Question about Planting Blueberry Vines

11 years ago

Hello.

I would like to plant blueberry vines on a small hill. At the very top of the hill, there is a climbing rose (that I really don't want there, but I don't have the ability to move it yet).

Just beneath the roses, I would like to be able to plant my blueberries, since this is the only area that really gets full sun.

This means the water that I use to feed the roses can go downhill too and end up feeding the blueberries.

Is this doable? I would like to avoid removing the roses for now, since I don't have the means to do that just yet. (I prefer Crepe Myrtle to Roses, which is what I would eventually like to put there when I have the means).

So I can plant the blueberries further down the hill, just below the roses? The blueberries require sandier more acidic soil, with a ph of 4 to 5 (from what I read)

Please help!

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Comments (15)

edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
11 years ago
As long as the soil has a pH of 4-5, and drains well, you should be ok. Getting the soil right from the start is the most important thing. I'm sure you'll get some good comments here. There are lots of blueberry growers. Happy growing.
ericwi
11 years ago
You can plant blueberry shrubs on the side of a hill, but they should be kept three feet or more away from the rose bushes. Blueberry shrubs do best when they don't have to compete with nearby plants. Do you know the pH of your native soil?
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Wow... good point Al. I totally forgot about that. *whoosh* OW - Don't you mean.. lower to 6? If you have a way to directly measure the pH, then it doesn't really matter what kind of water you use. Just add the vinegar or acetic acid until you get the desired pH for the irrigation water. If you don't want to mess with the irrigation water, and you're okay with an imprecise change, you could use acidified cotton burr compost. It contains sulfur that is at least partially metabolized, and is often used as an acidifying soil amendment for Roses and Azaleas. It's commonly used both in the ground, and in containers. I don't know much about it, but you can find plenty of information online. I'm confused, are soil from your land in the containers? Or do you also want to try growing blueberries in the ground, and want to acidify the soil quickly? If you're using raised beds and adding a lot of new soil / amendments, most good nurseries sell an Azalea or Rose bedding mix that is fairly acidic. The quick fix is ammonium sulfate, but it's extremely hard for the non-professional to use properly, and is very detrimental to your soil biology. No amendment or product can really change your soil's pH permanently - you have to keep treating it at least every season.
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Harvestman, If you allowed the worms in the can to use up all the organics until they were forced to leave all that remained was castings and you were vermicomposting. You are lucky that the redworms show up to help out as many of us have to buy them to get it started. If you have the study on the compost effect being temporary I would love to read it. Far as I know the process is the opposite of what you describe. As the compost heats up and the fungi and microbes get busy compost actually gets more acidic. As that process winds down as the compost finishes the PH of the finished product rises....well rises might be misleading as it actually just returns to the PH it started at. There is a lot to it and a lot depends on where you live. The native soil PH and more importantly if the plants have to be irrigated the bicarbonate level of the irrigation water if using compost would be safe. Of course the amount of compost added is a big factor. It also matters where the compost came from and what it was made from. Your example of a leaves and grass clippings compost.....would be much better for BB than say compost that was made from stable manures and bedding as that compost PH would be through the roof. A lot of compost I would guess has manure in it as it really speeds up the process. The thought of adding 6" of compost with a PH of 7-8++ to my blueberries yikes.....I would want to test it's PH. BUT adding a few handfuls of finished worm castings per plant? I would not worry about that at all. I have a surgeon that lives down the street that has horses so I have started recently picking up the manure and bedding (pine shavings) they remove. It isn't that much as the horses are in pasture days so it is just when the horses are locked up at night. It is I guess about 2 level pickup truck loads a week. That got me started on the vermicomposting route though it is still in the earliest stages but a fun project.
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I use the same Miracle Gro product (MirAcid), and I've been very happy with the results. While I occasionally supplement with a liquid fish product, I wouldn't advise relying on it alone, nor would I use a citrus fertilizer (it might be fine, but blueberries have specialized requirements that citrus doesn't share). I've linked to a Spectrum Analytic's Fertilizing Blueberries publication. While it's focused on growing blueberries in the ground (instead of containers), it has a lot of useful information. Here's one particularly relevant section: "Blueberries...have somewhat unique N requirements. They are not able to use nitrate forms of N (NO3-N) effectively. These plants have evolved in soil conditions that do not naturally contain a significant amount of NO3-N and they depend more on ammonium-N (NH4-N). Blueberries take up both forms of N, but they have limited nitrate reductase activity. Nitrate reductase is an enzyme that is needed to convert nitrate to amino acids and proteins. The limited nitrate reductase system in blueberries means that they cannot efficiently utilize nitrate forms of N. Some reports also state that excessive nitrate fertilization can lead to leaf burn. Two recommended N sources include ammonium sulfate and urea, which either contain or form ammonium-N after application." Here is a link that might be useful: Spectrum Analytic: Fertilizing Blueberries
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Noogy
11 years ago
They wont grow like vines, but there are some low growing ones that spread a few feet out. What's your zone?
Noogy
KendraSchmidt
Original Author
11 years ago
I'm in Zone 8a. I tested the pH on one side and it was 6 to 6.5, but that area was far sandier. I can amend the soil that goes PAST the rosebush, on the lower end of the hill.

