Questions re soil mix for Figs and Blueberries, Bay and peach
naikii
11 years ago
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Comments (76)
naikii
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agonil13
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Time to try Al's mix, but questions
Comments (35)ok, here is an update. I was able to find the ingredients for the mix and since i live in the desert south west i am mixing the recipie for the high desert heat as follows: 4 parts turface 3 parts bark 2 parts crushed granite but i completly overlooked the 1 part vermiculite and did not noticed until i had already root pruned and repoted one of my citrus trees. I won't be able to buy the vermiculite until next payday (this friday). should i mix it in once i get it or will it be too much stress on my tree to be repoted in a few days again. I almost prefer to leave it alone until next spring, the area where i live is a good citrus growing area so i think it may just be fine. I will wait until i get the vermiculite to do the rest of the trees. what are your thoughts on that? has anyone kept tropical fruit trees in the gritty mix? i am trying to grow mexican papaya. I have read they don't get very big so i can kep them in containers but they don't like too much water because they can have root problems. I do have the seeds of a papaya i ate and i can experiment with a few different mixes combinations. Any ideas/sugestions for me? thanks for reading...See MoreCalculating mixing rate of ammonium sulfate for blueberries
Comments (69)Well the lady from the office called with the soil sample results, left a message with my wife today. Very interesting. I took 3 natural unaltered samples from the area I'm developing for blueberries, as well as 2 more much farther down the slope with different trees and soil. The three were pH: 4.62; 4.58; 4.77. The other two are: 4.76; 4.88. That sounds pretty damned perfect. They said the E.C. (I assume this is Electical Continuity) was 0.01. This is a new concept for me. But she said it means the citrus we grow there will need fertilizer. How about the blueberries? I imagine I'll need to be careful with the ammonia sulfate as it will lower the pH, and I may be in the unusual position of the pH being too acidic for blueberries. What's good cheap fertilizer I can buy for this location for blueberries? As a side, I slipped in 3 more samples from different locations: The area most of my blueberry plants are being temporarily held right now (5.42) ; nice looking large vegetable garden plot I made (6.19 with EC of 0.42); and my backyard (7.24). So everything looks to be right on track. I thought my backyard was interesting, as this is an old suburban area and there's a lot of concrete and gravel around and it must've leached into the soil. That's my guess anyway....See MoreConverting typhoon damaged hillside forest to blueberry plantation
Comments (38)Well the soil must be acidic else they would not grow. What is the pH of your soil? MI produces the most blueberries of any state, but that is the west side where we have sandy low pH soils. I live on the east side with an alkaline clay loam. So I use raised beds to control pH. All attempts to grow in native soil and keep pH low failed. I have had great success with the raised beds. I like to grow cultivars that rate high in taste. I wish i could grow a few of the early SHB like Springhigh as it is one of the best blueberries out there. I do grow a couple SHB that rate high in taste as they are late bloomers and can work here, but most are NHB types. I never tried Rabbiteye, but have a few cultivars I would consider. I'm out of room though. I also grow many other fruits, so room is limited to 7 plants. Wild blueberries, low bush, huckleberry grow in our state, but none are in my area due to the soil. I forage for blackberries, raspberries, and mulberries instead. Although I do grow domesticated cultivars too. For fun i breed blackberries, just starting, luckily some breeders have helped train me on proven methods. I just asked a couple of breeders for help and they were more than willing to help, even sending seeds and such. Very cool. Niceguy another question to the growers is what cultivars are they growing? That will give you an idea of what to plant. NHB, SHB, or rabbiteye....See MoreBlueberry container mix and fertilizer questions
Comments (17)I was suggesting the OP do more research, one thread on one forum isn't enough. Growingfruits.org is excellent. Everything I ever read about blueberries, and from my own experience, over-wet is no good....damp is good....dry is no good unless plants are dormant, and even then, keep slightly damp. The key with blueberries is to not let them dry out when growing, that doesn't mean over water. Well drained soil is also good. I never heard of a blueberry bog. Whoever has no bird problems with blueberries is fortunate indeed, and I agree that a 10 gallon container to start out is way to big. Start small with the pots, and pot up when necessary....See MoreOhiofem 6a/5b Southwest Ohio
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Ohiofem 6a/5b Southwest Ohio