My Blueberries

[mjb8743]

mjb8743: How long can blueberry plants stay in 2.5 gallon pots?  My plants are in 25 gallon pots and do not foresee having to repot them

Is that twenty five or 2 1/2 gallon pots?? Mine are in 2 1/2 gallon for now, and my question was how much time do I have before they must be moved.

Mickie

[LeggoLamb]

I don't follow the conventional wisdom of potting up to the next size, I think monitoring the moisture level is more important (why should it be any different from being in the ground?).  I put some from whatever size they come in from Lowes/Home Depot into both earthboxes or about a 10 gallon pot which is all I had at the time.  I left the ones in earthboxes alone and repotted all the rest into 25 gallon pots I acquired on Craigslist. They are kinda cumbersome to move around but when filled mostly with pine bark they are much lighter than other planting media. Don't know if this answers your question intelligently, but that's how I am growing my blueberries. I also have 2 dwarf mango and 1 papaya in the same size pots.

[Deb]

mickie - Reply #45 - the video shows some that have been in 16" -18" pots for years and he says they will stay there.  How does that compare with 2.5 gallon?

I agree with LeggoLamb, keeping the water and media correct is the most important consideration.

Deb

[kathy]

Mickie,  at that 2.5 size are you doing somethng to protect the root zone from alternate freezing and thawing in the winter?

[mjb8743]

Mickie,  at that 2.5 size are you doing somethng to protect the root zone from alternate freezing and thawing in the winter?

I put the plants in those pots as a temporary emergency measure. That size is easy to move about. The soil is a mix of potting mix and pine bark mulch. I added acidifier, and have kept them watered. Monthly they get fertilized with azalea fertilizer. Of the 19 plants, I expect about half to be worthy of saving... some are just struggling along... they were iffy to start with.

For the winter, once they go dormant, I can store them in my basement, but am unsure about any care during that dark 45-55 degree time. Can they be allowed to go dry?

My other question concerns winter after they go into permanent 12-15 gallon pots... is that enough to just leave them? I have 4 decorative 1/2 barrel pots for the Sunshine Blue & Tophat varieties, and 15 gallon pots I intended to sink into my crappy ground. My original intent was to line my long driveway with in-ground hi-bush blueberries and raspberries, but now, I think I would need to get someone to backhoe a trench for that.

This is a learn-as-I-go endeavor... any advice for this fickle climate zone is much appreciated.

Mickie

[LeggoLamb]

For a line of in-ground blueberries you might consider a raised bed filled with your pine bark/potting mix, especially since the root system spreads more than it goes downward.  I have read where some farmers down here just pile the pine bark on the ground and plant directly into it. I have only one in the ground planted in a hard shell pond liner with the bottom cut out then filled with pine bark - the liner keeps all the good stuff in and the "useless" stuff out.

[Tania]

Wow Mickie, you sure have it tough!  My Blueberry plants don't know the meaning of the word "Dormant" at all! After the fruiting season, the grow new growth, then in late October they begin to bloom again and the fruit starts to grow and more blooming continues through the fall, fruit grows thru winter and in spring I can start picking again. Then the whole cycle starts all over!

[grandmamac]

My dwarf blueberries are in large glazed pots and are doing well in their third year. We had two severe [for us] winters and they came through well although they lost their leaves. Last winter was largely mild and wet and they both kept their leaves. I pull them up onto the step next to the patio windows in the winter but haven't used any other protection. The berries are still green but we've had little sun and warmth this year so far.

I know winters can be much more severe in some places but the glazing on the terracotta pots adds protection and also helps moisture levels as it's not permeable.

[Tania]

My dwarf blueberries are in large glazed pots and are doing well in their third year. We had two severe [for us] winters and they came through well although they lost their leaves. Last winter was largely mild and wet and they both kept their leaves. I pull them up onto the step next to the patio windows in the winter but haven't used any other protection. The berries are still green but we've had little sun and warmth this year so far.

I know winters can be much more severe in some places but the glazing on the terracotta pots adds protection and also helps moisture levels as it's not permeable.

I hope you don't have to wait long to eat blueberries!  It's hard for me to believe one can have enough with just two plants. I've heard 12 plants are the right amount for a family of 4. 12 plants don't suffice my 6 year old niece! lol!

[grandmamac]

I'm planning on some more. I'm going to move and will have a very sunny, sheltered corner between some brick entrance steps and a brick house wall. And I'm having an outside tap installed in the garage for watering.

This is when I put the new ones in EBs and front it with the two in pots and some other pots with sun loving plants. At the moment, they sit with a prostrate trailing dwarf hawthorn to the rear and an echinacea at the front. I have a lot of plants in pots now I'm older. So far Blue Pearl is ahead of Sunshine Blue in yield but I think it's a year older. I'm advised that the plants produce well after five or six years so I have three years to go yet .I can see that four or five would be more desirable.

It'll be interesting to see how the EB plants develop in comparison.