted-blueberry-trial
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Updated blueberry graft picture.
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Follow up picture 20160718
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A few years back I became interested in grafting blueberries onto our local Sparkleberry trees but never got around to doing it. I’m pretty sure I read the article that you posted at that time and this is what sparked my interest. Please report back and let us know how your grafts do.
That’s really something Bill.Your grafting might be the only kind that’s being done on this forum.
The Farkleberry plants I have are growing okay,but their branches droop quite a bit.They are in pots and probably should be put in the ground. Brady
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The only question I would have is … What about renewal.
Everything I read says that as the canes get they become non-productive and the bush needs to be renewed by pruning the canes at the crown to encourage new canes to grow out of the crown/roots.
That won’t seem to work here.
Mike
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Renewal could be a problem. It is my understanding that after a blueberry bush gets 5-7 years old one or two old canes each year should be remove and let new ones take over. This is obviously not a perfect project by no means. My current plans are simply graft onto the replacement canes as needed. They appear to graft easy so it should be simple. This is mostly a try and see how it works out. Time will tell if it is worth the effort.
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Graft them low and you can make renewal cuts when needed above the graft. I like this idea if nothing else for the practice and novelty…!! And the idea of a rabbiteye rootstock and SHB scion isn’t without considerable merit.
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I like the idea. I have 4 blueberry plants that where planted 15 years ago in a spot that gets mostly shade and dappled sun. Only one of the 4 grows and produces well. It produced 5+ lbs of berries growing in native soil with very little sun. I believe it is Jersey but not 100% sure. Next year I I’ll graft onto it and also graft it onto one of the weak growing bushes as an experiment.
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That is exactly what I’m doing. There are about twelve grafts already growing at various lengths. I noticed three new sprouts and as you said these will be grafted low which can be renewal canes. My intent is to get several grafts growing this year to speed up bringing it into heavy fruiting. Tifblue is known for being a very hardy rabbiteye and can grow up to 16’ so it should make an excellent rootstock for the SHB.
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I forgot to mention in the earlier post that I have two other newly planted tifblue’s that have about five scions on each but they are not really big enough for a decent picture.
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There are fourteen actively growing grafts as of now and four more that has a lower profile that hasn’t started growing yet. I want these to grow out fast and then let them harden for the winter. Could be eating a few berries next year.
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So about putting SHB on rabbiteye… Is the expectation that bloom time will be later?
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I don’t expect any change in flowering time but I really don’t know. I was thinking that I would get a faster growing plant on a more drought resistant rootstock. This is my first time to try this so we will have to wait and see how the grafts do.
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I have a Tifblue in a 15 gallon container and it must be 8 ft. tall. I can’t get my newer Pink Lemonade to grow though so this seems like a good solution. Thanks
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Good luck with your Pink Lemonade…
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Some years back, Dan Hemenway, at Barking Frog Permaculture, in Sparr, FL was doing some blueberry grafting on established farkleberry/sparkleberry plants growing in their woods/swamp area… think I sent him some NHB cuttings (all I had at the time), but haven’t heard from him in some time, so I don’t know how that worked out, long term.
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Blueberry graft update. Tape has been removed from the grafts and some are tipping over.
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