Blueberries

Has anyone tried successfully to grow blueberries in containers in Southern California? Any advice would be appreciated including where to purchase two or three Southern Highbush Blueberry plants. Also, any tips growing blueberries in containers would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Chuck

Hi Chuck,
I'm interested in this also. I picked up 3 2-gal pots at Roger's this last fall when they had them on sale half-price.....2 O'neill and one Jubilee. I finally got them into whiskey barrels a couple of months ago and I'm hoping they do well.
Sherry

Hi! Sherry,

I should have known that you would be trying this...LOL. You are always on top of everything about gardening. I have never heard of Roger's. Is it a nursery in Fallbrook? I don't mind paying full price if it is not too late in the Spring Season to plant. Are Jubilee and O'Neill Southern Highbush blueberries?

See you at the RU.

Take care,

Chuck

I found that I misspelled O'neill...it should be O'neal and yes, they're both southern highbush. I haven't been out looking lately to know who would or wouldn't have any in stock right now. Roger's is Roger's Gardens in Newport Beach. I'd been thinking about getting some and since they were on sale that was the time! I kinda think they're probably available year round, but I could be wrong.

I have got them already potted up (as late as June) from Batavia Gardens in Orange (at Ball and Batavia). Bought them there more than once! Also Laguna Hills Nursery (on Jeronimo near El Toro Road) sorta specializes in fruit.
http://home.att.net/~oc_crfg/berries-grapes.htm

Currently have O'Neal and Sharpblue and I think a no-name generic from OSH... in the past have also had one called Georgia Blue or maybe Georgia Gem, but I used to put them in wicking self-watering containers which they really didn't like (kept too moist all the time) so I lost some to that. Plus they are not extremely long-lived (at least not with the care I give them AKA neglect).

Anyway, Gary at Laguna Hills Nursery sells a light-but-acidic mix that is 50:50 pumice:PeatMoss. (Gary also has something of a crusade going against using wood products IN planting mix *for anything*. Compost should be used "on the surface where it belongs", is his opinion. Peat moss is aged long enough to behave as an inert material, at least his is.)

The older fellow at Batavia Gardens (name slips my mind just now) cautioned me (too late for SOME of my earlier blueberries!) about NOT using the self-watering types of containers, but letting the soil dry out somewhat between waterings. Oxygen needs to get to the roots; I think is the principle here.

I like having different cultivars because they tend to ripen at slightly different times.

~'spin!~ Editing to clarify "tips".

This message was edited May 3, 2007 8:42 PM

I decided to try buying the blueberries online. I found Stark Bros from another thread (I think). I checked the Garden Watchdog and there were no negative comments about blueberries there for Stark Bros. Instead, there were positive comments about these fruits. I ordered an O'Neal blueberry and a Misty Blueberry. I wanted to try the Misty Blueberry because I have heard good things about them while surfing the Internet. I ordered the O'Neal because you (Sherry) had it and I thought that it oughta be pretty good as a container plant. The customer service rep told me that both of them grew at least six feet tall. So apparently they are going to be Large Container Plants which is no problem. After all we have a potted Hawaiian Ti Plant in our living room that is at least eight feet tall. If this can live inside, I will give both of these a try on the patio. I probably could have bought the same plants larger at the same price at a local nursery but I am not going to sweat it.

Crystal and Sherry,

What kind of soil did you use in the pots when you planted the blueberries? I heard that it needs special acid soil. I had a link giving me a plan for the soil mixture. I will try to find it again on google.

Thanks,

Chuck

Well, I used a mix mentioned by someone on DG, but as 'spin mentioned,it's pine bark fines mix and I'm not sure I'm happy with this mixture. I normally add lime to counteract the acidity of the peat and bark fines, but since the blueberries want acid, I didn't. I guess I'll have to wait to see how this works out. I don't know which would be the best varieties, I assumed that whatever Roger's would be carrying would be good for our area and I'd heard of both. I hadn't done any research into opinions on which types to get. It was one of those spur of the moment decisions based mostly on the fact that they were on sale and DH saying,
"Shouldn't you get blueberries?"
Sherry

Hey, anytime DH actually tells you to buy a plant, you can't possibly pass up that opportunity! LOL

Yes,well,see...he has 'his' money and I have 'my' money....so he feels very free about encouraging me to buy whatever I want. He did not say,"let me get that for you". It has its ups and downs sides, being as we never know how much the other one has, he hopes I have a lot and I hope he has a lot and one of these days we're going to look at each other and say, "I'm broke,what about you?" When a friend married at 35 for the first time (hopefully only time, but you never know), she asked for one good piece of advice...my piece of advice for her was 'separate bank accounts'.

