Blueberry bush not developing berries

I bought a small blueberry bush this year and planted it in the garden. I don't really think it's suited to the area but I thought I'd give it a try.

It looked relatively healthy when I first got it, with a few flowers. I planted it in the sunniest spot I had and it seemed to take quite well, lots of flowers and the start of a decent number of berries (or so I thought).

Now, however, I've noticed that the berries aren't developing. The stem just dries up and falls off without the berry actually forming and I'm not sure why. The plant seems otherwise healthy.

Does it take a couple of years for blueberry bushes to get settled? Do I not have enough insects pollinating the flowers? I have no idea what's going on. I know my soil isn't ideal for blueberry bushes (high clay content) but wouldn't the whole plant be unhealthy if it was the soil?

If you just planted it this year I wouldn't worry too much, plants like to take time to get their roots going before they do much else. I think most blueberries will produce some fruit all on their own, but I think many of them will produce more/better fruit if you have a second plant so it might be worth investing in a second one, or doing some research on the particular cultivar you have to see if it produces well on its own. I still wouldn't expect much this year though even if you had a second one, making fruit takes a lot of energy and if it's working on getting its roots going it probably doesn't have extra energy for fruits.

Thanks, I kind of suspected that it might need some time to get established before I would get berries. It is growing new leaves, so does seem to have taken well.

Never occurred to me to get a second plant, though. Does it need to be right next to the first one or is it better to put it at a distance?

I'm not sure which variety I have - the perils of buying plants at Superstore. The tag said only "Blueberry". I'll have to go back and see if I can find out some more info.

I'd put it next to the one you have--allow enough room in between for them to grow to their mature width though so they're not crammed up into each other. I don't know how far apart they can be and still get good cross-pollination, but definitely planting them next to each other would work. My grandma used to have a beautiful row of blueberry bushes in her yard and would get TONS of blueberries from them. When they do get around to fruiting you'll also probably need to rig up some bird netting over them if you want to keep the berries--if you leave them unprotected the birds will get the majority of them.

Some blueberries can self-pollinate, but most need to cross-pollinate. You should look for a different variety in order to do the best cross-pollinating. If you aren't sure what you have and you have the room, just get two more of different varieties.

One thing to check. Blue berries need an acid soil. Ph 4.5 -5. They sulk badly if Ph gets above 5.5.

that is exactly what happened when i planted mine. Second year i had a good crop. it was just getting established. i used fertilizer for acid loving plants, kept well watered, had three varieties planted closely, and planted some other small "urn" shaped flowers (cerinthe) to attract the wild bees that pollinate blueberries. Good luck i think blueberries are so fun to grow. I think the acid fertilizer is key. i had a very small crop when i neglected to do this. good luck.

ps the birds dont steel them my toddler does he says they are good when they are unripe, strawberries too!

Thanks everyone for all the tips! I will have to go and get a couple more bushes.

I don't know the precise Ph of my soil, but apparently typical soil around here is neutral to alkaline (around 7.0), so I'll have to look for some good acid fertilizer.

I do add coffee grounds to my garden soil, which is supposed to increase the acidity, and I put some around the blueberry bush right after I planted it, which may have helped.

Thanks again! I am looking forward to a nice crop of fresh blueberries in a year or two!

Coffee grounds won't really help much with your soil pH--coffee is acidic, but most of the acidity comes out in the brewing process so the grounds aren't going to change your soil pH much. They're still an organic material, and adding organic material to garden beds is always a good thing so they can be beneficial, just don't rely on them to change your pH.

Moved my blueberry plant this spring and it's doing beautifully. Judging from how easy it was to dig up, it never really settled where it was (too shady, I think). There were no roots outside the original dirt ball.

We've been lucky enough to have a very hot, very early spring so I took a chance and moved it into the sunniest part of my garden a week ago. It appears to be thriving now, although I do not yet have a second plant to cross-pollinate with. That's next on the list!