Currants and Blueberries in Container?

17 years ago

Hi

My first ever post on gardenweb, a red letter day if ever there was one.

Seriously though, I am thinking of buying two blueberry and two currant plants and potting them in half barrel containers under my pergolla (the pergolla has grapes growing over it so it will have part shade / sun). My question is whether growing these in containers is a good idea? One may ask why I want to grow them in containers, well, I will be doing some major landscaping in the next year or two and will likely disrupt locations where I want to place the plants eventually. After that is done I will plant them in the ground.

Anyone have any thoughts of this?

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Comments (7)

dreamgarden
17 years ago
What a great idea.

I would like to grow container blueberries as well as dwarf fruit trees. It would be nice to have them in containers with wheels so I can roll them where I like without having to lift anything.
altadenamara
17 years ago
Growing blueberries in plastic, squat-shaped, 15-gallon containers has worked really well for me here in SoCal. Years ago, I planted three blueberry bushes in the ground, with lots of peat moss added, and they died. This time, I mixed good quality potting soil half and half with peat moss, and the new bushes grew three to four times their original size in two years (except Sunshine Blue- in a seven gallon pot). They produce a moderate crop of blueberries early spring for months. I move the bushes to a sunny spot when I prune my roses, then back to an afternoon shade spot when the summer turns parching hot. They would probably produce more berries in the fall in a sunnier spot, if there were room. The plastic pots are easier to move around than wooden containers, and last longer.
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So, so far the suggestions are: (1) Apply diluted sulfuric acid (2) Repot normal potting soil to more suitable soil and continue with rain water (3) Treat water with Vinegar (4) Treat water with Peat Moss (5) Apply regular sulfur (6) Apply elemental sulfur B/R, if I knew then what I do now, I wouldn't have used that potting soil at all. I wasn't planning on repotting them this season, figured I'd wait til next spring, but do you think it would benefit them a lot if I did it now? I wasn't sure if the benefit they'd get from being in a better soil a year earlier would be greater than the added stress of getting transplanted 2 years in a row. What do you think? (...I wouldn't mind being able to apply the ericoid mycorrhizae directly to the roots, too., but seems like a lot of work if not really needed) Starfinder, at what rate should I apply the diluted sulfuric acid without burning or killing the plants? My pots are all approx. 21 inches in diameter. Charina, I haven't been able to get a good PH reading yet. I bought one of those PH readers with the two metal prongs, but it either doesn't work, or I can't figure out how to use it properly because I get the same exact reading everywhere I test it. I just picked up some more test kits yesterday and plan to test the soil tonight, but I think it's a pretty strong presumption that the PH has started, or will start to creep back up, if not controlled by me. I actually traded the acidic fertilizer to some guy for gooseberry and currant bushes, as I was done with it for the season and wanted to revise my method this year. I prefer organic, but I'm open to all suggestions. At what rate would you apply the elemental sulfur to the 21 inch pots without burning or killing the plants?
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I have potted blueberries, currants, and alpine strawberries. I have lived on a south facing balcony in zone 7 and now in the subs in zone 6 I still enjoy and evolve with container gardening. All three of these plants are tough in winter but not invincible. There are special considerations for keeping them on a balcony and because they are potted. To answer your question about water in winter, my take is: do not let the pots completely dry up..but water lightly to avoid a solid water freeze. The point is to keep the roots somewhat moist but not get damaged from ice. I'm not sure how pruning is helpful unless your plants are growing like crazy. With blueberries especially just remember that flowers will want to produce near the tips so don't 'shorten' them in winter. For the first couple of years I would not bother pruning at all. The height of your balcony means more humidity leaching winds to the buds, branches, even roots. A bigger pot is going to insulate the roots from every side. The tips of dormant branches of the blueberry and currant bushes can get so cold and dry that they don't come back in the spring. You'll want to protect them to some degree from the wind, but don't bring them inside either. I'm not sure how mature your plants are but even if they are young, I would use at least a 15 gallon container, and still create a wind breaker structure for the dormant plants using wood/pvc/electrical conduit and greenhouse plastic. If the plants are tiny, 7 to 10 gallons should do the trick. Alpine strawberries on the other hand, never had problems with these at all.. Maybe these are invincible after all. Don't be surprised if the leaves stay green through the season, but the crowns would be happier with some insulation (straw, etc). I'm not sure how the wild blueberries in the higher altitudes of Maine can withstand the harsh winter conditions there, but my blueberry cultivars don't seems as tough as those. Good luck this winter.
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momof5sons
17 years ago
Try this website for helpful tips

Here is a link that might be useful: blueberries in containers
blewb
17 years ago
That's an over all good guide but their mix for soil is complicated.

I'm growing blue berries in containers right now (in fact I'm gonna go check on them after this post) and for my initial mix I just used spaghnum peat moss and soil in a 50/50 ratio. Then I shredded some azaleas (not necessary, just something I had growing nearby so I used them), planted the blueberries, and then covered the top of the plant around the base with a mulch/compost (mine was an oak tree that we lost the year before and had saved part of it for compost).

Then you need to keep your acidity around 4 - 5.5 pH and you should be fine.

And once you get those blueberries growing, check the site below to help diagnose any problems. It's worked for me in the past.

Here is a link that might be useful: Blueberry diagnoses
succulent
16 years ago
great post. Today I purchased 3 different blueberry bushes. Sunshine Blue, South moon and Misty. On the advice of the master gardener I frequent, she said to only grow them in containers. Just simply add your used coffee grounds into the soil 1-2 times per week. That will do the trick on getting acidic levels where they need to be. Anyways, we shall see. I have them planted in 15 gallon large pots. This should allow them to grow. I'm just scarred now that the birds will get my fruit.
lady_fern
16 years ago
Blueberry bushes come in various sizes, from the large highbush varieties to the low bush hybrids. Do the highbush plants grow well in containers? What size would they need? Or should I just stick with the low bush and some of the in-between ones?
nullzero
16 years ago
Im growing 4 blueberries bushes in containers in SoCal; Misty, South Moon, Sunshine Blue, and O' Neal. All are doing great in the containers.

Currants and Blueberries in Container?

Comments (7)

dreamgarden

altadenamara

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momof5sons

blewb

succulent

lady_fern

nullzero

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