It has been 2-3 years since I bought these nets online from either Walmart or Home Depot. I just looked at some current listings and they didn’t list a material like polyester or nylon. The pictured bags are 72"x72" and appear to still be in good condition. These have drawstrings and the strings aren’t doing well so I just use clothes pins as a replacement. I got 4 more 8’x8’ bags with zippers but won’t need the larger size this year. I think these nets will last 3-4 years or possibly more. Hope this helps. Bill
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Thank you. I have not even have any plants yet but want to gather info first. I used to grow 6-8 plants but at the time struggled with keeping ph in soil and water low for blueberries.
This time I think I can work out that issue and will try again.
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I had to add sulfur when i set out my blueberries. Natural ph was about 5.5 to 6.5.
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My soil’s ph must be around 6-6.5, judging from my Hydrangea are pale blue most of the time. Our water is well water so that is not helpful. Never get around to set up rain collection tank.
Am working to correct those issues.
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If any of the ones you grow are in this list, let us know which blueberries do the best this season!
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I looked at your post but most growers at my location focus on rabbit eyes.
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My rabbiteye are loaded this year.
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This is my new bed that I planted last year with a Sunrise, a Kabluey and a Draper. Rabbits pruned off smaller shoots near the base over the winter and deer came by and ate all the flowers, so the growth is at the top and taking off from not having to support fruit and good fertility. With all the rain and top heavy growth, they are a floppy mess. I don’t usually stake blueberries, but I think I’m going to have to to keep these growing upright.
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All of our Blueberries were dug up and re-potted until we fix a new bed for them. And most are fruiting heavily with the birds getting them this year.
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I stake my blueberries for 2-3 years. I’ve been lucky with the deer. They seem to have better tasting choices at my location.
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I have a Pink Lemonade that died to the ground two years in a row. Clearly was not hardy enough..
Dug it out, saw that the roots looked healthy, and instead of tossing it, I jammed it in to some wood chips I have surrounding a bed.
It is growing in the thick wood chip layer, that has som very poor soil underneath. It has survived winter, and seems to be doing much better.
This is a very dry and warm spot. Do these “american blueberries”, as we call them here in Norway, prefer dry soil/growing medium?
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I also have a Patriot bush, close to where the Pink Lemonade used to be. And it is doing great.
This produces berries every year, but they have a bland taste. Is there a trick to getting better tasting berries, or is it more variety-based?
I had a few Duke berries last fall, that tasted sweeter.
Beautiful fall colors is a big reason why this bush is staying in the ground by the way.
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Deer don’t touch mine either so I don’t have them fenced
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Definitely variety based, although environmental factors like lots of rain can affect flavor as well. I just ate my very first Cara’s Delight of the season today and even though it wasn’t fully ripe it was delicious. I don’t believe Patriot is know as one of the better tasting varieties, but it is reliable and productive.
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A couple of my blueberries didn’t make it through the winter, and several others suffered some pretty bad frost damage. The plants range from having minimal frost damage and doing quite well, to some tip dieback and dead buds but otherwise leafing out nicely. Even my wild lowbush blues have some frost damage and they’re in a more sheltered spot.
This past winter was fairly harsh with a lot of very cold drying wind and I hadn’t done anything to protect the plants from it. They’re in pots on my deck which is a fairly exposed spot, so maybe next winter I’ll wrap them in burlap or something.
I am not sure if this one is Draper or Elliot, neither of those plants have a label on the pot and they’re right next to each other. One did great the other started to leaf out then stalled and hasn’t shown any progress since. The other that is definetly a goner is Pink Popcorn, I have seen no life from it at all and all the branches have some form of frost damage.
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Climate change is the fundamental reason they are losing money. Combine it with a manufactured lack of harvesting equipment and you have a disaster.
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