Blueberries?

Teresita_2

Hi there

I am looking to get a blueberry plant as my kids love them but my question is. Will the ones from the garden centre produce fruit this year? Ive seen the ones that are cheap and look like twigs at homebase but the others I have seen were retailing at about £16 and have buds and are alot bigger than the twiggy looking ones.

Hope someone can help as the kids would be devastated if I got one and they got no fruit lol.

Any help appreciated xx

Lotus-eater

You should get at least 2 different types, 3 is preferred to get good pollination.
Well obviously the twigs aren't going to produce fruit for at least a year, probably two.
The bigger ones, maybe, maybe not

Muffin99

Hi,

Haven't seen ones like your describing at garden centre but when I bought mine I think they were 3 years old and the first year we just got a sample of what the taste would be like the second year we had a little bowl full and this year things are looking hopeful as there's lots of flower buds emerging. This time of year if they are going to fruit they should have buds on them by now.

It's worth looking on the internet at varieties as some are more prolific fruiters than others, but watch out that they are recommended for their taste too!

Good luck!

choille

Tophat is a good variety.

kibblerok

got mine from the dorset blueberry company... they say they will fruit this year, they were delivered feb and are producing plenty of buds now

The ones I have seen in supermarkets/garden centres are either very young/canes or don't look like they will produce anything this year

Rummer

I got one last year and it flowered then died. I was gutted, on reflection we maybe didn't water it as much as we should but I am reluctant to buy another one. Do you all keep your in a greenhouse or in the garden?

gremlin

Have you looked in homebase for some?

I can only go from experience but last year I bought two plants from homebase not expecting a crop but they both gave me a decent amount of berries.
Both plants are growing leaves again this year so fingers crossed.

The only problem I had was trying to stop the young blackbird from stealing most of the fruit this year

consumermonkey

I have managed to acquire a few blueberries over the years, just sticking them in a pot of compost and not getting anything at all; until last year I realised they needed erricacious compost. re-potted with the stuff and this year my oldest one has really taken off and seems to have lots of buds which will hopefully give me loads of berries. My tip is to use the proper compost for the job.

Plasticman

If the Homebase ones you are talking about are the ones that I've seen then I wouldn't expect any berries this year. As previously said, you will need to plant it in erracious compost and - although you can get some berries with a single plant - to get a good crop you will need two or three different plants.

System

i got one from homebase last year and got a few berries off it ,it has a lot of buds on now so im hoping for a few more this year.

Muffin99

Rummer wrote: »

I got one last year and it flowered then died. I was gutted, on reflection we maybe didn't water it as much as we should but I am reluctant to buy another one. Do you all keep your in a greenhouse or in the garden?

I have mine in containers on a South facing patio. I did have them North but I found in the winter they got horrible white stuff on them which I treated with Dithane successfully I'm pleased to say!

Yes you definitely must you erricacious compost!

Also soft water! The lime in hard tap water prevents the blueberries from absorbing iron and so they can become iron-deficient. There are several things you can do to prevent this. Firstly of course use rain water wherever possible. Otherwise, fill the watering can in advance to help dissipate chloride. It's a good habit to fill the watering can as soon as you have used it so that next time you go to use it the water in it will have been stood a day or two! You can also add a small amount of vinegar to the water. If your blueberries are suffering from iron deficiency you will know as the stems and leaves will start to turn yellow. This is quite easily put right by applying an iron treatmemt available from garden centres

Hope this helps