Anyone grafting blueberries? Why?

[fruitgrower]

Thanks Fruitnut, I’m really glad you turned us all on to these! I would agree with you on all of the above! What a winner!! When people try them they tell me they are like no other blueberry, and no one has ever not liked them. In fact WOW!! is what I usually hear. This plant popped up underneath a sweetcrisp and I think it’s a seedling. 5 other varieties nearby pollinating. Hoping it’s great but reality is it’s probably just ok. If it is good I’ll hopefully have scionwood for grafting, if it ever goes dormant.

[fruitnut]

This plant popped up underneath a sweetcrisp and I think it’s a seedling. 5 other varieties nearby pollinating. Hoping it’s great but reality is it’s probably just ok. If it is good I’ll hopefully have scionwood for grafting, if it ever goes dormant.

I was cutting up some SC today to dry. Looked at all those seeds and thought maybe I should plant some. They have to be hybrids of great varieties. SC sets almost nothing without cross pollination…that’s first hand experience speaking.

I think in 20 yrs there will be others to rival SC. I know all the breeders of NHB and SHB are attempting to breed better yielding and earlier maturing crisp fruited varieties.

[fruitgrower]

You should plant some SC seeds up, it would be a cool experiment. I think a bird probably let a small piece of berry with seeds fall onto ground after munching and somehow it sprouted right underneath a sweetcrisp plant. I noticed last year the small plant and this year its got berries so I transplanted into its own pot. So mabee only a few years to fruit from seeds.

[hoosierbanana]

It looks like I got a successful graft of Pink Lemonade onto my Tifblue. Started some more TifBlues last year and they are outgrowing PL already so I might try budding PL onto a few of them.

[Auburn]

Great minds think alike. I also added four Pink Lemonade scions to a small Tifblue. They are already 8" long and the tape has been removed. Tifblue has pushed all the scions hard for new growth. Good luck with your PL. Bill

[Auburn]

later than ideal harvest

Sweetcrisp sounds like a really good blueberry. Approximately when does it ripen in your area?

[Auburn]

20170509 Update. Blueberry graft number two. All these scions were added to a low position.

20170423

[fruitnut]

Sweetcrisp sounds like a really good blueberry. Approximately when does it ripen in your area?

I just finished harvest yesterday from greenhouse. That doesn’t tell you anything. It ripens with or just after many of the SHB. It’s too late in FL for the commercial growers but not unlike many others.

[Auburn]

Thanks

[cousinfloyd]

After looking very promising at first my NHB on rabbiteye grafts haven’t hardly grown. They still have healthy enough looking leaves but they haven’t put on any shoot growth. I only cut down one side of the bush I used for rootstock, though. Maybe I need to completely eliminate all top growth from the rootstock to get my grafts to push. I don’t know.

[Auburn]

Liking this Oneal grafted blueberry bush. Picked about a cup of berries this morning and they were delicious.

[Auburn]

Warning don’t attempt this bag with blackberries.

[fruitgrower]

O’Neal is a very good blueberry, my first to ripen. Nice work with your blueberry grafts, really cool!

[Auburn]

Started this project almost one year ago. We have had a lot of rain this year and the grafts have exploded in new growth. It is now about 7’ high and we have several more months to grow. In contrast the Oneal that was the donor for grafts is struggling and about 2’ high. Looks like a replacement bush can be accomplished in a about a year or at least this one has. As a bonus I picked about a quart of Oneal berries from it about two weeks earlier.

[Auburn]

Oneal grafts gone wild. I had not planned to post another picture of this blueberry until fruit set 2018 but I’m still amazed at how it has grown. I have been selectively pulling down limbs and tipping the top. Probably would be 9’ high otherwise. Going to be big time disappointed if it don’t deliver me some early berries next year.

[thepodpiper]

What is that around the base of the bb"s

[Auburn]

It is a Wandering Jew plant. When it was planted I intended to dress up the base a little. I’m not sure if it helps or hurts the blueberry plant.

[thepodpiper]

It sure looks good though.
Invasive?

[Auburn]

They haven’t been very invasive yet. If they lean over to the soil roots will form so there could be a slow crawl. Usually I take a rake and pull the tops off in November. They snap easily.

[Auburn]

Blueberry graft number two update. It is nearing the size of the donor southern high bush immediately to the left. Looks like from the growth rate a bush can be mostly replaced in one season as long as you have established roots from an aggressive grower like Tifblue.