I have two blueberry bushes I just potted and one I got last year but I am not sure what type the one I got last year is, it was from our local farmers market and I wasn’t aware some blueberry varieties can’t cross-pollinate.I have a Blueray bush and a Patriot bush and a really tall mystery bush, any advice on how to identify it or how to care for all three
Unless the unknown bush has some very distinctive traits, it will be hard to identify it. Why not just wait and see if it fruits with the new bushes nearby? If you get good fruit from it, there is no need to know its variety.
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It is tall and at the moment it is very pink but I am hoping that the pH acidic soil add-in helps with that
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If it’s red/pink, it may just be how the variety acts during the cold seasons. Some turn cool colors, some defoliate, some just hang on.
If you’re doing pots and your area has it:
G&b acidic potting mix with down to earth acid loving fertilizer.
They do well in pots as well. I have all of mine in pots because i too, knew i was moving a bit so i kept all of mine in pots to move them with me.
If it’s tall, it’s probably a high bush variety 
i like to train mine into trees for the ones who don’t like to spread
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I thought it turned pink from the cold but I saw a video where someone said it’s the pH so I added stuff to bring that down and added bone meal, so I guess it’s a waiting game now it looks like its growing leaves. It feels pretty tall compared to my other two, all the bushes that were sold at the farmers market when I got this particular bush were fairly tall. How do you train it into trees?
Some blueberry bushes don’t sucker or grow anything stems by the roots. For those, i cut off all the lower branches and as they get taller, i go up until they’re bare from a few ft downward. After that, i only allow them to grow, flower and fruit from the top.
Young one I’ll be training up.
Mature one that I’ve let go a little wild so that my little one can pick the lower fruits. Typically i would not allow anything to grow on the lower areas
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I wound up potting my blueberries because of high ph in my native soil. My leaves turned yellow when the ph was high
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My mystery bush looks identical to your pink bush but its only one stem from the ground and only has potential foliage on the top, I purchased it that way. If a branch breaks and fixes itself, can I leave it or should I cut it off?
Mine are in pots and I added stuff to help drop the pH so hopefully it works out
Depends all on you and how your plants is reacting to the broken branch. I would personally cut it off because it rains a lot here in Washington so I’ll cut it during periods of dry weather and have it under cover so it can heal over the wound.
It healed up before i noticed it was broken honestly, it’s just very barky in that spot
The issue is more along the lines of many blueberry cultivars having partially sterile pollen. Hence, more plants are sometimes needed just to increase the quantity of fertile pollen.
Next is the issue of regional suitability. This is huge for blueberries.
Finally there is the fact that the price of a plant is only the down payment. Buying low price plants doesn’t save much money in the long run. As I often say, I like inexpensive but I won’t do cheap.
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Absolutely. In my area it’s hot and dry during summers. Soil is heavy clay. Northern varieties have failed for me. I know some are more adaptable and may end up trying a few eventually.
I’ve had good luck on the other hand with rabbiteye and southern highbush so far (though it is possible some SH will end up getting flower damage some springs here) They tend to tolerate clay and drought better once established. Fortunately, our native ph is very acid so blueberry is one of the only crops that doesn’t need lime.
On the other hand just a short distance north or west of me the northern varieties thrive and folks struggle with the early bloom and lack of cold hardiness from southern varieties.
Just remember, “blueberry” refers to a whole genus with similar fruit. They are native from Maine to Florida, but the species from Maine will struggle in Florida and vice versa.
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How can you have heavy clay and acid ph at the same time?
I would go back and track the seller down and find out what variety it is otherwise you might never find out the variety name.
As for Blueray and Patriot both of them are “Northern Highbush” varieties so those two would cross pollinate each other.
Good luck!
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We have heavy clay and acidic as well here in n. Maine. blueberries love it here and if mulched rarely need watering.
I did that and she said unless she saw the original pot she wouldn’t know because she sells different varieties. I looked at the pot but couldn’t read what she wrote and now I have no clue where it’s at!! I do plan on getting more from her because they are grown locally so I’m hoping they are more adapted to the environment.
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I wouldn’t say any of the types I got were cheap but they weren’t super expensive either. Also my plants are all in pots so what do you mean about regional suitability?
Just would like to share here that if you’re growing blueberries in large containers and can’t find potting mix for acid loving plants in your area or it would be very costly, you can make your own. Last year I used 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 compost and 1/3 pine fines (Golden Trophy #9312 or equivalent) and it worked well.
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I thought all clay was alkaline but I just read that red clay is acidic