Recently shipped blueberries dying leaves.

12 years ago

I recently recieved a shipment of two dwarf blueberry plants, Tophat and Northsky. They arrived in small containers fully leaved and more or less looked fine. I placed them in a sunny location and planned to keep them there till they seemed strong enough to be transplanted into something bigger.

Now both of them are have something happening to their leaves. It started on the northsky first and what happens is the tips of leaves start to dull to an almost beige color. As it spreads the leave wilts but they havnt become dry. All of the northsky's leaves have this and the Tophats leaves are just starting to show it.

I'm not sure if this is a side effect of shipping stress or something else? I suppose anouther question would be if the Northsky could recover and grow some new leaves and if there is anything I could do to prevent the Tophat from sharing the same fate?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (10)

denninmi
12 years ago
A couple of thoughts for you. First off, are these newly formed leaves (this year's growth?) or are they last year's leaves. Sometimes, when they put some of this stuff into cold storage to hold it, it retains the prior years leaves, which hang on green until it's time for new buds to pop, then they die. So, that may be a possibility. I haven't observed this on blueberries, but I have on some other types of woody plants.

Otherwise, are you keeping them in good conditions? Keeping them watered, protected from extremes of temperature, that sort of thing?

A photo would help if possible.
0
Tithis
Original Author
12 years ago
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a270/Tithis/100_9024.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a270/Tithis/100_9023.jpg

Yeah, they've gotten quite a bit worse than yesterday :/ Basically all the current leaves are dead, although it looks like there are still buds.
0
Related Discussions
Curling leaves on Blueberry plants
Q
Comments (1)
check water ph change ph to 4.5 to 5.5 this is ph range that blueberry pickup water best your top leafs are not getting water needed as tempature has risen are the day longer has longer warm period. Once plants have been in place for year are two the ph of 6 should be ok. Acid loving plants root shallow in soil ( what they really like root on top soil but under acid mulch feeder roots with few roots down in soil to anchor plant). A five gallon bucket don't give much room for this to take place at top to well of drain soil may need watering 4 times aday small amounts.
...See More
Blueberry Plant Shriveled Up
Q
Comments (10)
Eric and milehighgirl gave you great advice on when not to order plants. I don't even know of a nursery that will ship blues in the summer. Usually they are shipped in the winter when dormant. It sounds like you received tissue culture plugs. I've had great success with those but as stated above they were received and planted in Jan. I've never waited 6 months to fertilize new plants but I've always used a slow release organic fert. Actually I mix some up in my potting mix and plant it. They have all thrived! The only problems I've run into is N2 defiency from too much wood and or sap wood in my mix. I don't see where the sea weed would cause any harm at all but the iron sulfate may have been applied to hastily. Even so I believe being shipped in the summer is the root cause of your problem.
...See More
Help! My blueberry bushes are dying and I am at my wits end.
Q
Comments (2)
Wonder if you ever found out the problem with your blueberries. It might be that the location may be too hot. I find that part shade [dappled] to full shade seems to work the best for the blueberries. Blueberry leaves will fry in the full sun here in our desert climate. Make sure that they are planted in very composted and acid type soil. Water several times a week. I also provide overhead spray for humidity.
...See More
starter new small baby BLUEBERRY PLANTS DYING water watering
Q
Comments (9)
I wouldn't worry about putting insulated pots over in-ground bushes for the cold. Blueray is hardy to zone 4b and Legacy is zone 5. I rarely have much winter dieback from my blueberry bushes, maybe a small tip here or there amongst all of them, but not enough to harm them. For the rabbits and deer, though, yes, a pot can be helpful in the winter to protect the tender tidbits, but I prefer a bunny wire cage year round for tiny, tender plants when critters are in play. (My poor Bluegold gotten munched almost to the ground the fall after it was planted. It was a set back, but it's recovered and is almost big enough to fruit now.) The pictures in the original post look normal for new plants adjusting to their environment, particularly if they were mail order, as they had to endure shipping as well as climate and soil changes. Not getting bigger in the first few months is also normal. (I prefer to pick up my plants at local nurseries; you can get a bigger plant that's used to your climate for the same price as the mail order plants.) It sounds like you've moved them to a container now, since you mention bringing them in? I find containers more difficult for blueberries, particularly overwintering. I had a TopHat die wintering in our screened-in porch; we're not sure if the pot was too wet over winter, got too cold, or something else - it wasn't worth figuring it out, we just pulled it and put something else in the pot (probably a tomato). I now have two Sunshine Blues in pots that I picked up on clearance last year. They overwintered in the basement (around 50°F). (Hardy to zone 5 but that's risky for a container in zone 6, and they have shorter chill requirements than northern highbush, so wonky weather can bring them out of dormancy early.) They need very little water during their dormant months. I think they only got a tiny bit of water a couple times all winter in teeny tiny pots (I don't recommend that part.) They looked terrible when they went into the basement; they looked okay when they came out of dormancy, and they are lovely small plants now ... not big, but healthy. They are in potting soil since they are in containers. If you've transplanted yours into containers, they should be in potting soil, not top soil. Potting soil is usually around a 6-6.5 in pH (most will say). Mine claimed a target pH of 6.2 and I made no amendments for the Sunshine Blues. (My other bushes are all in-ground northern highbush.) When you transplanted it into the pot, that is a setback to the plant's growth. (You started over basically.) If you include new pictures we can give better advice based on the current state of the plants.
...See More
Bradybb WA-Zone8
12 years ago
Tithis,
Those don't look right.Is the top part of the stem on one dying?Are they in the same pots and soil as delivered?I'd probably take a look at the root condition.
What nursery did they come from?They should be contacted. Brady
0
User
12 years ago
It sure looks like sunburn to me......they were probably growing in a greenhouse under less than full sun and they were set out in the full sun......not your fault but that sure is what it looks like to me. If they had been allowed to go dry the leaves look completely different.

