After meeting someone to sell some of my fig plants, I took a trip over to my local Tractor Supply to have a look around.
There were signs everywhere advertising that their annuals and perennials were 75% off.
When perusing their nursery section, I saw that they had some blueberry bushes leftover for the spring still in good shape. I’m not the kind of person to get fruit trees/bushes from big box stores, but they were marked at 14.99 and, like a dummy, I assumed they were 75% off too, so I grabbed the best looking of each cultivar they had, Duke, Legacy, and Elliot, and made my way to the cash register to find out that they were not on sale.
I went ahead with the purchase, but I’m having buyer’s remorse. If I do keep them, I’ll likely keep them in pots so I can assure their ph is maintained. should I bother keeping there or return them?
Pictured in front of a bunch of my figs.
One random positive of the trip was I got to see a hummingbird moth feeding on their flowers. I don’t see these very often in my area.
you may have heat issues in your climate as these are all N. highbush. id try to at least get them in a raised bed or shade the pots somehow. drip irrigation would be best as you’ll be watering alot and often during the growing season. they are decent plants for the money though.
I believe Legacy is a southern highbush, and the other 2 are northern highbush.
I can throw them in a partially shaded area in my veggie garden where they will have access to my drip system.
EDIT: no, you were right, all of them are northern highbush, although breeding suggests legacy has V. darrowi in its background which might make it less cold tolerant than other northern highbush cultivars. source here. I have seen it as a southern highbush too by some sources like here, but most say northern highbush. release description here
Legacy is the best blueberry variety I have ever grown in middle Tennessee. Tolerates mildly acidic soil well, very productive and tasty. It is a high chill “southern highbush”. Just as hardy as northern highbush, but handles heat much better.
Elliot is late and tends to be sour for a long time. It’s only real value is the late season when prices are higher. The Duke berries I have tasted were very mild flavored. Of these three, Legacy has much better flavor, at least in my area.
Elliot seems like the worst of the 3 cultivars, late and with poor flavor
I was on the fence about duke, but I think I decided against it due to it being moderately susceptible to mummy berry fruit infection and documented stem blight issues. I found this in the 2013 mid-atlantic berry guide.
Hannah’s Choice seems like the new and improved Duke if I want an early cultivar for the mid-atlantic.
I’m thinking I’ll get Hannah’s choice and sweetheart to pair with the legacy for some good cross-pollination.
Sweetheart and legacy are both USDA crosses between northern and southern highbush so hopefully they have good compatibility, while Hannah’s choice is another USDA release, that is a very early fruiting improvement on Duke, as far as I can tell. I believe sweetheart is supposed to be an improvement on Blue crop which is supposed to be the most reliable mid-season ripening cultivar available in commercial orchards.
And maybe a few rabbit eye bushes as well like Krewer, Titan, Vernon, and Alapaha.
I’ve long delayed trying to grow blueberries due to the acidic requirements. I always thought it sounded like a bit of a hassle. I guess my momentary impulsivity has pushed my own hand lol.
Rabbiteyes seem to be less finicky about pH - and are, in my experience here in southern KY, about 10X more productive than any NHB I ever grew. That said, I wouldn’t think that soil pH would be an issue in your location.
I’m west of you in Montgomery county. I got two tiny sweethearts from Starks this spring, and they’ve been growing well in a very hot, sunny spot. Legacy has done even better next to them.
While I say I delayed due to the acidic requirements, it is more than that.
Everything I grow is no spray with near identical inputs and minimal maintenance. Everything I grow gets a hole dug planted in the same clay/loam, with the same mykos added to the hole, mulch around the plant and some kind of deer protection. I’ll be lucky if I weed them once or twice a year, and fertilize once or twice a year.
My first year figs, and this year my newly grafted pears, both got babied and I had them in growbags with promix on drip line in my veggie garden.
If they aren’t in the veggie garden on a drip line they might get watered occasionally based on how far they are planted from my hoses in their first year, but that’s about it.
So while I said Ph, it is more of the fact that blueberries tend to have more specialized care needs. The PH should be monitored and maintained, they prefer soils high in organic mater with high drainage and consistent watering, and they are highly sensitive to juglone, limiting where I can plant them in the yard. so, I’m thinking to control all that I would be best to set them up in grow bags in my veggie garden (all my veggies are in grow bags, and I have a ton of spares) so I can make sure the soil is the right ph and with high organic matter, and ensure drainage with consistent watering.
I knew I would always get into blueberries at some point, as they are still on the easier side of fruit growing, but I delayed them for this reason.
Nah, they’re tough, and don’t require much care. I have a good clay soil. I might mix a handful or two of pine bark fines in the planting hole, but usually they just go in the hole, native soil goes right back in around them, I water them in, and mulch well with pine bark mulch (I have piles of arborist woodchips, but my retired Hort professor friend says they release too much Calcium as they degrade, raising pH) They might get watered once in a while during the first summer, but that’s it. I try to keep weeds/grass down as best I can with mowing/weedeating, and reapply mulch every couple of years. Easiest, most rewarding fruiting plant I’ve ever grown.
I have the legacy over by my figs in grow bags. I noticed the fig leaves were droopy and the blueberry leaves were curled on Saturday so I gave them a good drink. woke up on Sunday and the blueberry looked worse. “crispy” looking. I decided to put it in a saucer of water and it hasn’t improved. either dead or dormant now.