I agree, I think it's better that way if both people have some of their own money to spend as they like--probably eliminates a ton of fights!

I learned from my mother. When I was in my teens, it seemed as though every bank we passed, she'd say, "If anything ever happens to me, I have money in that bank."

I bought my southern highbush blueberries at Home Depot.

Chuck:
Sorry I haven't been reading DG daily (too much on plate with graduation week and other stuff) -- I used commercial azalea mix early on (but remember LOST some of those plants) and Laguna Hills mix later. My ONeals never more than 3-to-4 feet tall in a 15"-square pot. I think they would have to be VERY happy to get to 6', or possibly in a half-barrel planter... in fact I can't imagine it. Although in lower upstate NewYork (Delaware Co) I have picked high-bush blueberries from some pretty tall shrubs, I can't imagine it in a pot on MY patio (having had various cultivars but always an ONeal's, continuously for at least 15 years).

We have had blueberry pancakes twice (about 5 days apart, I think) mostly from the Sharpblue, which is being the heavy producer this spring... but SHARP in flavor and/or slow to finish ripening... that is, they LOOK blue, I pick them, they are tart. But that is okay to cook with (rather than eat-from-hand). I've been giving DH the Oneals to eat and putting the Sharpblue in the pancakes.

~'spin!~

Good for you! Your post makes me want to have the plants right now. (I just called and the delivery date is Wednesday). I wouldn't mind having four foot O'Neals at all. I didn't understand what you said about not putting them on your patio. They are a shrubby bush, right?

I know how you feel about being busy with graduations. My wife and daughter right now are planning a catered party in a Thai restaurant as my youngest daughter is graduating from Loma Linda University with her Bachelors' in Hospital Administration on June 10. The next weekend we will be up at Napa as my niece is graduating Pacific Union College with a Bachelors' in Psychology. The next weekend, we have a family reunion at Bullhead City AZ. I am trying to get my iodine radiation procedure the last week of June.

Thanks,

Chuck

Wow, you have more clubs in the air than me!

What I meant was, I couldn't imagine any of the blueberries I have or have had (over the 15 years in this house) "on my patio" -- getting to 6' tall! Even with the added height of the planter, only the farthest reaching (single) branches of any of them ever has gotten to 5' (i.e. the height of my chin), and that's probably counting 1' of planter.

My Oneal is in decline right now, I will probably replace (or at least supplement with another) later this year. The Sharpblue is being more productive (on the uphill side of its life cycle) and I just measured: its two stoutest stalks and the leafy shoots on them reach to 3.5' above the planter.

My, when I went out back with the yardstick, the scent of the Cleveland Salvia 'bout knocked me over! Something likes the heat, anyway!

~'spin!~ p.s. I don't doubt that more attentive care might result in more vigorous plants... we are happy to get blueberry pancakes 6 or 8 times a year, for the effort we [don't] give them!

At the price of blueberries at the local market, having blueberries 6 to 8 times a year sounds great...LOL. From what I understand blueberries have the most antioxidants of any fruit. I can hardly wait until my O'Neal and Misty show up on Wednesday. Thanks for all the assistance. It always helps when you contact someone who has grown the plants already.

Thanks again,

Chuck

Congratulations to your daughter and your niece, on their graduations! The work that goes into earning the degree is rarely truly appreciated!

~'spin!~

'Spin... blueberries in the grocers here are 4.4 ounces for $3.99, or almost $16 a pound. I plan to order several plants soon, probably from Raintree, and they should bear in 2 years or so. But as I recall (and maybe incorrectly) most blueberry bushes are short-lived, 6-8 years, sometimes less. When I lived in the NC mountains in Boone, there was a U-pick blueberry farm and ALL of the bushes were taller than my 5'4" frame.

I haven't researched the varieties for my area yet. Too much on my plate right now.

Well, they are decidedly short-lived in containers on the patio in SoCal, but worth it. Probably pay for themselves in berries. Probably. And there is some value in the satisfaction of supplying your own food even if it's only blueberries in the pancakes!

If you are ahead of the game enough to get the plants bareroot, the cost-per-berry is even more reasonable! However, I'm right back at looking to buy another already potted-up plant (the new O'Neal) just like the last couple new ones!

