Here's my take on the agricultural sulphur/ferrous sulphate and iron chelate. Agricultural or elemental sulphur will provide more acidifying power per pound of material applied, however the soil microbes have to convert it from the sulphur form to oxides of sulphur, which can then act to acidify the soil. It takes time for the acidification to work and it will occur over a period of time, you have to get the sulphur into the ground for the microbes to attack, and the effect will be a bit longer acting. The larger the sulphur particles you spread, the slower the process. Elemental sulphur is relatively cheap so is often used agriculturally. We generally use sulphur strictly as a fertilizer to replace what the crops are removing from the soil, being leached away, or tied up into mineralized compounds, plus it is relatively low volume. As a fertilizer, we often apply it at 30 lbs/acre. Another option is to use gypsum, calcium sulphate, which is commonly used to treat highly alkaline/saline soils as it is quite cheap, acidifying, and provides additional calcium. (In moister climates where soils are more acidic, they do the opposite, applying lime -- calcium carbonate-- to raise the pH). When applying gypsum, we would apply it on the order of 1000-2000 lbs/acre or more. With ferrous sulphate, you have moved up a step in cost but you are providing sulphate ions (or is it anions?) that will provide the acidifying effect, and because it is already converted to a soluble and ionic form, it will work quite quickly. At the same time, you are providing free iron that the plants can take up and the acidifying effect of the sulphate slows the process of tying the iron up in the soil. Many soils, particularly in alkaline areas, have plenty of iron, but it is tied up in the soil and unavailable to plants, and that is the situation here. We have a lot of red soils, the red coming from oxidized iron (rust). There is no deficiency of iron but it is mineralized and unavailable. Combine that with a pH of around 8 or higher and there are a lot of plants that will die of iron deficiency. Conifers, golden willows (lost a row of them in the cemetery to that, and nearly lost the spruce trees), petunias, raspberries, and even kentucky blue grass where the lawn is only sprinkler irrigated, for example. With iron chelate, you have a form of iron that is more available to plants, however it is relatively much more expensive. The chelate can be absorbed into the leaves if used as a foliar spray, though too strong a solution will burn. Because it can be pretty well directly absorbed by the plants, it can have an almost immediate effect on new growth. I've seen it recommended to water the ground with the iron chelate, but I think it tends to get tied up in the alkaline soil fairly quickly (I think the chelate breaks down fairly quickly, then the high pH ties up the iron again, and you need large quantities which become quite expensive. I had always had recommendations from the extension service to use iron chelate for iron deficiency, but later I was advised to use the ferrous sulphate by a professor for the combined free iron/acidifying properties. When I used the iron chelate, I never had much in the way of results unless I sprayed weekly at least, and that just doesn't happen with me. With the ferrous sulphate, I could spread it once and see lasting effects for anywhere from the remainder of the summer to several years. Part of my lawn is watered with a sprinkler using well water which is very high in lime. Gradually it turns yellow and thin with iron chlorosis. Fertilizing with nitrogen had no effect. Add some ferrous sulphate and in a week it was turning green, growing like it was badly overfertilized, and the stand thickens up. One year my supplier stopped carrying the ferrous sulphate but had ferrous gluconate and said it was much easier to use and worked the same--so I wondered but tried it. Think I still have most of the bag. It showed no effect on the plants, smelled like molasses and had no irritating dust so I found a new supplier for the ferrous sulphate (I'm not going to apply it if I don't get results). I don't fully remember my chemistry from school, acids/bases, oxidizers/reducers, strong vs. weak acids & bases & the chemical reactions that take place when these chemicals are placed in solution and I'm sure there are those out there that can more than adequately cover the subject (not that I'd want to learn it all over again, though!) I mainly try to cover some of the principles and describe what has worked from experience. Plus, I've never tried to grow blueberries as trying to provide an acid environment in my soil seems like too high a maintenance. Overall, what is being dealt with here is that in drier climates, the soils tend to have a large reservoir of lime and an alkaline pH. Acid loving plants may not need acid to live, however they consume quantities of minerals which are mineralized and unavailable at high pH, but become readily available at lower pH and blueberries have adapted to soils where these minerals are readily available. Trying to lower the pH of the soil to create an acid one suitable for blueberries is very hard, because to make the soil acid you have to essentially eliminate the alkaline lime in the soil, and it will take tons of amendments to do that. To compensate, you remove the soil, replace it with organic matter which is naturally acidic, then work to counteract the ongoing process of your climate and geology from turning the new acidic, organic soil back into an alkaline, mineralized soil and add a few of the more important nutrients the plants need so that they are readily available, even if the pH is a little higher than the plant desires. One last caveat--in acidic soils, NEVER add ferrous sulphate for an iron deficiency. You don't need more acid (unless you actually want a more acidic soil). Use iron chelate or the ferrous gluconate. Sorry this is much too long, but hopefully it explains the basis of my thoughts so you can judge for yourselves what is best in your situation.

