Longtime lurker here,
Anyone else trying to grow specifically giant blueberries in the northwest? Anyone able to get a hold of a sweet crisp or Oz? I want to create a farm one day of just big blueberries but every day it feels more and more feeble with the way the world is going.
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Here is sweetcrisp
https://www.greenwoodnursery.com/sweetcrisp-southern-highbush-blueberry-plant
Here is another source
https://southernberriesusa.com/shop/buy-blueberry-plants-1/sweetcrisp-blueberry-plants-for-sale/
Patent and additional info
Information on ozblu
Here is a wholesaler when you buy your farm land
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I donāt know if Titan is suitable for your climate and soil-itās a rabbiteye. For me it has produced berries the same size or larger as the largest ones in your pictures-the largest the same size as a quarter. Good flavor, too. Youād need another rabbiteye for cross-pollination, I think.
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Hi, welcome to the forum! What variety do you have in your hand here?
Iām also in the PNW and enjoy large blueberries. Of the varieties that I grow, the biggest berries come from Chandler.
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Chandler are my largest.
Your variety might be larger!
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These are chandler as well. I have a lot of smaller ones but theyāre too small to produce right now. These are all the ones i have and had lol
Blueberry
[v] Krewerā ļø
[ ] Titan - struggle bus
[ ] Powderblue
[v] Vernonā ļø
[v] Premier x2ā ļø
[ ] Brightwell
[v] Tifblueā ļø
[ ] Ochlocknee
[ ] BlueRay
[ ] Sweetheart
[ ] Patriot
[ ] Darrow
[ ] Liberty
[ ] Draper
[ ] Toro
[ ] Bluejay
[ ] Pink popcorn
[ ] Pink lemonade
[ ] Chandler
[ ] Jersey??
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Iām gonna wait on just fruits and exotic at this point. Dimeo has had a history of sending whatever you want on a label but wrong variety and then yelling at you for it. Similar people have had similar stories all over Daves gardening review forum.
So far, canāt find anyone else with legit oz but thinking of growing the seeds from their blueberriesšwas hoping someone beat me to it.
My bluejay and bluecrop are 8 year old plants but they donāt produce nearly as big as chandler.
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Looks like the rabbiteyes havenāt been good for you, considering the 4 dead. I wonder why? Soil PH? Climate? Something else?
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Every day last year, we had hail the size of ping pong and golf balls where i was at. Every week this year, weāve had hail in Colorado. I just moved with a uhaul full of my plants. Had to make 2 trips from Colorado to Washington. The people i asked to water my plants in Colorado didnāt water them so they died. Iām traveling with 2 dogs and a baby and it took about a week to get things ready to fly back to grab the second uhaul and load up to drive up here again. Thatās why they died. They got stripped from the hail before we came here and then my neighbors didnāt water them like they said they would. Not even joking about the every day hail. It was constant and went on from March to middle of August last year. They survived the hail until the move. Also my friendās husband lied about watering them as well when they were parked at their place until we got our rental.
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If youāre lookig to cash in on high prices, the rush is over and the glut is here. Higher production costs involving pesticides, labor, etc. Coupled with an abundance if growers leaves limited capacity distributors to offer less to growers. Those big berries mght not handle machine picking as wellā¦ Are you in a tourist area where you could offer U pick?
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Read reviews before ever considering Dimeo. They seem pretty horrific.
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You donāt have to be in a tourist area to offer u-pick. As long as your plants are healthy; if you build it/ they will come.
Iām not looking to machine harvest anything, i have friends who own food businesses and grocery stores here that can help me get rid of excess produce if needed.
Also Iāve had family whoāve worked for the city in regards to helping the city keep up their public u-pick blueberry farm. That was many moons ago although i already know my competition if one were to consider them or other farms as competition.
The future i want will be on a small scale status and it wonāt be just with blueberries but thy blueberries i have on it will be ALL big blueberries. Iāll also have regular fruits and veggies as well. Currently, all my plants are small now except the few bushes Iāve had for about 7-8 years or so but itāll take a few years anyways to get everything going so by the time my house is built and my daughter is old enough to not need 24/7 attention, they should all be producing pretty well. All of them are grafted plants, none from seed except my 1 Passion fruit that i made.
