A common mistake is to try to fill a hole for a tree with non-native soil. As pointed out above, this can create a "bowl" where water will collect and drown the roots. It can also cause a problem with the tree not wanting to send roots out into the native soil. Dig the hole wider than deep, mix in a bit of amendments, but primarily use the native soil to fill back in. Re blueberries in pots, I would highly suggest reading another long thread on pot mixes. Container Soils - Water Movement and Retention XIX As I've played around this spring with various mixes in setting up blueberries in pots, the principles in that thread have been very useful in creating a mix that keeps the roots moist, but doesn't drown the roots. As Bradybb suggested, I've settled on a mix that is primarily composted pine bark fines of an appropriate size mix to provide an appropriate balance between moisture retention and adequate drainage. Adjust the amount of peat moss to adjust moisture retention. The bark and peat mix will start you off with the right pH for a healthy plant.

Hi Andy_Levine- Good to hear back from you. As many people here know, I'm on a bit of a crusade these days to steer people away from the Bonide Fruit Tree Spray. When I first started coming to this forum, people told me to stay away from it, but I didnÂt understand why, nor what the alternatives were. 1.) The part that IÂm most mad about is that they say it works on CAR, when its active ingredients are ineffective on CAR. I know people who sprayed this stuff 15 times in a season attempting to fight CAR when thereÂs no way it ever could. Many a people have lost a lot of time, money, and tree due to this blatant mislabeling IMHO. 2.) Because itÂs a combination spray, itÂs having you spray other chemicals that you donÂt need. ItÂs much better and more effective to target your individual pests and diseases. 3.) The ingredients that it does have are not present in sufficient quantities to be effective anyway. (This from other experts, like Don, here on this forum) The only thing I wonder if itÂs effective (for me anyway) on is for that time when the apples first start to form, until they are bagged. It may be protecting me at that time, but even with that, the jury is still out and itÂs debatable. (IÂve just purchased some Permethrin to take over that role) My advice to you would be to throw that crap away. Then, pay close attention to your trees. And, when you see something that you donÂt like, and donÂt understand, do some research, and come to this forum and ask questions. Many people here are happy to help. Yeah, itÂs funny how early the sprays happen. You look at the tree during bloom time and it looks so beautiful and peaceful. ItÂs hard to believe that this is the time when some of the serious diseases are just starting to get going. By the time we actually see the damaged caused by the diseases, itÂs usually too late to do anything about it. ItÂs actually nice that it works out this way it means that if youÂre willing to bag your apples, youÂre not doing any sprays when there are actually apples on the tree. That makes me feel safer about the spraying. Good luck, -Glenn

Find another nursery :-) Apple scab is not well controlled (if at all) by dormant sprays. It needs a fungicide applied during the time weather conditions are conducive to its development, generally during mild, wet springs but avoiding when the blossoms are present. At this time of year, the best you can do is practice the proper garden sanitation as jean suggests. There is no such thing as a "disease free" plant and even more so with most fruit trees. That is like saying there are disease free humans.........:-) There are fruit varieties that tend to be more disease resistant than others but problems can still occur. Keeping plants in the best cultural health can help but it is even more important to get ones well-suited to your location. Not all fruit tree varieties work equally well in all areas. And I have never heard of a nursery that would guarantee its plants against any sort of diseases or refund those that may contract a disease down the road - s**t happens and nurseries have no control over that! Check with your local extension service for what fruit tree varieties are best for your area. And then double check those against listed as disease resistant. I've attached an apple scab link for review. FWIW, scab is not usually a huge problem. While it can affect the appearance of the fruit, any blemishes are typically only on the surface and do not affect the fruit itself. It is more troublesome to the foliage, as a severe infestation can promote early leaf drop and repeated years of this can seriously weaken the tree. Gravenstein is my favorite home orchard apple variety and it is extremely prone to scab. I never sprayed my tree and it had only minimal early leaf drop and the fruit was perfectly edible. It is quite possible to grow fruit organically (without spraying) if you select the correct cultivars, tolerate some imperfection and maintain your garden tidily. Here is a link that might be useful: IPM for apple scab

Thank you, tsugajunkie. That's interesting about the rust you learned about, maybe causing little damage to the firs AND causing, though, yellowing of the needles. Both what I think tends to be the case with the one I'm involved with, the witches broom fungus (Pucciniastrum goeppertianum, scientifically. Maybe that pathologist in fact would know some key things I'm aiming to learn about. Of course or at least not surprisingly, there 'are' other rust diseases of fir trees. One, I read, has the Latin name Uredinopsis pteridis, and between its producing spores that can be cream colored (or white_) AND that the needles affected may naturally tend to turn brownish as they wither or die, I imagine the overall effect on the appearance of the affected firs, could be "yellowing" in this second disease, too. With the witches broom disease, the spores themselves on the fir cohost, seem to be reported to to be yellow colored. I'm not too familiar with the actual appearance of the symptoms on the fir tree end, of witches broom, including how (if there is a way_) to clearly spot it on firs. Wish I was, though, (maybe someone here knows or has tips?), because I'm thinking right now that I may be ready to try to in fact get started with conclusive testing of my candidate blueberry immunity (to the disease_) specimens! Home testing for now, right in a spare room I have which has a big sunlit window. Online pictures seem to tend to show mostly just little growths (spore cases and such, I think_) as what shows in general on infected spruce needles (except maybe, I think, at actual times of big release of the spores, when the spores themselves as they're being released, possibly add some color and noticeability). Here in wintertime, of course it's probably unlikely to be spore-release time, so, so far at least I'm thinking I'm going to sort of be having to , first, search for some somewhat damaged-looking needles or branchlets (a little yellowed or browned_) and then look very closely at the needles themselves and see if there are any of the little dot-like or nib-like growths growths on them. And if some little balsams do seem to have those growths, take them home and study some more to see if any of the balsams do in truth appear to have the disease. If so, then as soon as the blueberries have enough chill hours to bring inside (chill time needed or else they might not be able to sprout into growth once brought inside_)then--I think I've decided--time to begin the "final" testing! And of course continued study of the overall matter.