Blueberries

[Torvy]

Good Evening Torvy,


I planted 6 bushes about 10 or 12 years ago. They have been good producers !

We have concrete reinforcment mesh I am using as a fence. About 5ft high. My biggest problem are the birds. I have been very tempted to throw some mesh over them when the berries come out !

I have done virtually nothing to promote growth. Now the grand kids are getting interested in picking them in the fall, so I may put in a few more bushes !

No grands yet. My boys and their SOs don't seem interested in kids. My daughters will probably have some eventually. They are both early 20s.

I saw a video about netting. One trick was to keep the netting far enough off of the plants so the birds don't just perch on it and pull the berries through. I tend to not think of those obvious issues until after. For now we have the netting on top to discourage the deer. Once berries set, we need to cover the sides, too or birds will just fly right in and snack.

 

[jyoutz]

No grands yet. My boys and their SOs don't seem interested in kids. My daughters will probably have some eventually. They are both early 20s.

I saw a video about netting. One trick was to keep the netting far enough off of the plants so the birds don't just perch on it and pull the berries through. I tend to not think of those obvious issues until after. For now we have the netting on top to discourage the deer. Once berries set, we need to cover the sides, too or birds will just fly right in and snack.

If you make circles from concrete reinforcing mesh to encircle the bush, you can wrap plastic netting around the wire. Then unwrap the netting and just reach through the large squares in the mesh to pick berries. I use the concrete reinforcing mesh for tomato support towers and can easily reach through to pick tomatoes.

 

[Silvia]

Something to file away for the future……….when your berries start getting small after a half dozen years you will have to cut out the 5 year or older canes to the bottom. (It took me about 30 years to discover this)

 

[Torvy]

Here's the view this morning from aboard the tractor.

 

[forgeblast]

We just planted 4 new blueberry bushes. 4 different varieties. 2 pair that pollinate each other.

For now we jury-rigged some fencing out of old t-posts and used 4' welded wire. Ran some bird netting over the top. I'm a little concerned about the deer getting into them.

Our soil out here is sandy loam and is on the acidic side, which is supposed to be good for blueberries. Mrs. T loves the berries and their supposed to be good for you.

Anyone else grow blueberries? Any advice or suggestions?

deer and rabbits will decimate them. use holy tone early spring as a feed. then after they bloom. try to keep them to about 6 main branches if they are high bush. undyed double ground hardwood much is what we use around them. Also drip irrigation.

 

[Smokeydog]

Have to admit I’m a blueberry bear. Freeze a minimum of 4 gallons up to 13 gallons per year. Biggest predator is turkeys. Move a coyote decoy daily helps. Not only scares them but also attracts coyotes that help keep the deer and other critters away.

Had a golden retriever that could pick about as fast as me!

Have lost or severely damaged young plants from bucks rubbing on them in fall after berry season.

Some of my 50year old plants are starting to die.

Mulch helps to keep them hydrated.

 

[DarkBlack]

Interesting to see how different the blueberry predation issue varies so wildly by location. The above post reminded me I forgot to include turkey. It would rank around #5 on my list. They end up shaking more onto the ground than they actually eat

 

[Torvy]

Interesting to see how different the blueberry predation issue varies so wildly by location. The above post reminded me I forgot to include turkey. It would rank around #5 on my list. They end up shaking more onto the ground than they actually eat

You mentioned bees as #1? They pollinate the berries around here. I found nothing saying bees harm them. Can you elaborate?

 

[DarkBlack]

You mentioned bees as #1? They pollinate the berries around here. I found nothing saying bees harm them. Can you elaborate?

The last few years, I’ve lost approximately 1/3 of my crop to honey bees eating the berries. I’ll get thousands of them coming into the bushes when they’re ripe. I’ve got a neighbor not too far away, with hives. I’m guessing they’re his bees. Being honey bees, there’s nothing I can do, other than try to harvest them earlier than optimum, and also do it while they’re ruining the berries.

I’ve read of another grower experiencing the same situation. I don’t know anything about bee psychology, or what environmental conditions makes them want to exhibit this behavior, but I imagine there’s more cases out there, but of course it’s not a popular subject to broadcast , since honey bees are in decline, and as such, we are always wanting to portray them in a positive light.

When mine are flowering, my pollination is getting done mainly by bumblebees, with a few honeybees, paper wasps and flies thrown in. It’s usually too cold and/or windy for the honeybees

 

[Smokeydog]

Rare to see honeybees in our blueberry patch. Their flowers are too long and tubular for them to reach. Mostly pollinated by bumblebee and carpenter bees. The later cheat usually by piercing the side of the flower to reach the nectar with less pollination. Bumblebees are better cold weather pollinators.

Some Yellowjackets and wasps on over ripe fruit.

Birds, other than turkeys, usually not too bad. Occasional squirrel.