Blueberries , worth it?

[Bradybb]

I received cuttings of Kabluey from the Corvallis ARS and have been growing them out.If they survive the Winter,some can be sent.bb

[Derby42]

That’s very kind, I will probably order a jumbo from gurney but I may ask you for advice if I try to propagate any, sounds like you have been successful!

[Drew51]

sounds like you have been successful!

Yes he uses a fogging system used for aquariums. Not easy to root for sure.

[BlueBerry]

By no means a full report, but I find Sunshine Blue and BlueGold to do well in clay soil with 6.5 pH here in Kentucky.
Time spent studying all you can find about the various plants in your area or state makes sense if you’re doing a big planting.
For the homeowner wanting to experiment, it’s no biggie. Liberty is a newer one supposedly evergreen in zone 6 and gets over 6 feet tall.
The Sunshine Blue I mentioned has a ‘medium’ sized berry, but plenty of them. It was developed as a “low chill” southern highbush, recommended in zones 7-9, but I have no trouble at all with it in landscaping situations in zone 6. (Well, it does sucker some, which could be an issue.) The blueish leaves, simi-evergreen, the pink blossoms, and the ripening over 3 weeks or so, and the 3 to 4 foot height…all useful in front yard usage.

[BlueBerry]

Yes, that certainly could be useful information.

I employ raised beds often when adding blueberries as “edible landscaping” sometimes.

[alan]

By no means a full report, but I find Sunshine Blue and BlueGold to do well in clay soil with 6.5 pH here in Kentucky.

I assume those are rabbiteye. I’ve often read that they tend to be less iron needy and capable of flourishing in neutral soil.

[BlueBerry]

Nope. I have Brightwell and Misty rabbiteyes. But, Sunshine Blue is a Southern Highbush. And BlueGold is from Pennsylvania or somewhere originally, an old variety with yellow leaves in fall and the entire crop, which isn’t huge, gets ripe all at once.

[BlueBerry]

There are probably 70+ blueberry cultivars commercially available form nurseries…the answer to the “Blueberries, worth it”
question is yes.

You can probably find one that will do well for you.
And if your soil is alkaline, you can still do raised beds with lots of peat and wood chips and water with rainwater.

[alan]

What is your present nursery of choice for blueberries? I’ve never experimented that much with them because they aren’t money makers in my nursery. I’m a dry farmer so blueberries don’t grow quick enough for me.

[BlueBerry]

Probably the most plant for the money for small sized orders is Burnt Ridge Nursery.

I believe DiMeo (not sure of spelling) in Maryland has large full sized plants bare-rooted for pickup in that area that might give more immediate bang for the buck.

Several Michigan growers, Indiana Berry Company, Nourse Farms…I can think of lots of sources for plants. Even Stark Bros or Jung catalogs. (And if you get there at the right time when a new shipment arrives, you can get good plants at the big box stores at a reasonable price. But…most of them are one year behind the large bare-root plants in production.

[alan]

I was thinking of sources for the varieties you speak of. I don’t remember seeing them available at some of he sources you are mentioning. Certainly not Nourse farms.

I used to get my plants 100 at a time from commercial suppliers for a couple bucks a piece. Packed in peat and sand.

[tennessean]

How about digging a 25 gallon hole in the ground and filling it up with a mixture of 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 acid based potting soil and 1/3 bark? Oh and add some cotton seed meal, fish meal and soil sulfur!

[alan]

Base material may soak in from surrounding soil.

[BlueBerry]

Alan, I would have to “Google” for a source of “Blue Gold” blueberry. I have used it in Edible Landscaping because of fall color, and fact plant is 3 feet tall and very well behaved. And tolerates clay.

Sunshine Blue I don’t think I’ve ever had a problem getting plants…several sources.

As for buying 100 plants at a time…yes, that would probably be the economical way, or grow your own from cuttings.

In years gone by, Miller Nurseries was a source I used for a lot of things.

Well, I’m supposed to be elsewhere 10 minutes ago…gotta run.

[tennessean]

Base material may soak in from surrounding soil.

In that case just dig a bigger hole and fill it up with the good stuff. Say instead of a 25 gallon hole make it a 50 gallon hole. How is a little base material going to hurt a 50 gallon hole?

[Drew51]

Probably the most plant for the money for small sized orders is Burnt Ridge Nursery.

I like them too. Although my purchase was from Indiana Berry yesterday. I have bought from them, and the plants are nice. 2 year old plants for blueberries.
The raspberries I got from them are awesome. A fantastic nursery.
Postage is reasonable, well MORE than reasonable!! A small discount for December orders.

	Qty.	B/O	Shipped	Item #	Description	Unit Price	Disc	Extension
—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1	0	0	PG	PLANTING GUIDE	0.0000	–	0.00
1	1	0	BLUE-NORTHLAND	Northland Blueberry	8.4000	–	8.40
1	1	0	BLUE-DRAPER	Draper Blue berry	8.4000	–	8.40
1	1	0	RASP-K816	K-81-6 Red Raspberry - Summer	3.8500	–	3.85
1	1	0	RASP-FALLGOLD	Fall Gold Yellow Raspberry - Fall	4.0000	–	4.00
1	0	–			-1.2325	–	-1.23
				5% Net Merchandise Total Order Promotion Deduction
MERCHANDISE INVOICE TOTAL $ 23.42

SHIPPING & HANDLING $ 10.00
INVOICE TOTAL $ 33.42|

Four plants for 33 bucks, including postage! 2 raspberries, 2 blueberries, 10 bucks postage? Wow!
Nourse is another great nursery, but require larger purchases for some items. Still I order from them too. Both give you large healthy plants.
Oh Indiana has 4 cultivar packages for 30 bucks.

[haldog]

At my location the bird will and have stolen all my blueberries in some years

And at mine I got 0 ripe berries off of 6 mature bushes. The birds sit and wait for them to ripen, and will eat them just before they are ripe enough to pick. I’ve netted them before but that was a real pain in the ***. The nets snagged on the plants constantly, and occasionally a bird went under the nets and then was trapped, and I didn’t have the heart to kill them. Maybe it’s something specific with this location, since @Auburn and I are at basically the same latitude but he’s in Alabama and I’m in Georgia.

[Auburn]

Short term test of this netting has been a game changer. Unlike the Bird Block net the birds appear to not be able to see the ripening blueberries inside. This netting is easy on and off with minimal vine damage. Last year I let the Climax blueberry hang on the bush until they were super sweet. Not in the picture but I secured a small rope around the bottom with a few clothes pins.

[BlueBerry]

Ozarks of Missouri, I would think Rabbiteye would do well. Sunshine blue is good…but the berries are smaller than some folks like…it’s a Southern highbush. Rabbiteye need pollinators, and highbush are helped by pollinators.

[RichardRoundTree]

Are there any varieties that thrive in a 6ish ph soil but also take the ocean spray and cold that they experience in the PNW?