question about fertilizing my blueberries

14 years ago

I have been watering my container blueberries with rain water and 1/8 strength miracid also a very small amount of Epsom salt every time I water. They are doing very well. When should I stop fertilizing, and just give them water. filix.

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Comments (4)

justaguy2
14 years ago
If they were in the ground, when would they stop using nutrients? That is when I would stop fertilizing them in a container ;)
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
14 years ago
If they were mine, I would probably stop supplying any large doses of N around mid Sep & switch to less frequent doses of 0-10-10 through Oct. Something like a regular dose of 30-10-10 around Sep 1, 0-10-10 on Sep 15, a half dose of 30-10-10 on Oct 1; then, another dose of 0-10-10 on Oct 15 and again on Nov 1 as the last dose if the weather is still warm & the plant is growing. Last year & the year before, I was still picking cherry tomatoes on Nov 1. Go figure.

If you're using Pro-TeKt, there are other strategies you could use, too.

Al
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Every gardener has his/her own idea of how things should be done but my recommendation would be to first clear out the vegetation from around your plants. Pull all the weeds and grass back that are competing with your plants for the available water and nutrients. Maintain a two-foot area around the base of your plants clean of competing weeds. The healthy plants look great but those that are dying look to me like they ran out of water. Where the limbs look dead, scrape the bark with your fingernail. If it's green just under the bark then it's still alive, if not, it's dead. If the limb is dead, trim it back with some sharp clippers. Cut off all the dead limbs, cut back all weeds, keep the soil moist at all times. Give them another shot of miracid by miracle grow. Good luck. RM
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Hi Thornberry, I had a similar experience with my blueberries recently. Not exactly the same problems as yours but I too put them in the soil without amending or acidifying it and applied on it an acidic fertilizer. Surprisingly, all adapted well to this, except one, Misty, which really seemed to be doomed. As a last resort method, I dug holes around the current dripline of this plant and put in sulphur, then spread sulphur around the topsoil and drenched it in water. As the weather has been warming up, I notice new leaves being thrown by this sick plant. In the meantime, I've amended soil around all others with sulphur too and they have nice green leaves. Not as dark green as I've seen in the pictures, but these are in a spot where they get direct sun for 6-7 hours each day, and dappled shade in the afternoon. Net-net: I would not write off your blueberries yet. BTW, I recently visited my trusted nursery and asked the person (whom I consider knowledgeable) the same question: whether it's necessary to plant blueberries in acidic soil in the ground or just apply acidic fertilizer. This person had previously guided me to grow 2 varieties of blueberries in the container and I have had excellent growth for past 5 years or so. He confirmed that, even in the ground, it's not necessary to amend the soil, but it's sufficient to use acidic fertilizer. Just sharing my experience!!
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While blueberries are technically self-fertile, you will always have better berry production when growing at last two different types - berries are very hit or miss with just one plant. And anything grown in a container will need routine fertilization. The plant has no other access to required nutrients unless supplied by the gardener.
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Yes fertilizer washes away with water. This is why the mississippi delta has huge algae blooms. You should make sure the plant is well hydrated before fertilizer application as well
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filix
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank You both. I just remember reading somewhere not to fertilize after june. Because the young growth wouldn't make it through the winter. I have pro-tekt but I haven't been using it on my blueberries. I don't know if it's my imagination, but that PT smells very strong. Not sure why. filix
0
justaguy2
14 years ago
The advice to stop feeding is for ground based plants that retain nutrients for longer than the few seconds a potting mix does ;) It's also advice that some question the validity of.

The idea is that the N will result in new growth that won't be able to harden off before winter. How accurate that idea is is what some question.

In a container the same can be accomplished by continuing to fertilize right up until winter dormancy, but lowering the amount of N relative to K in the fall.
0

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question about fertilizing my blueberries

Comments (4)

justaguy2

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

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question about fertilizing my blueberries

Comments (4)

justaguy2

tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)

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filixOriginal Author

justaguy2

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filix
Original Author