Blueberries

[Gianna]

Not being able to collect rainwater in some places is insane IMO. And when there is a drought, that makes it even more crazy.

Here, our water district periodically buys some water from other locations and it's brought in via the state water system. That makes it even more difficult to know what minerals, chlorine, etc is in the water. Not that I believe it's tainted or anything, but it's just not uniform, and that makes it difficult when growing something as finicky as blueberries.

[steev]

Now, now; just chill. I think rainwater collection restriction is enshrined somewhere in the Second Amendment, along with the right of the loony to own as many guns, of any sort, as they can afford. It's not about common sense; it's about "Homeland Security".

[prairiegarden]

I have some lingonberries coming and was told they'd be happy in pure peat moss so that's what they'll be getting. Tiny plants and slow growing they said, so shouldn't be much of a problem for a while anyway. Anyone know if they are water lovers too? If so may need to adjust plans a little, forgot to ask the nursery.

[steev]

Aren't they similar to cranberries in habit?

[prairiegarden]

I've never grown cranberries either . These things are pretty tough, grow in zone 2 I think, so for some reason thought they were more like an alpine rather than a bog plant..showing my ignorance here, I have always assumed alpines grew in gravelly rocky soil and were sorta drought tolerant. Seems t'ain't so for lingonberries. ah well, they're coming, ready or not, so will revamp things to try to make a more hospitable environment for them.

Like Joseph, I have had no success with blueberries but these are smaller plants so a special spot for them should be easier to manage. Someone mentioned haskap or honeyberry.. they are much less fussy about soil and they are getting better and better, the newer cultivars are really very tasty.  Some of the older ones tended to be a bit  bitter if they weren't dead ripe and even then sometimes. If you get the right cultivar they are..not the same as blueberries, but equally good in their own right.

[mskrieger]

Growing blueberries, cranberries and lingonberries is no big trick around here--they're wild. I can fill you in on natural conditions--

Cranberries are bog plants. In their native habitat (Maine) they grow in bogs or areas that get flooded a lot. Don't need to be flooded, but do need moist, acid soil.

Blueberries (northern highbush types) grow wild on the edges of ponds, lakes and streams (the best berry-picking areas usually get decent sunlight, >6hr/day.) They sit in sandy soil but their roots can always reach down into the well-watered area. Like to be near white pine (so do cranberries) but will be fine in the usual oak-hickory/maple-birch complex with occasional evergreens. Again, we have a lot of sandy loams (pH just below 6, typically) sitting over moist-wet clay subsoil--that's what you want. The U-Pick places grow them in great rows in full sun on the slopes of hills with sandy loam. I suspect they irrigate, though I haven't looked closely.

Good luck!

[richardw]

The soil here is also on the alkaline side at 6.8, in the past blueberries have done poorly which is why ive turn my sites to growing Haskaps. Thats good idea using pine needles toomanyirons , fortunately there are plenty of pine forests in my area, so maybe it worth a try again.

[steev]

Amending the soil and mulching heavily with pine needles, oak leaves, and such should do the trick, but maybe work it in one or two years to get a patch well-acidified before spending for plants.

[steev]

I agree that wild blueberries are superior to domesticated, but they're nearly 100% bought by the baking industry, since the larger domestics leave wet voids.

Twenty-some years ago, I took care of a yard one Summer, where there were ~25 different domestic cultivars; I'd never before seen them growing in Cali; these days, they're standard nursery stock and do well in the Bay Area.

[richardw]

Before we bought this block of land we rented a house that had a area 2X the size of a tennis court in both highbush and rabbiteye varieties,it was fully netted over to stop birds and it was a free for all, i really miss have all that fruit, we must have frozen 100+kgs a year which kept us going all winter.

[jondear]

My uncle has about 40 acres of wild, low bush blueberries here in Maine. He claims you need to add sulfur the soil to get down below a 5 pH to get good crops and to help with weed pressure. Although he sprays a bunch of unsavory crap on his fields like almost every other grower around to control weeds.

Neil Kinseys book says blueberries grow best with the same level of nutrients and minerals as almost every other crop. I wish I could get my uncle to follow his advice on even a small field to see if he could get better production.

[steve1]

Just had the thought about grafting blueberries over to a wild relative without the acidity requirement. Florida state uni appears to be trying this with sparkleberry. Has anyone else tried this approach?

[khoomeizhi]

Blueberries grow well where I am, so I haven't, but it's a reasonable idea. A lot of the roseaceous stuff is pretty inter-graftable.

[mskrieger]

toomanyirons your story makes me smile...have you ever read "Blueberries for Sal"?

[steev]

Hasn't every parent?