i have reds, blacks, and crosses for the raspberries. as john said, blacks do well here, though you'd never guess from the lack of liturature on them. the purples have done really well, too. the reds need good winter drainage, especially. the one grower in the area i know of sprays fungicide in the winter on his, and he's on sand. mine are in clay and are doing ok, and i've never sprayed with anything. they have gone downhill somewhat through the yrs. and they are indeed very invasive. one nice thing about the blacks is they aren't- they will tip root, but they don't spread via running roots. you just can't let the tips touch the ground. as a cool bonus, the winter stems are electric purple. bear in mind, there are 2 types of reds- everbearing and summer. you get 1 crop out of summers & 2 out of everbearers. first crop is early june, 2nd is late fall til frost. summers fruit in later june. i have heritage(ever), dortmund(summer), jewel or bristol(black- can't remember, all blacks are summer), and royalty(purple- which behaves rather like a red in habit, but no second crop). i've tried the yellows, but they seem wimpy around here. they are very disease prone. i also have some red rasp/blackberry crosses that seem to be doing pretty well. nice thing about raspberries is they are putting out good fruit in yr 2, full crop yr 3. you do need decent sun- i'd say 5 hrs minimum. mine get barely enough. the one thing that will fruit in partial sun and does really, really well here is wineberry- an oriental berry that is similar to a red rasp. gorgeous, and we love the flavor. tart, but still sweet. it tip roots, and has 1 crop. if you come to the area, i'd be happy to give you a start- ed landscaping in va sells it, too. blueberries do fruit in the shade, but aren't as sweet(except the wild low types). the more sun you can give them, the happier they are and the better they fruit. they will do ok with 4-5 hrs of afternoon sun if that's all you have- just don't expect the berries to be as big, plentiful or sweet as ones grown in sun(i got that lesson frist hand this yr). the rabbiteyes will get big- up to 10', so plan accordingly. i beleive the new southern highbush are supposed to top out at 5-6', and they don't need as low a ph as northerns. i wouldn't plant northern highbush- they don't appreciate the high humidity & heat. there are some nw natives i'm messing with that like shade, but they are still too small to say if they do well here. evergreen huckleberry, red huckle, & some others. i also transplanted some low growing varieties from a plant save in the woods that seem to be doing well. they haven't fruited yet, but hopefully will. blues will take 4or 5 yrs to really start cranking out fruit big time. good luck! and enjoy your harvests.

The ones of these that I am familiar with are rabbiteye varieties. Since my northern varieties have done so well, I am sticking with those. I have about 10 each of Duke, Bluecrop, Blueray, and Elliot. I have a couple of Climax and Tifblue and a few others also, but they are still in large pots as I try to decide if I want to put them in the ground or not. If you use straight peatmoss for soil, then the northerns will do well for a few years at least. If you want my recommendations on mine, I would go with Duke as the overall preference, but Blueray or Bluecrop if you are REALLY picky about flavor. Maybe someone will chime in that has more experience with the ones you mentioned.

I hated Avent. I think they gave my son a bad nursing action that let my milk supply dwindle. The baby doesn't really get much nipple in his mouth--just the nub. With nursing, part of the motion is a pressing down with the mouth behind the sinuses. With the Avent, there's no section of the nipple that can be treated that way by the baby's jaw. But I stuck with them because of all the stuff people say about them. After we stopped nursing, I looked at the Healthflow nipples, and realized I would have liked them better. I like the Evenflo and the Johnson & Johnson Healthflo. I don't like Gerber (not enough of a bulb at the base), and I don't like Avent, and I don't like the Playtex ones.