blueberries

any one out there in south louisiana growing blueberries? can any one share any thoughts and tips on growing blueberries. thanks. 

I'm not in S. Louisiana but I have blueberries. I have several plants of the wild ones and they are so tasty, but they are smaller berries than ones you can buy. I just bought early/ spring bearing(did not know there were others) I planted in a mix of compost and peat, left out the vermiculite, for I won't be moving them. I then mulched with pine needles. They had a lot on them for the 2nd yr. But, a friend told me of some to pick, for free. Mine had already been picked for the year. It was late July, very hot. The bushes were loaded! The guy didn't know the variety but they were 'midseason' He said there was a 'late season' variety also. I will be looking for some of these to plant.
Jo

From the LA  Extension service. http://g.search.lsuagcenter.com/search?site=default_collection&client=default_frontend&output=xml_no_dtd&proxystylesheet=default_frontend&getfields=*&filter=p&q=blueberries

I have not been bothered by the numerous things in the link, but the bushes(7 including 2 wild) are in a row just outside of my SFG.
Here is a link to varieties of Blueberries in order of ripening. Jo
http://www.ehow.com/info_8516314_blueberry-varieties-order-ripening.html

How many squares do they take?

I did not plant in the squares, but planted about 3 ft apart just outside the garden fence.
Mine are getting ready to bloom!
Jo

So maybe 5 bushes per 4X4 box?

at2wooden wrote:So maybe 5 bushes per 4X4 box?

it depends upon the expected size of the mature plant. I would follow the spacing recommendations that come with the plants.

Spacing: Southern highbush - 4 to 5 feet in the row and 8 to 10 feet between rows. Rabbiteye - 6 feet in the row and 10 to 12 feet between rows.

Translating that to SFH beds would be 1 plant/ 4x4 bed.
These are not the short northern blueberries of 'Blueberries for Sal' fame.

You can grow other things around a bush while it grows into its spacing.

O I am having fun   

Look at this link for a great way to compare varieties of blueberries. Southern Highbush: Low Chill

Sunshine blue looks like an good candidate for SFG beds.

 thanks gardener friends out there.  all the comments are appreciated 

Big help. Thanks!!

found this info when I was looking up companion planting for berries

To extend the garden or just add beauty around the blueberry plants one can plant vegetables. These include underplanting lettuce, onion, and spinach while also planting bush beans along side blueberries. These plants not only work with blueberries, but the harvesting of any of the fruit or produce will not interfere with fruit production.

http://www.ehow.com/list_7416159_companion-planting-blueberry-bushes.html

happy gardening
roses

Looks like blueberries are not going to work for me in S. Florida.
The chill map says I get 50 - 110 chill hours annually where I am, and the lowest required number of chill hours required for a southern high bush that I could find was 150. Humph! I didn't want no darned blueberries anyway.

Just like I don't want no mango, lemon or orange trees.   

We're at the northern limit of Z-10 and I planted blueberries this past fall. Had to bring in topsoil and amend it with sulphur to get the PH down. So far all the plants have new growth and more importantly blueberries. I planted 6 Sunshine Blues and 4 Emeralds. I read on another forum site that a number of folks have good success with the Sunshine Blue in this zone. Have to wait a year of two to see if they really do well.
 I found a lot of info on line, tomthebuilder should have a number of good choices in La.
Emerald, Gulf Coast & Sunshine Blue

FamilyGardening wrote:found this info when I was looking up companion planting for berries

To extend the garden or just add beauty around the blueberry plants one can plant vegetables. These include underplanting lettuce, onion, and spinach while also planting bush beans along side blueberries. These plants not only work with blueberries, but the harvesting of any of the fruit or produce will not interfere with fruit production.

http://www.ehow.com/list_7416159_companion-planting-blueberry-bushes.html

happy gardening
roses

Curious ... blueberries like things sooo acid compared to most veggie garden plants(and most plants, period), I'm surprised the veggies would thrive there.

Not sure if these two s. fla peeps are still trying blueberries or not.  But I just got a plant I bought way back in Nov and forgot about.  So I've been reading up on its' care.  
Supposed to be a good one for zone 10.  It's called Emerald.  
From what I've seen/read so far I should plant it in coco coir/compost mix in the largest pot I have.  Then once a month pour saturated old coffee (not the grounds) on it to fertilize it/keep it acidic while watering about every day.  My main concern is keeping it in the sun since my patio gets a lot of shade this time of year.  And also keeping the soil acidic enough for it since I don't have any soil measure things.
Right now its still wrapped in the plastic it came in while I've been researching it.   I want to get this right since I got yelled at for its' arrival.  Even though I apparently bought it before we made the agreement I would stop spending money.    That's how careless my spending was, I bought a tree and never noticed it didn't arrive. 
anywho back to reading

Our front "hedges" are blueberries.  We've got 7 in there right now.  Two are still quite small.  (They're transplanted NH wild blueberries from our family place.)

We use pine bark nuggets on them.  Last year we tried some blueberry/azalea fertilizer.  They seem to like it.

They are in the shade until early afternoon.  But they seem to be happy...  And they like LOTS of water.

I know you're using a pot for it.  I'd use a mulch of pine bark mini nuggets.  That will give it some extra acid as well as saving the water from evaporating.

Thanks, I was worried about the pine bark, but I see that a nearby Lowes' carries it.
I'm also worried that I don't have two varieties.  Do you think that it will matter that much?  I read a few things that said to plant two varieties.  But I'm not allowed to buy another one 

Well, even if you can't get another blueberry, you can still enjoy the plant.

Yeah....  not sure what to tell you on that one.  The wild ones at our family place seem to be doing fine.  And some of them are close to 80 years old!  We stand on the 2nd story deck to pick them.

Our hedges are made up of 4 different kinds, so no practical advice there...

Marc Iverson wrote:

FamilyGardening wrote:found this info when I was looking up companion planting for berries

To extend the garden or just add beauty around the blueberry plants one can plant vegetables. These include underplanting lettuce, onion, and spinach while also planting bush beans along side blueberries. These plants not only work with blueberries, but the harvesting of any of the fruit or produce will not interfere with fruit production.

http://www.ehow.com/list_7416159_companion-planting-blueberry-bushes.html

happy gardening
roses

Curious ... blueberries like things sooo acid compared to most veggie garden plants(and most plants, period), I'm surprised the veggies would thrive there.

A friend of mine gave me several young blueberries from his garden.  I have some spots I am preparing for them (all near acidic straw producing pines).  I am very intrigued by your post roses.

AtlantaMarie wrote:Yeah....  not sure what to tell you on that one.  The wild ones at our family place seem to be doing fine.  And some of them are close to 80 years old!  We stand on the 2nd story deck to pick them.

Our hedges are made up of 4 different kinds, so no practical advice there...

wow!  When I get a house maybe i'll be able to have some like that.  Until then, I hope this one survives.