Gifted a blueberry HELP!

General Fruit Growing
1

I was gifted a blueberry bush. Supposedly it was bought directly from a nursery and just given to me. They had them sitting out in full sun, and watered with the same water I’m using. It’s a Southern Belle Blueberry.

I read the instructions on the tag and have been following them, but after 3-4 days the leaves started curling. It says water more when hot (which it was at the time), so I watered more. It got worse, so I moved it to an area where it was getting direct sun only part of the day, and backed off watering. It’s still worse. It’s still in the same soil and pot I received it in a couple weeks ago when it was happy and healthy so at this point I’m not sure what to do???

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2

It looks sunburned. Blueberries are not easy to grow. They like full sun but have to be acclimated to it. Grown in a green house with filtered light it has to be slowly exposed.
Do not let it dry out, but city water is not the best choice to water. They like acidic conditions, soil and water. At least the soil. Long term use of tap water should be avoided if possible.
I myself only use rainwater as it is very acidic.

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3

Unless your pot is as big as a whiskey barrel, there’s probably not a lot of soil in it. A happy blueberry wants to be in the ground…or at least in a big enough pot that it doesn’t know the difference. Three or four weeks in a nursery pot might be fatal.

If it weren’t for the pandemic, I’d say you should immediately plant the thing in a mix of soil and peat moss, either in the ground or a large planter, and maybe even add some soil acidifier depending on your soil PH. As it is…it certainly wouldn’t HURT it to just stick it in the ground.

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4

Thank you both! Luckily I have a batch of vegetable dirt here and some 10 gallon buckets I can move it to. I will shift it this evening, as it’s supposed to rain really good here tomorrow. Maybe between the two it’ll perk back up some. Fingers crossed because unfortunately I’m stuck with containers only until we move in the spring. Then it will have a nice new home in the ground.

5

Sounds good. I fertilize my blueberries with Holly Tone, which gives them slow acidification all summer. In a pot in a pandemic in a pinch, you might try adding a smidge of vinegar to your watering can: How Much Vinegar to Add to Tap Water for Watering Blueberries? | Home Guides | SF Gate

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6

The sunburn diagnosis is likely accurate.

As for rainfall…it’s around 6.5 pH in my area.

7

I tested mine a month ago and it came in a 4.8. Explained why my peppers and tomatoes looked bad, once I used tap they recovered. Our rainwater is extremely acidic! I have to lime my non blueberry beds!
Even if the rainwater pH is 6.5 it lacks carbonates, so is excellent for blueberries.

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