They should leaf back out.
0
denninmi
12 years ago
Yeah, those look bad. Hard to say whether or not they'll come back, depends on the cause. A couple of theories -- sunburn/windburn, frost, overheating in shipment, application of strong fertilizer, some kind of root rot. It's hard to know for sure, because a lot of things will cause the same general appearance.

I would definitely contact the vendor and ask for credit or a replacement if possible.
0
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
They arrived in small containers fully leaved and more or less looked fine. I placed them in a sunny location and planned to keep them there

==>> so.. you took them from a dark box.. and put them into blistering sun ..

i havent even looked at the pix.. but i will tell you that you put a stressed plant in sun.. and burned the leaves ..

life is all in the buds.. so if those survive.. you should be all set..

ALWAYS.. consider where they came from.. and then properly temper or harden them off.. to both SUN and TEMPS ...e.g. if they came from a warmer zone ... say z7.. you cant leave them outside at night in z5.. until about may ..

if its not sunburn.. they got frosted ... [i did go look at the pix.. ] .. or both.. plus shipping stress ..

ken
0
Tithis
Original Author
12 years ago
Figured I'd give an update. One of the plants did end up dying (it was a Northblue, not a Northsky) but the Tophat still has leaves and after a little die off is showing new growth.

The nursery I ordered from is sending free replacements for both(I didn't think the Tophat was going to make it) The new Northblue should arrive any day now and the new Tophat won't arrive till fall. I'll make sure to properly acclimate them this time :)
0
calliope
12 years ago
Another thought. Sometimes fruiting starts are packed in a substance other than soil. In fact, often they are in media just short of sawdust. It is easier to obtain phytosanitary permits that way (no soilborn diseases) and also lighter to ship. This is the norm if bought in chain stores in paper tubes and often happens in shipped stock. The plants should be moved over to appropriate soil as soon as received, even if it means into pots if you need to hold them for planting. They will be very sensitive to sunlight and temps if in pots and should be acclimated.
0
User
12 years ago
Tithis,

You live and learn......gardening is mostly learning by screwing up anyway:)
0
iammarcus
12 years ago
Tithis I know how you feel, I lost 3 sweetcrisp and a Herbert under similar circumstances. Only I potted them up and kept them indoors, it didn't help.
Dan
0

Recently shipped blueberries dying leaves.

Comments (10)

denninmi

Tithis
Original Author

Related Discussions

Bradybb WA-Zone8

User

denninmi

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

Tithis
Original Author

calliope

User

iammarcus

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Recently shipped blueberries dying leaves.

Comments (10)

TithisOriginal Author

Related Discussions

TithisOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Tithis
Original Author

Tithis
Original Author