Why won't they grow like vines, Noogy?
edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
11 years ago
They aren't vines. At least not that I'm aware of.
Noogy
11 years ago
Kendra,
They're more like shrubs. There are some lower growers though. Not what I traditionally know as a vine, though. We're all in the collective process of learning, so you're in good company.
I have over 1000 plants of 10 different varieties. If you happen across a climber with tendrils, patent it, and you'll be rich!
Noogy
Bradybb WA-Zone8
11 years ago
A more common term,cane is used for Blueberry plants.Like a bunch of stalks or stems shooting out and mostly up from a central root mass. Brady
jolj
11 years ago
I am with Noogy.
I have 3-5 feet bushes/shrubs, but the wild low blueberry here in Lugoff, S.C. gets about 18 inches high & 24 inches wide.
I use canes with blackberries,dew berries & raspberries.
I use vines with Muscadines & table grapes or Kiwi.
So this is new to me,too.
Learn something new everyday.
dirtslinger2
11 years ago
I believe I once had a "blueberry vine". Not a Vaccinium. I believe it was Tasmanian. It died first winter in zone 7 but did produce "blue berries" which may or may not have been edible.
edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
11 years ago
dirtslinger2, funny, that's what I was kinda thinking, that there might be some other kind of plant out there called a " 'blue'berry vine." Some of mine appear to grow like weeds sometimes, but not vines :-)) FWIW, tomatoes grow like vines (and BTW are also actually a fruit,) but you rarely hear of tomato plants referred to fruiting vines!
KendraSchmidt
Original Author
11 years ago
Noogy, thanks for the feedback. I've noticed that though the plants are still in the pots, they're starting to get quite long and flopping over the fence where I have them lined up, waiting for planting.

Since they're actually large shrubs, how should they be planted? I read somewhere that someone used a "4-wire" arrangement, four wires attached to two posts/stakes in the ground. How does this work then? Do I just allow the berries "vine" to flop over the wires? Is there anything that I should be doing it give it support?
Bradybb WA-Zone8
11 years ago
Wow,are we talking about Blueberries or Blackberries?
Noogy
11 years ago
Plant blueberry bushes 4-5'feet apart. 3' away from fence. They might be reaching for light thus floppy. No wires needed, fulll sun. Can you take a picture and post your plants please?
I want to see exactly what you have as regular names are sometimes used interchangeably.
Noogy
KendraSchmidt
Original Author
11 years ago
Bradybb, I can't believe I've been saying "blueberry" all of this time when i meant BLACKBERRY. AUGGHHHH.

I think I'll restart this thread and ask specifically about BLACKBERRY VINES. Thank you for catching that.
edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28
11 years ago
How about just 'blackberries,' they're not usually referred to as vines. If anything, as mentioned above, they grow canes.

Nice catch Bradybb!

Question about Planting Blueberry Vines

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edweather USDA 9a, HZ 9, Sunset 28

ericwi

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