But, it really is a source of pleasure to me, and my DH!
~'s!~

Hi guys, I just found this thread.

Chuck, I met you for about 2 seconds at the RU last Saturday. Just wanted to put my 2 cents in about blueberries in containers. I have them in large containers (20 gal.), O'neal and Misty. They do okay but don't give as many berries as the ones that my friend has in the ground. Also, I don't think they really flourish in zone 10. Maybe you'll have better luck in 9a, Chuck.

Spin, I agree with you about the cost. Whenever they're in season, it's pretty affordable to buy them by the pints from Costco. However, to be able to pick berries from your own patio/deck and throw them on top of pancakes or ice creams is priceless.

I was going to try growing some, too, but I gave up on the fresh ones and buy the frozen wild organic berries at Trader Joe's. I use them every morning for cereal and on Sunday for pancakes, so I go through a lot! The small wild berries just taste better to me and the quality is consistent.

Spin,

I have noticed the high price of blueberries in the supermarket also. I am kinda growing blueberries as an experiment to see if we would have any left after the birds are through....LOL. At least that is what my wife tells me. She has been a saint to go along with me buying all the parts of the soil mixture that will go in the five gallon pots. If they only grow three feet, well, that is okay also as long as the birds leave us some...LOL.

Have a Good Day!!

Chuck

Hey Chuck!

I planted my blueberry in a 5gal pot and put the pot in the ground, just to keep the more acidic fertilizer on the blueberries and not on everything else I have growing around the blueberries.

kanita

Good idea, Kanita!! It was a pleasure seeing you at the RU this last weekend.

Thanks,

Chuck

Dear Quyen,

It was a pleasure seeing you at the RU, too. My question is where does your friend find soil in So California that is acidic enough to grow blueberries in the ground?

Thanks,

Chuck

Hi Chuck,

She has a area on the side of her house dedicated to plants that require acidic soil. I think she prepped it a few years ago especially to plant hydrangeas, azaleas, and blueberries. I'm not much of a digger or tiller so I put all my stuff in containers.

Quyen

Quyen,

That is a really good idea to have one side of your house with especially acidic soil. I had never thought of it.

Thanks for sharing,

Chuck

I'm new to this website and was delighted to find this thread about Blueberries. I have a question about growing blueberries. Last fall I bought some Blueberry plants in 2 gal. nursery containers. I bought a combination of O'Neal, Misty, Jubilee and Sunshine (nursery was going out of business.) I planted 7 plants in half whisky barrels with an amended acid soil and 8 plants in the ground also with the same amended soil. I used an Azalea, Rhododendron planting mix, pure peat moss and homegrown compost. The plants were badly rootbound and to add to their misery I planted the barrels in the fall and didn't get the rest of the plants in the ground until early this year. They are watered by drip irregation. Our soil is naturally sandy where I live in Santa Barbara. The plants in the whisky barrels are as happy as larks, loaded with berries and sending out new growth, while the ones planted in the ground need help. They look so sad. When are you suppose to fertilize Blueberries? Normally I use a granular product called Gro Power for all my acid loving plants. Has anyone used this product with Blueberries, if not what do you use? If anyone has any suggestions sure would appreciate your sharing them.

Barb

Dear Barb,

Sorry I waited so long to answer. I surfed the Internet and came up with the website of Mississippi State University Extension Service at http://msucares.com/pubs/publication/p1758.htm that stated to use ammonium sulphate once a year. They said that it was a mistake to use ammonium nitrate or anything with nitrate on blueberries.. They also said not to fertilize the first year.

Hope this helps...

Thanks,

Chuck

Dear Barb,

Sorry, I have never used a HYPERLINK before and it didn't work. The info I gave you was basically what the Mississippi State University Extension Service stated about fertilizing blueberries on page 1758 of their publication.

Thanks,

Chuck

This message was edited Jun 5, 2007 11:51 AM

If you stick an "s" on the end of "publication" in the address above then it'll work just fine. The easiest way to do a hyperlink and avoid little tiny typos like that is to go to the page you want to link to, use your mouse to highlight everything that's in the browser's address bar, then type Ctrl-C to copy it, then come over here to your message and do Ctrl-V to paste (or you can use copy and paste commands from the edit menu too). The way you did it will work too (I'm assuming you typed in the address manually?) but only if you type it absolutely correct.
http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p1758.htm

Wow! I have blueberries on my bushes! Second thought...am I going to have to fight the birds for these? Do we have to 'net' the bushes

Sherry, These berries are from the bushes you bought in O.C. this year? That is incredible. My two blueberry plants are getting new growith but not even close to blooming...let alone setting fruit.

