Blueberries

[HawkinsHollow]

This is our second season with Blueberries. Lost 3 of our 6 bushes last year, probably didn't water them enough in the fall when it got so dry. I am going to try not to repeat that this year. They say you are supposed to pick the buds off them the first year so they grow less berries to allow them to use that energy to grow a better root structure, does anyone subscribe to that theory?

 

[MossRoad]

How do you keep the birds away?
We have a hopped raised bed. With the black netting, but because of snow we have to remove it in the winter and have to replace it the next season!

Any one have any suggestions on doing it another way?
View attachment 864490

Could you roll it up on a long piece of PVC? That's what we did with the sides on our greenhouse plastic for ventilation in summer, but I see no reason it wouldn't work with netting just as well.

 

[paulsharvey]

I have 3 large bushes that I have basically neglected, that have grown to about 12 ft tall; that I got probably 15 years ago, and planted about 5 ft from the house. I guess I didn't think they would get that big... Anyways, they stay well watered by the roof drip line. Tried to start more bushes, away from the house, several times; and never had any thrive. Very sandy soil, and it's hard to get them enough water to thrive, without a constant irrigation source.

 

[MossRoad]

We put drip irrigation under our blueberry bushes and they get watered automatically just like all of our flowers, vegetables, hanging baskets, planters, etc...

 

[Sigarms]

How do you keep the birds away?
We have a hopped raised bed. With the black netting, but because of snow we have to remove it in the winter and have to replace it the next season!

Any one have any suggestions on doing it another way?
View attachment 864490

Going to be more interesting this year because they are getting so much taller. We have a set up like yours with the PVC, but our garden fence isn't as tall.

 

[Rustyiron]

This is our second season with Blueberries. Lost 3 of our 6 bushes last year, probably didn't water them enough in the fall when it got so dry. I am going to try not to repeat that this year. They say you are supposed to pick the buds off them the first year so they grow less berries to allow them to use that energy to grow a better root structure, does anyone subscribe to that theory?

I'm no expert, but sacrificing a dozen berries this year for better roots and plant feeding next year makes sense.

 

[ponytug]

How do you keep the birds away?
We have a hopped raised bed. With the black netting, but because of snow we have to remove it in the winter and have to replace it the next season!

Any one have any suggestions on doing it another way?
View attachment 864490

I upgraded to the woven polyethylene game bird / aviary netting meant for game keeping. It is much more durable, at least in our experience.

Like this;

Amazon.com

All the best,

Peter

 

[Torvy]

We get almost 48 inches of rain annually (plus a couple of inches of snow.)

Monthly goes from 5 inches in May to 2.6 in August. 1 in 4 days (roughly) has rain.

Thunderstorm as I type this.

We need to supplement at times, but once plants are established, they are good with what God provides most of the time.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

I'm no expert, but sacrificing a dozen berries this year for better roots and plant feeding next year makes sense.

Well its too late, I forgot to pluck the flowers and now they are full of blueberries. So I am just going to let it ride.

 

[Gem99ultra]

This is our second season with Blueberries. Lost 3 of our 6 bushes last year, probably didn't water them enough in the fall when it got so dry. I am going to try not to repeat that this year. They say you are supposed to pick the buds off them the first year so they grow less berries to allow them to use that energy to grow a better root structure, does anyone subscribe to that theory?

Absolutely. Don't let it make berries the first year... or more.

 

[DarkBlack]

Well it’s too late, I forgot to pluck the flowers and now they are full of blueberries. So I am just going to let it ride.

No worries. I planted way too many bushes , to hand pinch all the early years blossoms, and my bushes turned out fine.

 

[JimRB]

I got two switches maybe 10 years ago when someone from work got 4 switches and only wanted two. My surviving bush is about 4-5 feet tall with decent yields. Last year I would pick berries and spiders. Never had so many bugs as last year. My mom 40 miles north has a different variety that seems to yield a bit earlier. unfortunately someone (not me or her) pruned back too much so her yield will be lower this year.

We do nothing. We have a dog in a fenced yard. Deer do not visit the yard. They will pass through the horse pastures knocking down hot wire. At Mom's the deer will eat things in the yard, not sure that we have lost blueberries though.

We live around metro Atlanta. Soil tends towards acidic.

 

[oosik]

When we lived in Alaska we had a type of blueberry. They were wild and the bushes grew 3 to 4 feet high.

Harvest them the way the natives do. Bend the bush over a card board box and thump on the main stem with a stick. The ripe berries fall into the box. Two and a half gallons per hour was not unusual.

Get them home. Set up a wool blanket on a incline. Roll the berried down the wool blanket. The trash will stick to the wool blanket - the berries roll on by.

 

[paulsharvey]

I thought it was this thread, but I can't find it now; wasn't someone talking about 'fall producing black berries'? I know I saw/read/heard recently something about them; but had never seen anything before about a fall producing berry. Even did some reading on the UF/IFAS site, and nothing. I would be interesting if there is such an plant.

 

[ponytug]

I don't think it was here.

You might look or ask around for "ever bearing" varieties, but I don't know what grows well in your area. I have heard that "Darrow" and "Freedom Prime Ark" produce berries into the fall.

All the best,

Peter

 

[oosik]

A point to remember regarding wild berries of any type. Bears do not share berry patches well. More than once we vacated a patch and bowed to the superior power.

 

[paulsharvey]

I don't think it was here.

You might look or ask around for "ever bearing" varieties, but I don't know what grows well in your area. I have heard that "Darrow" and "Freedom Prime Ark" produce berries into the fall.

All the best,

Peter

It seems Arapaho, Chickasaw, and Oklawaha are the primary recommended cultivars around here for black berries due to chilling hours.

 

[MossRoad]

I thought it was this thread, but I can't find it now; wasn't someone talking about 'fall producing black berries'? I know I saw/read/heard recently something about them; but had never seen anything before about a fall producing berry. Even did some reading on the UF/IFAS site, and nothing. I would be interesting if there is such a plant.

No help on blackberries, but we have yellow raspberries that produce once crop in the fall on that year's canes, a small crop the following spring/early summer, and another crop in the fall, then die.

 

[DarkBlack]

I thought it was this thread, but I can't find it now; wasn't someone talking about 'fall producing black berries'? I know I saw/read/heard recently something about them; but had never seen anything before about a fall producing berry. Even did some reading on the UF/IFAS site, and nothing. I would be interesting if there is such an plant.

I think Stark Bros used to market a couple of them

 

[jyoutz]

I thought it was this thread, but I can't find it now; wasn't someone talking about 'fall producing black berries'? I know I saw/read/heard recently something about them; but had never seen anything before about a fall producing berry. Even did some reading on the UF/IFAS site, and nothing. I would be interesting if there is such a plant.

I have fall bearing raspberries. IDK about blackberries. If you plant either, try to find a primocane variety, not flouricane. Primocane varieties bear from new canes annually, allowing you to cut the canes to the ground in the winter and start with new canes growing from the roots. It allows you to burn the old canes that might harbor insects or disease.