The dead ones will be replaced and Iāve been successful in growing things in Colorado where Iāve been told i couldnāt, such as Passionfruit and sweet potatoes so i have no doubt Iād be successful again here in zone 8a or b, forgot which Iām in.
Also everything except a very few things, will be grown in 24x100 ft greenhouses/grow tunnels. I plan on purchasing a few commercial level ones. It should offset the use of pesticides and such. Iām going for more of the organic but without the organic label type of operation.
Iāve grown everything in the past in pots and raised beds and will continue to do so.
Iāve literally had people trespass in the past and steal my plants, big and small, and this was before i got most of these. so now I go through my list every so often to verify everyoneās still hanging on. Yes theyāre still small plants right now, yes some look like bare sticks because of the severity of the hail, and yes, i still have hope.
My overall goal is to make healthy food accessible and affordable to my community and surrounding. If youāre or if anyone has been on the Colorado Springs gardeners group, they can verify that Iāve given up so much free food throughout the years from my own backyard. This is a hobby of mine and at the same time, a need i feel i must fulfill. If anyone can bring tropical fruits to the pnw, i feel like it would be meā¤ļø
I forgot what that term is, but itās a theory that people canāt comprehend whatās possible unless they see it for themselves. Iām hoping to show people that itās possible to grow tropicals and almost everything in the pnw if they wanted to and with enough conviction.
Also 1 passion fruit is being sold for 17$ in Miami fruit likeā¦ Iāve been selling them for 1-2$ for years in Colorado Springs. 17$ is highway robbery. I hope to bring some of these ridiculous prices down, if even just for my immediate community, in the next few years.
I know thereās a lot for me to learn still and its hard as heāll to get motivated sometimes, especially with barely anyone growing their own food these days due to space or whatever reason. so i figured maybe i start getting active instead of just reading to keep my motivation up with my goals. If i donāt succeed, Iāll at least have a small food forest for my daughter and dogsā:heart: one of my dogs love fruits and veggies and my garden will be named after her as well 
The Garden of Rhea. Why my dog and not my bio-daughter? My dogs are my kids too and she was my first inspiration into all of this. This is something that Iāve been working on for the last few years. Studying, reading, learning, growingā:heart: and gathering
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Also Iām retired and my husband has 5 years left until he retires. If this succeeds, great, if not, weāll be fine still. Good food is the best investment anyone can make. I love being able to go outside and pick things without having to worry about what couldāve been sprayed on it.
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I love blueberries! Issue is all the bad ones I buy. I know with spotted wing
Drosophila growers had to change their production practices to get decent blueberry/raspberry crops.
But when I get Driscoll brand in early season twice and they taste like a lemon?
Tried some next from Florida. Looked great tasted like a lemon too.
Next were some from New Jersey. Better but could have been more ripe before picking. Finally the last batch was a case from Michigan purchased in July (delicious!).
As a buyer of commercially grown blueberries, I am appalled and afraid to buy many. I think everyone is picking their crop when blue but not when fully ripe.
Tired of sour blueberries picked too early! If I want lemons I will buy them. I donāt like blueberries so sour they taste like lemons.
And Driscollās? last time I ever get their blueberries. Burned on the experience twice.
Heavy clay soil and high soil pH in my area make growing blueberries a challenge unless I grow them in containers and modify the growing medium. If it was easy I would plant my own.
Just a note for all growing commercially. Please do not market fruit picked too early! Quality and flavor is what people should be expecting when buying fruit.
