I planted my first blueberries this year in peat bundles. How often do I need to fertilize. The Colorado Extension video says 3 times a year at the beginning of May, June, and July. 2 tsp/gallon of water a gallon of water per plant of Jacks Acid Loving Fertilizer. Does that sound adequate? Also will they be fin in full sun or should I provide some partial shade while they are young? They are 12" tall plants.
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if your plants are hardened off to full sun they should be fine. did you ph your soil before planting? id put a thick bark mulch layer of at least 3in. to control weeds and keep moisture. use the acid fertilizers sparringly if yoiur ph is in the right range. too much will bring it too low, locking out Cal.and Mg to the plants. id also hold off on fertilizer untill you start to see new growth.
I planted them in 3.8 cu ft bales of peat moss. Plastic is still around the bale, Just dug a hole for the bales and punctured the bottom for drainage. Our soil is in the 7.0 to 7.5 pH range
pure peat runs in the 4 ph range which may be too acidic for them. plus pure peat has nearly 0 nutrients in it. id put some compost or worm castings around each plant to give them some nutrients and a little lime to bring up the ph a little. not too much tho.
They grow well in peat! I would worry about the pH getting too low with acid fertilizers in pure peat. Unless you are using tap water. You can use Miracle Grow for acid loving plants, it’s urea which hardly touches the pH. Jack’s is ammonium sulfate that acidifies really well!
I agree wait till growth and they like to be fed. Three times is low. I would consider once a month the first year, Next year every 2 weeks. I use Jacks once a month, but I also add Holly-Tone organic. So the Jack’s is good for 2 weeks, and by then the Holly-Tone is starting to work, repeat again at the first of the month. Last time is August 1st.
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Thanks. They are getting modified well water 6.5 pH through drip when I water the rest of the nursery usually 1x per week. Yesterday I gave them a bigger dose of 5.0 pH from a bucket as the peat seemed like it was drying out a bit. I run the Jacks Acid normally through an EZ Flow system when I fertilize everything to try and help offset the natural soil pH of 7.0 - 7.5 that we have and are well water is 7.1 pH.
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Yes, that should be fine then.Dosage may need adjusting, just watch the plant. Good luck!
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