Blueberry Picture

Since the largest of these tiny little berries is currently 1/4 inch diameter, and the plant is still in a pot, it sure would be nice to know if it's hardy enough to be planted in the ground or continue to stay in the pot and come indoors at night until it warms up a bit.....
Inquiring minds would love to know how blueberries handle transplant shock Anyone?

Well, let me tell you my experience and then I'll let you decide! I ordered two Tophat blueberry bushes last fall, and finally received them at the very end of March. They were small 1 year old bushes with leaves on them, in small pots. I kept them inside for maybe a week, but I was worried because some of the leaves started to fall off. I figured they probably didn't like being inside. So since we were having some AMAZING weather, I got out the pots I planned on planting them in and stuck them in.

Well, then as you know (because we're not far apart), we got a ton of really cold weather. Lots of hard freezes. I would bring the little berries is when it was going to be a hard freeze, and put a bucket over them if it was just a frost. After a while, the leaves fell off one bush and turned reddish brown on the other. I figured I killed them, but just to be safe, I kept taking care of them the best I could.

Well, now that the weather has started to really warm up and the sun is out, I have lots and lots of new growth on BOTH bushes! Blueberries are amazingly hardy, I've read, and can handle most conditions in our area. Good luck with your bushes!

All I can tell you is that I transplanted mine from the pots I purchased them in into larger pots that I will keep them in last Spring when they were just starting to bloom...they weren't fruiting yet. My husband seems to remember that they did experience some shock at that time, but they've come back just fine. I did get just a few little fruits but I put that down to the fact they were young, not really the fact that I transplanted them. They've overwintered just fine considering I did absolutely nothing to them and the dog ate out half the mix in the pot to the point where the top of the rootball was showing...

Thanks for sharing, Holy Moly! Great stories! Just found out if I wait 11 days till May 20th the risk of frost is only 10% for this area. The next 2 nights there is a definite risk of frost. Even though they are pretty tough and could be covered, I'm going to wait on planting afterall....

some of my berries are turning blue
Yehaw

That's what I want! Way to Go!

you know it is not my fault, I bought the plant with berries on it, have only had it in the ground for a month.
I do make sure the PH is right and feed it Azalea food
out here we are way alkaline so plants that love acid need special care

Llamamama, have you planted your bushes yet? Just curious, my leaves are turning red, ugh, think I may have jumped the gun.

Hi there,
When I bought our 2 newest Blueberry bushes, I did nothing but stuck them in the ground and they are amazingly hardy. - The other older 3 bushes (almost 6 feet tall) actually need to be pruned I think, tho I'm not too sure, lol.

Anyway we get good crops. Hopefully enough bees will survive, so the harvests will continue plentiful Blueberries are one of the healthiest fruits too.

cheyannarach wrote:Llamamama, have you planted your bushes yet? Just curious, my leaves are turning red, ugh, think I may have jumped the gun.

I wish I knew why yours are turning red. I'm brand new at this but I think they are suppose to turn red in Autumn (??) And yes, all 3 of mine are finally in the ground as of May 30th. I put bird netting on them as the berries are quickly turning blue and there is a lot of new leaf growth. I'm watering everyday for the first 2 weeks and keeping my fingers crossed.

It's deffinately a little odd, they aren't falling off and drying up or anything. Just turning red, So for now I am calling them confused, lol. I tried looking into this via google but no real answer, basically could be anything, I am wondering if I have too much peat and not enough of something else.

Maybe your local extension service could address your issue. Mine were planted with primarily 50% peat and 50% shredded pine bark. From a couple of organic web sites I got the idea of adding some coffee grounds and compost. Then put in aluminum sulfate. I found too much confusion over how to plant the darn things. I don't know what I've done right or wrong but so far so good. The plant tag said to plant without soil. Other sources said to backfill with 50 percent soil. It was crazy!

can you post of pic of the plants that are turning red?
hugs

rose