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Good morning, Paul. I just read your response as well as the rest of them in this thread. We have been growing blueberries on our 1 1/4 acre plot for about 15 years. We started with rabbit eyes and progressed to northern high bush in several different varieties. Mostly weāve been successful in getting our share of the berries we grow. Weāve tried successfully a couple of things like deer netting to keep the birds off of them but got a few rat snakes caught up in the netting ( they died before I could release them) so we dispensed with the netting. We have a rule at our houseā¦the wife does all the harvesting because she knows when the berry is ready to come off ( when the stems turn red). We have been purchasing our bushes from True Vine Ranch near Kansas City for about 8 years and have followed their instructions on planting and cultivating with good success. If you decide to buy from them do use their instructions exactly. Especially the parts about the sphagnum peat moss and the fertilization. Here are their instructions:
Growing Instructions
Fertilizing is critical for success with our planting method. For more information on fertilizers we recommend go to Blueberry Fertilizer***
Site Selection
Select a very sunny location with easy access to water. Blueberries grow just as well next to your house as in the garden. Any soil that drains well is acceptable (clay, sandy, etc.). Sandy or rocky soil will require more water. Blueberries do not like āwet feetā so avoid low areas and locations receiving excessive runoff during periods of heavy rain.
Blueberry plants grow up to 6 feet high and 3 feet wide and live for 30+ years. Space plants 3 feet apart for a hedge or 5 feet apart if you want to walk around the plant. Space rows 10-12 feet apart. Blueberries are self-pollinating. For optimal cross-pollination blueberries require at least 2 plants. This can be the same variety or a different variety.
Varieties
| # Variety | # 2012 USDA Zones | # Ripens | |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Duke | # 4 - 8 | # Early | # Americaās #1 planted early season variety. |
| # Reka | # 4 - 8 | # Early | # Very flavorful fruit, cold hardy, and more drought tolerant. |
| # Bluecrop | # 4 - 8 | # Mid-Season | # Americaās #1 planted mid-season variety. |
| # Liberty | # 4 - 8 | # Late | # A popular variety for itās flavor and vigorous growth. |
| # Elliott | # 4 - 8 | # Very Late | # Americaās #1 planted very late season variety. |
Planting
Purchase 2 cubic feet per plant of Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss available in ābalesā from garden centers. Canadian peat moss has the lowest pH which is ideal for blueberries. Dig a hole 20 inches in diameter and 15 inches deep (cylinder shaped, not a cone or a bowl). Remove all the native soil. Mix the peat moss thoroughly with 5-7 gallons of water until all peat moss turns dark brown and the consistency of thick mud. A wheelbarrow works very well for mixing. Re-fill the entire hole with moistened peat moss. Plant your blueberry by making a hole in the peat moss. The top of the blueberry root ball should be level to the native soil line. Do not put any native soil in or on top of this hole filled with moist peat moss. Stake the plant if needed the first growing season. After that time, the plants should be sufficiently rooted and not need staking. Fertilize and mulch as described below. If you are unable to plant soon after delivery keep the root ball moist. Do not submerge the root ball in water.
For fall planting it is common to see some wilting when the plants arrive. Water the root ball immediately and plant within 48 hours. Do not fertilize your blueberry plants until March allowing them to go dormant without any new growth. It is also common for blueberry leaves to gradually show brown spots and red/yellow coloring as fall progresses. Blueberry leaves should drop off in November and December.
For container growing you will need a container with good drainage that is 20-24 inches in diameter and 15-18 inches deep. The downside to planting in containers is that more frequent watering is required. Plants will typically need to be watered daily in the summer, 3-4 times a week in the fall, and 2 times a month in the winter. Container growing is not recommended for USDA plant hardiness zone 4.
Watering
Blueberries are shallow rooted plants that need to stay moist but not soggy. Water requirements vary, especially as plants mature. Keep plants moist. During the heat of the summer it is common for plants to need water 2-3 times per week. The first sign a plant is too dry is the wilting of newer growth. Leaf edges turning brown shows the plant has been too dry. The first sign a plant is too wet is yellowing leaves. Continue watering until Thanksgiving or first snow. Lack of water in fall kills blueberry plants.
Mulching
Each plant needs a minimum 30 inch diameter of thick mulch to conserve moisture and prevent weeds. We recommend a 3-5 inch layer of pine bark as the optimal mulch. Avoid using cedar or black walnut.
