Plant growing extremely slowly? Why?

simmed

I bought a blueberry bush in about February from Home Bargains. It was basically a bunch of spindly little sticks

Anyway, 3 months later and all I've got is a little shoot that's about 5cm high with a few leaves on.

It's been on my windowsill being drenched in sunlight all day, is drained and watered regularly

What am I doing wrong?

budgetdiyer

My guess would be poor soil type (they like acidic soil, iirc) and poor watering (they don't like tap water, prefer rain water).

My blueberry bushes seem quite slow growing but have produced lots of berries this year, i'm sure i read somewhere that they are notoriously difficult to grow well.

jammy_dodger

as above the like r ain water and are slow to grow mine are 3 years ols nad only produce a little fruit

heres alittle info on their fetility i found online

bllueberry plants are not separated into male or female plants. However, since blueberry plants rarely pollinate themselves, choosing different varieties helps the plants pollinate each other, resulting in bigger and more berries

hth

JD

emiff6

Take a look at the RHS site for blueberries. It may give you some hints about what to do. Do you feed it? They do need feeding in pots, rhododendron/azalea feed is recommended, being acid-lovers.

cootambear

budgetdiyer wrote: »

My guess would be poor soil type (they like acidic soil, iirc) and poor watering (they don't like tap water, prefer rain water).

My blueberry bushes seem quite slow growing but have produced lots of berries this year, i'm sure i read somewhere that they are notoriously difficult to grow well.

mine are growing like weeds, I use urine and fruit food

every garden is different, some plants like it, some dont

also variety is key, maybe the variety you have doesnt like your garden

hollydays

you are still growing it on your windowsill?

floss2

What size pot is it in, and why isn't it outside?

madjackslam

Agree with all the above. Should be outside in ericaceous compost (for acid loving plants such as rhododendrons and azaleas). Water with rain water if at all possible. Likes to be wet, so one of those plants you should water when it's raining.

I've got mine against a North-facing fence, partly so they don't get too much sun and therefore get too dry. The bushes are three years old. Some bushes have produced new stems three feet high, but others are still only around 18 inches. Last year we had perhaps a supermarket punnet's worth of berries all year. This year is looking better, with plenty of flowers on. Reckon we might get a punnet from each plant! So they've grown slowly, but they are growing and getting established, so I'd say it's worth persevering.

squack

maybe the person growing the blueberry on the windowsill is in a flat with no garden! only reason i can think of for not having it outside.

i like the suggestion of using urine to water it but personally would worry about aiming for the pot or the neighbours seeing me if i missed and had to mop up using the curtains

cootambear

squack wrote: »

maybe the person growing the blueberry on the windowsill is in a flat with no garden! only reason i can think of for not having it outside.

i like the suggestion of using urine to water it but personally would worry about aiming for the pot or the neighbours seeing me if i missed and had to mop up using the curtains

perhaps thats why I got a visit from the police......................

Gefjun

I've had a blueberry bush for 3 years, bought from Lidl as a sticky little thing in compost, and this is the first year it's flowered and fruited, and it's still not that big. As long as it's growing, I think it'll be ok. It might be slower growing than you'd expect as it's a woody shrub, not a leafy green thing.