Bradybb,
I thought that the video from Dave Wilson’s mix was for bb container culture…
Anyway, what water soluble fertilizer would you recommend? And would you think that could fix the red leave problem within this growing season?
Tom
The red leaves are common in spring. They should green up as it warms. I’ve used Miracid complete water soluable for acid loving plants.
To think there aren’t plenty of microbes in a pot is unlikely. There are plenty to break down any organic I’ve added to a pot. Try to keep them out and you can’t short of gamma rays once a week.
Just looked at my 4 potted blueberries…i’m seeing red leaves… its the cold. I didn’t notice them before i last cold snap. I fertilized and watered today. They’ll come back around when it warms up.
Hopefully it will green up then. If not, I’ll start watering the Miracid as suggested. Thanks fruitnut.
But why the diversion of leave colors between pot and ground? Colder in pot? I thought pot warms up faster than ground?
Tom
Maybe there is a blueberry thing going on right now. I’ve got 3 blueberries (Jewel, Emerald, and Windsor) potted in a modified peat, bark, perlite mix and they’ve been doing awesome the past year and a half. They pumped out a ton of fruit a month ago and are now just starting to grow new leaves. However, my Emerald looks really odd it started looking unhealthy about 2 weeks ago. The leaves are very pale green and very dry looking. It looks as if it wasn’t getting water at all for a couple of weeks but I water it weekly, sometimes twice a week. The other two look great. We haven’t had a lot of hot weather and I have been giving all 3 blueberries the same watering schedule and fertilizing schedule.
Would a really hard pruning help to revive it a little?
I water blueberries once or twice a day depending on pot size. I’m going to all bigger pots so I don’t have to water twice a day. Even in 12-15 gal once a day is needed here unless the plant is kept small.
A pruning would help because it would reduce the leaf area and therefore water requirement. The plants are probably bigger than last yr and therefore need more water.
To water once a week you’d need a 50 gallon pot and a small plant, ie frequent pruning.
Thanks, I will definitely prune and water more.
The puzzling thing is, the other two blueberries, same relative size, same pot, same medium, same water, seem to be doing fine and this change just occurred very recently. I think the pots are 20 gallon. I’ll post an update if anything changes.
Yeah that is false, the pot is full of them, and even if it drys out 100% many can form spores and be back in 24 hours after watering. Urea a water soluble needs urease from bacteria to become available to plants. So even chemical fertilizers need bacteria at times, at least with urea. Some urease is also in the soil.
Tom try adding a tbsp of vinegar/gallon to see if the leaves change. So we can eliminate pH as an issue.
Donny, the one may be getting too much water, check for dryness before watering. the others may use more water, be in darker pots, have more roots, a thirsty cultivar etc. etc.
And as frutinut said not enough, not always easy to tell which! Symptoms can be the same!
If the above doesn’t work
Another thing to try also is to add a 2 tbsp/gal of hydrogen peroxide and see if that helps. It will throw a bunch of oxygen in the soil. If they respond roots are too wet, or soil is too compact and roots are not getting air. It won’t hurt them in anyway.
Drew51,
1 tbsp./gal for a daily, weekly or monthly schedule? And how soon should I see the improvement?
Tom
Do it every time you water for 3 or 4 days. If no change stop. It should respond quickly. If it get’s better after you stop or soon after, it probably is a high pH issue. I don’t want to over do it, and I’m unsure how much of a pH change it will cause. It’s worth trying and should not harm plant. It’s possible a low pH is the issue too, it will get worse in that case! I doubt that is the problem though.
Thanks Drew51. I’ll try that next week.
Tom
This could be it. I checked the soil an inch below the surface and it is definitely still moist.
Pots are exposed to colder temps at night so the colder temps might be why too. I’m not sure if cooler soil will make a difference or not. Mine are the same color. I’m not worried it will go away. I know my ph. is good. It happened last year in the spring too.
I’m a huge fan of the DWN Blueberry mix. Then when I switched to Dr Earth’s Acid Lover’s fertilizer (with water insoluble N), they really did well. The humic acids and various other elements are also well received. Blueberries need decaying organic matter to be at their best. Water soluble N fertilizers don’t provide that property and wash out too quickly. I water BB at least once every day, as they don’t do well when the soil dries out. I do not acidify my water.
Now that the discussion is about potted plants and microbes,I have a few questions.Do these microbes that help a plant process the life giving nutrients,live in the soil or water or air?In the Container forum on GW,they use what is called,the gritty mix,which can be different ratios of Pine bark,crushed Granite and Turface.Do these microbes exist in a mix like that and if they do,how did they get there? Brady
Microbes are everywhere. They get in the pot on the original materials, dust in the air, in the water, anything and everything outside has microbes. When they are washed into the pot or already there on ingredients, they multiply by the millions. They would form a film on and inside soil particles.
I’m always amazed by the level of microbial activity in soils. If you disturb the soil say by rototilling or puddling with water, the microbes will rebuild the soil into a granular structure in a matter of a yr or two. We can tell this anytime we dig in the soil and observe it’s structure. Maybe I notice it more than most as I’ve been interested in soils since the early 60s. Almost went into that side of agriculture. And competed three times in the national college soil judging championships. My teams won first and third. We were national champs in about 1964 in NC representing Univ of Illinois.
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Would that pertain more to the topsoil layer where there is more interaction with air and organic matter, especially in heavily compacted soil? I was thinking that deeper down would still not be microbe free, but fewer varieties because there would be less to sustain them.
Thanks,I’ve never thought about microbes that much,but realize now they are very important for living things.
I’m not sure how or why,Al (tapla) came to the conclusion that a soluble or liquid fertilizer with micros is the only way to go with containerized plants. Brady
Yes more in the topsoil but the subsoil is full of microbes as well. What makes them most active is a nutrient source: organic matter or exudates from the roots. Each gram of soil can have thousands if not millions of microbes. If we knew how pervasive they are we’d all have a phobia about not touching anything. But our bodies handle it all very well nearly all the time.
Nah. Not me. Most of those little beasties are either harmless or beneficial. We’ve each got many, many varieties happily populating our outsides and insides. Couldn’t live without 'em. IIRC a good percentage of our weight is actually made up of microbes. They are part of who we are.