Thanks, yeah - that was the issue with sourcing. I could find Zweigelt by a distributor, for example, but it could not be shipped to WA for that reason. So everything I’m getting is internally from WA. But - best practice is certainly to sanitize before rooting; I’ll probably do a quick bleach scrub, I do that on my fig cuttings and they seem to take it fine.
Speaking of cuttings, I got two Pastilliere cuttings recently (rain-tree version). I hear they take a couple years to develop before they stop dropping. Anybody know if this can be avoided with grafting? I have a vigorous Chicago Hardy that is too late to ripen here (At least so far. I get a fair amount of VdB in a similar spot… I thought VdB was later than Chicago Hardy, so maybe I just haven’t let it mature enough). The trunk is probably 1.5’’ to 2’’ in diameter now. I was thinking of topping it and grafting Pastilliere on to it. Wondering if this would speed up the time-to-first-fruit.
It seems unusual you have good luck with VdB but nothing with Chicago Hardy. I wouldnt give up on CH yet. It is rated at being more productive in cool climates than the VdB I believe.
I’m assuming your growing totaly outdoors and when you say your getting nothing do you mean both crops or just the second crop?
You could just graft your Pastilliere onto a couple of main stems of the CH.
I have both Chicago Hardy and VdB and yes it did take the CH a little longer to get into production but now they both are fine. Nothing like the Brown Turkey which took 4 years for the first fruit…!
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Carpinito brothers in Kent have some pretty good blueberry sizes for 24$
I love how their pink lemonade look and i decided not to chop /split mine up so I’m picking up a few more myself
‘Pink Lemonade’ produces for you? Mine grew well and got rather large over many years, but most years it set zero berries. The few berries I got from it every once in a while tasted good. I went ahead and removed it last year.
wish i could’ve taken it. It produces a ton but also loves fertilzer more than my other ones. You gotta fertilze well. They don’t all ripen at once and instead, all season which i like. Even in the shade, they produced for me since i got them 8-9 years ago.
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What pH do you keep the soil at?
I tried blueberries several years ago but we have deer and they stripped all the leaves the first year before I notices it.
I have no clue. I never measure anything of those sorts unless i see an issue. If no growth or it starts to show me it isn’t happy, then I’ll diagnose.
I had one in a pot for a few years. The first year I had a handful of berries. The second year I got maybe two. The third year it died.
Oregon coast growing Lemons Oranges Bananas pomegranates dragon fruit and avocados also pawpaws .
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Given how much growth mine put on, I don’t think it was in need of more fertilizer… It grew better than any other blueberry I’ve planted.
Was it producing a ton of flowers but not holding them? Or little flowers?
Some years there were no flowers, other years there were small amounts of flowers. I liked its growth habit. It was fast growing and also produced suckers and could have eventually grown to be a whole colony if I had let it.
May want to test soil for phosphorus content 
I’ve got water all around and through this property. Although I’m sure small scale applications of phosphorus wouldn’t make a noticeable impact, it still doesn’t feel good to apply phosphorus given its impact on waterways. I’m happy to limit the blueberries I grow to the ones that are happy to produce here without adding phosphorus.
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From what I have read, blueberries need alkaline soil.
- I believe you meant to say “acidic” soil.
On a related note, I read that blueberries are adapted to soils low in phosphorus and that it’s very rare for them to need it supplemented.
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Yes but does adapt mean prosper and fruit though… since the lack of certain nutrients needed for certain actions would also mean lack of said actions.
While I agree that plants can sometimes do better outside of the conditions they are native to, I’m not sure that’s the case for blueberries. Being that blueberries have been studied/researched intensively for decades, there’s actually a lot of documentation available regarding their needs. Supplemental phosphorus doesn’t seem to be something that they typically need added, but if you’ve tried it and had good results, then I’d respect your anecdote.
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There’s been a few years where I’ve totally neglected and did not feed or even water my plants and they still produce but not as many as when i did decide to take care of them and give them extra food.
One thing i did differently this year out of all the years is repot them during the fall because i had forgotten about how much it rains here… i wonder if they’ll do anything differently this year