There was a guy in Texas who posted here named "Blueboy" search for his posts he grew many different varieties in ground and pots I believe. Southern high-bush are regarded as better tasting than rabbiteye

You will not be able to use tap water to water the plants. The tap water in that part of Texas will probably be well water which will raise the pH. Use rainwater instead. Sunshine blue is a dwarf blueberry that only gets about 3 to 4 foot tall and is pretty productive. The problem with southern highbush is they want to start blooming in February. It would be best to put the blueberries in large pots with a mix of one part perlite, one part peat moss and one part pine bark. You might be able to find expanded shale that would take the place of perlite. Sunshine blue can tolerate less acid soil than some of the others.

If you are going to put them in the ground use the native sand, compost. and peat moss to try and get the pH low enough. Put them in a raised bed. They like to be kept moisture but not wet. The rabbit eye will probably work better than the SHB. I heard ONeal cannot tolerate higher pH.

My water source is a local creek. I'll test it, not sure what it is. I will be doing a raised bed and I can control what goes into it completely.

So, if I go with SHB If they bloom in Feb. I assume I would have to protect them from any frost from that point on?

If I go with rabbit-eye, can I keep it pruned to a smaller size?

The water is 7.8. I think I may skip trying to do blueberries at this timel.

Linda,

Though I have grown more than 20 different blueberry (bb) varieties including both Rabbiteye (RE) and southern high bush (SHB) in Texas (about 3 hours down south from where you are), I do not have any of your RE or SHB variety so I can not comment or recommend on those varieties. However, as far as your area availability for one bb plant, if you can find, get a Sweet-Crisp variety, it is SHB type and it is the best tasting bb. It is very sweet, crisp like apple, and berry size is large. My other favorite SHB is Farthing. I have not tasted Brightwell RE variety but I have heard this is the best tasting RE variety. I like the taste of Vernon and Pink Lemonade in RE varieties. FYI, all RE and SHB tolerate Texas heat. As far as frost protection, the plant itself does not need to be protected from frost but if the plant is blooming prior to last frost, you will not get berries that year and that is why we chose late bloomers like Vernon (in February), Ka-bluey and OnSlow (both in March). The most productive varieties are Emerald, Jewel, and Farthing.

I am growing all my bb plants in 15-25 gallon pots using 5-1-1 ratio of composted pine bark mulch (purple bag from Walmart)-peat moss-perlite. Nothing else in the medium. Blueberry is acid loving plant that has shallow root and therefore it likes its root moist but not forgiving for dry root nor like wet feet. Water pH is not the issue for bb plants as long as the water does not have high bicarbonate content. Our city water has high bicarbonate and I treat the water with sulfuric acid to lower the pH to 5 before watering when I run out of collected rain water. Probably your creek water does not have high bicarbonate. Rain water is the best way to water bb plants. Bb does not require high amount of fertilizer and very low dose of fertilizer is best for it. However, it does not do well with nitrate nitrogen and potassium chloride in its fertilizer, if chemical fertilizer is used. Organic fertilizer like Holly Tone or simple cotton seed meal and fish fertilizer are also great ones for bb. Good luck!

Linda,

inkfin is correct that it is the level of bicarbonates that matter for pH. If the level is less than 92 ppm, it is ideal. Between 92 and 153 is marginal and over 153 ppm the water will need to be adjusted with sulfuric (battery) acid.

Blueberries can take a frost without damaging the fruit. It is when the temperature falls below 30 degrees that you will get damage. People north of you have good luck with southern highbush and rabbiteye but most put them in containers and leave them in an unheated garage. If you put them on the south side of the house it will help with any freeze damage.

I do have a semi dwarf rabbiteye called Desoto that is suppose to grow to between 4 and 6 feet. It has a higher chill requirement of 600 and is suppose to bloom a little later. It is in its first year so I have not tasted the berries. The best tasting blueberry is sweepcrisp southern highbush. It is moderately productive and is difficult to prune. You should be able to keep all the blueberry bushes under 6 feet with pruning. The sprout new canes from the bottom each year and the older canes have to been pruned out because they get tall and unproductive.

Thank you, everyone!

I think from a pH stand point your should be ok. 6.0 is close and peat is 4.5 so mixed together it should work. The creek water may be ok and if not only a couple of drops per gallon would probably fix it. Using fertilizer for acid loving plants like Miracle grow Meriacid or ammonium (not aluminum) sulfate (21-0-0) may be enough to keep pH low enough. Apply Ammonium Sulfate at a rate of 1 teaspoon per 2 gallons of water. Most people in your area have a higher pH. It is easier to change pH in a sandy soil than clay. Clay soil keeps trying to go back to the old pH levels.

The only other real problem you have to tackle is the early blooming. They do bloom over a long period (2 or 3 weeks at least). I read on Scotts fruit forum that someone up north had a southern highbush that bloomed in December, blooms froze and then in March it bloomed again. I have heard of damage to fruit at 27 degrees. I have had heavy frost and temperatures down to about 30 degrees and had not damage to the fruit.

I would construct a PVC frame that could be assembled and put over the bushes when it got cold late after blooming. You could put frost blankets over it with a heat source (small heater or light) and you would be ok. There are not that many freezes in March and April.

I would set up the raised bed this summer and plan to plant either in fall or early spring. You could even try and plant some spinach in the bed this fall. If it does poorly, you know that the pH is below 5.5 and good for blueberries. Spinach will not grow well in low pH soils.

As previously stated, acidifying tap water is not necessary for blueberries. I use Dr Earth Acid Lovers blend monthly and 8+pH tap water without any trouble for over six years. I'm not sure if growing them in a raised bed is the best idea, as drainage and rising pH issues can occur. Truth be told they are dead easy in containers. All gardening is local, so I can't speak to the best varieties for your area. Misty, Sunshine Blue, and Emerald are all winners here.

I use to live about one hour west of where Linda lives. You could hold a glass up to the light and see the calcium deposits floating in the water. It would crust up around the faucets. Using this type of water would quickly kill a blueberry plant. I do not acidify my tap water because it is very low in bicarbonates. PH is not really a good indicator of how much it will change pH. It can be a moving target. Ph of soil will change significantly in soil depending on the moisture content of the soil when sample was taken.

A raised bed will drain better than planting at ground level. It will also allow for bringing in better draining soil and amendments such as peat moss. I have to plant on raised beds because of lack of drainage. It also provides a buffer from the Bermuda grass.

I did get my first Desoto Rabbiteye Blueberry. It was just one berry but it had a good flavor. It is the first growing season so it only has about 6 berries.

I did read on another forum that someone is growing blueberries in Georgia zone 7b/8a. He is in his second year and has made a good crop. It looked like they were rabbiteye but he did not say. They were on a raised bed. The plants looked good and it did not appear he has any freeze protection.