Keep us posted.

Thanks,

Chuck

I hate to admit that they sat in their 3-gallon pots through the winter waiting for whiskey barrels. I got them probably 8 months ago,but as soon as I put them in barrels they really took off.

I don't know if California birds like blueberries or not, but Pennsylvania birds love them! My grandma has always grown blueberry bushes, and if she doesn't put netting over them the birds would eat them in no time flat. So if you want to enjoy any of them I'd probably try the netting.

Thanks....netting it is! Those are MY berries!

Thanks Chuck. I'm glad you mentioned not to feed the first year because I was getting ready to feed the bushes I planted directly in the ground. They are not doing as well as those planted in the whiskey barrels.

I noticed that others have planted Blueberries and asked about netting them. We recently visited a Blueberry farm in Buellton, CA (on the central coast) about 30 miles from us. It is a u-pick farm and their entire operation is netted to keep the flying critters from consuming their cash crop.

Another mention was about the bushes setting berries. I failed to plant the cans of my berries right away (they sat for about 4 months) and in leaving them in their cans they bloomed. So when I transferred them to the whiskey barrels in January I had a crop of berries on the bushes. The books say not to harvest the first year but couldn't resist and have picked 2 quarts so far. The bushes that I planted in amended soil, directly in the ground, are not doing as well as those in the barrels.

Barb

Dear Sherry,

I am sorry that you haven't heard from me for so long. I think I am the victim of an identity theft. I don't know where to go to or what but I will fix that this afternoon. My Internet Explorer crashed last week. The last thing that was on it was that an unauthorized user had penetrated the websites I have accessed in the past two weeks and then the IE crashed (I am hoping that it was my Firewall working). I called the maker of our computer and he said that to fix the email problem I would have to go to an electronics store (maybe Best Buy) and buy a new CD since I couldn't find the original. To top it all off, I was in Arizona visiting my extended family at my Dad's house I am using an alternative browser now. I hope I can get this fixed, believe me. I haven't received any messages from DG since this happened!

Anyway, enough about that! How are your berries? Did the netting do the trick in keeping the birds in their place? I hope you and your husband were able to enjoy the blueberries in your pancakes? I hope that in Spring '08, my wife and I can say that also....LOL. Where were you able to buy the netting?

Also, I was wondering if there were any nurseries that you have come across in Fallbrook that carry a selection of passifloras. I haef four now but I have plenty of room for another. one. If they do have passies, can you check to see if they are not the bright shiny leafed passies. This isn't of earth shaking importance...LOL

HAVE A GOOD DAY!!

Thanks again,

Chuck

Chuck, I hope it's not id theft...that's such a nightmare to straighten out.
Been too busy to even look at the blueberries...haven't netted them,let the birds have the first ones, I guess.
Passiflora...great nursery in Vista...Kartuz Greenhouses.....but even better than that...you can ask our own passi expert, zostropz (Mark). Mark, do you hear us talking about you? I'm pretty sure Mark left the Roundup before you got there so you didn't get a chance to meet him. You can find him on the vines and climbers forum, or d-mail him. I think Mark sells passifloras also. It must be awful not to be able to get on DG for a couple of weeks...I'd have withdrawal pains for sure.
Good luck with the pc
Sherry

Sherry, I sure do know Mark. He is a smart, kind man. At the first RU in Temecula, I was bending my plastic chair (we brought our own chairs to that one) around so I could see the person who was speaking to me from behind Mark was sitting next to me. The chair of course couldn't take the stress of a big sized person like me and fell with me in it. I was terrified that people might have thought that I had been drinking or something. Mark helped me up and minimized the interruption of the conversation that was going on. He never said anything other than to ask me if I was all right. To this day, I appreciate what he did.

I didn't know that he sold passies. One time he told me of a nursery in San Diego called Anderson's nursery. I never got a chance to visit one of these nurseries. He actually told me that they had the kind of passies that I was looking for at that time. I will try to look this nursery up on the Internet.

I am going to check this nursery right away. My niece lives in San Diego with her husband and kids. I will see if they have an address of the nursery so I can go on Mapquest to get directions.

Thanks,

Chuck