Blah Blueberries

13 years ago

I have a pair of blueberry plants that are about six or seven years old now. Last year I had a bumper crop on the plant that I had repotted, so I went ahead and repotted the other last summer, giving it fresh potting soil, wood chips, and a dash of sulphur to lower the PH. This year, neither looks like they're going to put out much of a crop. There's a sprinkling of blossoms at the very top of the plant, but the new-growth lower branches are long, spindly, with just a bud or two at the terminal end. (See photo.) I didn't prune off these long, unbranching branches as they were pretty much it for the new growth, and as I understand it, you want to remove older blueberry wood and leave the new growth. Any advice for a better crop next year?

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Comments (6)

rasputinj
13 years ago
Just looks to me like some of it is just old wood. I see that with my O'Neal Blueberries, I know now I need to prune the old wood.
fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX
13 years ago
ray:

You need more new growth this year to have a better crop next year. For 6-7 year old plants yours are pretty small. They look more like about three years old.

After harvest I'd prune out the oldest growth and trim back the other growth. Even if you have to cut off most of the plant you need to force more new growth.

A big part of forcing more new growth would be a good dose of fertilizer. I use complete controlled release Osmocote for acid loving plants. Apply some on top and mix in or cover with mulch.

If you don't want to prune so much and want a taller plant, just apply a good fertilizer at the recommended rate on the container.
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tc88
13 years ago
You didn't get much new growth last year because it spent most of the energy fruiting. You should get good vegetaive growth this year if you fertilze right which should be good for fruiting next year. At the end of the year, prune off a few branches that you think are the oldest and that only grow twigs for the year. Prune them off at the base. You may even do so now to open up some space for the new growth.
raymondo17
Original Author
13 years ago
Rasputinj, one of these blueberry plants is O'Neal as well. :)

Fruitnut, I can't seem to find Osmocote for acid-loving plants anywhere, even online. I wonder if they discontinued it. :/

TC88, did you mean to say, "if you fertilize right NOW" or just "if you fertilize right"?

Thanks for the input here.
hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
13 years ago
If you're looking for fertilizer for your blueberries, just take care not to use a fertilizer where the Nitrogen source is derived from nitrate. That can be fatal for your blueberries. Osmocote Plus (which I think may be the replacement for Osmocote for Acid Loving Plants) has nitrate as part of its Nitrogen source. It touts this formulation for several different plants, vegetables and "acid loving plants", but this would NOT be the choice for blueberries. I use EB Stone's GreenAll Fruit & Vine Food.

Patty S.
tc88
13 years ago
Raymondo17, I was meaning "fertilize right", not "right NOW". I would do it once a month from April to July, though at your zone, if the frost danger is over, you may start it later this month if you use something like cottonseed meal which takes a few days to decompose. Applying too early will be a waste since the plant will not take in much. Also you don't want to push the plant to open too early with fertilizer if there is cold weather later.

Blah Blueberries

Comments (6)

rasputinj

fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX

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Blah Blueberries

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rasputinj

fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX

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raymondo17Original Author

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