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Vegetable Gardening

Blueberry Plant Dying-Help???

7 years ago

Heya,

I am at a
zone 6b – southeast Michigan/Canada.
This is my first season/year gardening so I'm really new.

So I bought
two blueberry plants. They were healthy
at the time! Anyway, I was gonna place
them in a container – then someone convinced me to plant them into the ground.

I tilled the
soil and used sphagnum moss (to acidify the soil) + some potting mix. Then I added a sustained release acid loving
fertilizer.

Anyway,
plant has been doing worse each day. The
plant (first picture) that's more exposed to the sun is doing worse than the
one that gets shaded in the afternoon (because of the fence). Not sure if that's the factor. I looked under the leaves, no signs of an
infection.

The
blueberries that were bit and once healthy (almost ripe)… have shriveled into
raisins L

What am I
doing wrong? Any advice?

Thanks!!

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Comments (4)

digdirt2
7 years ago
You'll have your best luck at getting info over on the Fruits & Orchards forum here.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/fruit

Dave
0
zzackey
7 years ago
Are you watering the foliage? It looks quite wet. I would put regular acidic fertilizer on there and take off the spagnum moss. That retains moisture. They don't want to be wet all of the time.
0
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Good potting soil is critical. A poor soil can hold too much water, essentially drowning your plants (starving them of oxygen). Watering on a daily basis or any sort of schedule can also be very detrimental - you need to water when the plants need it or when the soil is dry. Consistantly watering already fully saturated soil only exacerbates the problem. Without knowing more details about the type of potting soil and the size pots involved, I'd guess that overwatering is likely the culprit. Personally, I don't find moisture meters to be very accurate - I prefer to test the soil with the finger method (poke index finger down into the soil as far as you can - if the soil feels moist, you're good. If it feels dry, water) or by lifting the pot if a small container. A light, easy to lift pot is dry. I grow a lot of plants in containers - right now my ENTIRE garden consists of containers :-) But I do not have a need to water daily. I do check them all on a daily basis but water only as needed, maybe every third day. But I know how my potting soil works and most containers are quite large.
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FPL - blueberries are totally hardy in the Netherlands. Personally, I would put it outside right now. In due course yours needs to be in a much larger container if you want it to thrive. And it will need an acidic planting medium. Only plant in the ground if your garden soil is not alkaline. Don't prune anything off it until it is growing away well in the spring. At the moment you can't tell clearly which bits, if any, are dead. Just one of the many sites which deal with blueberries.
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Jean
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Your blueberry is thirsty. Very.

Blueberry roots are very shallow.

They need a mulch several inches deep, also consistent watering.

Perhaps this pub will offer some help: Growing Small Fruits at Home

http://msue.anr.msu.edu/resources/michigan_fresh_growing_small_fruits_at_home

Here's another: http://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/HYG-1422
0
Barrie, (Central PA, zone 6a)
7 years ago
Agree with Jean, but things are a bit more complex. I would have done a few things differently from the start. You should have verified a 5.0 or lower pH of the soil and never fertilized at planting. When planting barely cover the fibrous roots with soil, then add more acidic mulch and water well regularly. Also pick off all blossoms for first year.

Fruit are a drain to the plant so pick off any now, including green. If I were you I would dig up and pot these plants to allow you to nurture through the summer. Then reattempt to plant into soil after plants go dormant either this fall or early next spring. Otherwise you may lose the plants.
0

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