Fertilizing
Fertilizer requirements vary, especially as plants mature. Mix 2 tablespoons of Jacks Classic Acid Special or Peters Professional Acid Special fertilizer or a generic version with 1 gallon of water. Apply fertilized water in a 6 inch ring around the base of each plant at least 1 time per month from March through mid-August. During summer months you can fertilize up to 3 times a month for more growth. If blueberry leaves have small red spots it often indicates the need for fertilization. As plants mature you can increase the volume of the mixture used but do not increase the fertilizer to water ratio.
For organic fertilization use Holly Tone (a granular/slow release) at a rate of 1 cup once a month or horse manure tea (5 parts water to 1 part manure) 1-2 times per month March through early August.
Pests
Blueberry plants are seldom bothered by bugs or diseases that require a spray here in Kansas City. A solution of 1 part dish soap to 10 parts water is effective against many insect pests. There are many organic and low toxicity products labeled for Japanese Beetles. Carefully read and follow the directions.
If rabbits are prevalent, use a 1 foot high fence around each plant until plants are at least 4 years old. If birds or deer are prevalent, we recommend using 1/2 inch square black plastic ābird netting" available at garden centers. Start netting when the first berry turns blue. Drape the netting over the plants and let it drag on the ground. Take the netting off when the fruit has been picked. Deer tend to be more prone to graze on blueberry plants in the fall and winter.
Pruning
Blueberries mature at 6-7 years of age looking like an ornamental hedge plant up to 6 feet high and 3 feet wide. You are welcome to shape or prune the plants whenever you would like. We do not recommend pruning the plants until they are 9-10 years old.
Harvesting and Handling
Fresh blueberries last for up to four weeks in the refrigerator. Blueberries can be frozen for up to one year. Do not wash blueberries before freezing them. Place them in freezer bags, freeze, and wash them when you are ready to use them.
Flavorful Hints
Duke blueberries have a great flavor and will become sweeter with refrigeration. Elliott blueberries need additional time on the bush after they have completely turned blue. Sampling and waiting a week or so after being fully colored yields a sweet berry.
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WHY do you have a problem with watering expensive and beautiful Plants ?? In TEMU there are Watering Systems offered, which are supported by Solar Panels. The Water you mus provide it in a tank or in a 200 liter barrel. This system has a sensor and it can support 30 droppers. It costs only abaut 30 ā¬. Sunshine charges the battery sĆ¼pporting the waterpump. you can rely on it, as long as the system is not stolen. Regards from Germany.
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THE BEST action against these damned beetles are nets. Or if the plants are near the houses, you should install sleepingplaces for bats. In Philippines the bats had a sleepingroom inside the house. In the evening they cleaned first the whole bugs in the big house. Then they chased the insects in the airroom upon the farmland.
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This photo you replied to was because i moved. My friendās husband didnāt like us and we only found out after we parked the plants there. I have watering systems but you still need to refill the buckets every few days. He said he would water the plants but didnāt.
Weāre settled in here now and everyone that survived is recovering. My Mango tree even put on new growth and my Pear tree shot out a whole foot of growth! I really love how you guys treat bats in the Philippines. Wish we still had them here where i live. We donāt have bats here anymore 
but i make sure to plant enough berries for all the animals and myself. I just wish the birds would take the WHOLE berry instead of just a tiny bit off of each when they take my berries 
if we had bats where i live, i would plant them some things too 
i love animals too and i donāt mind sharing with them 
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The topic was giant blueberries in the PNW. Folks, has anyone worked with cuttings of the Herbert? It is not giant, but produces large berries and, quite frankly, Iām in love with their flavor. A small local blueberry farm has this and 3 other varieties, all are delicious. But the Herbert is wonderful! Iām pretty sure itās an old berry, as the farmer originally planted the bushes for his wife when they were newly wed (I think) and his granddaughter is now out of college, working with a family of her own. He told me I could take the cuttings when they prune this winter, and Iām hoping to root at least a couple. I canāt find any nursery that sells them.
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