Blueberry protection PHOTOS

[Sammyk]

Our bushes are loaded. In the past we did not mind sharing with the the birds but now that I am making wine, it is a different story

We had this structure that normally has a canvas top. We bought deer netting (100' roll 7' wide) and zip tied it together to get the size we needed.

Yesterday we took a break for dinner and when we returned there was a mocking bird and a robin inside that could not figure out how to get out. So we lifted the one end where we will go in and chased them out.

This morning there was a squirrel inside. We chased the squirrel out and put bricks on the netting on the bottom where the critters were going in. Problem solved.

You can see in the photo of the bushes are loaded with berries. The bushes are now 11 years old.

 

[g8keeper]

looking pretty good sammy....should make for some pretty fine wine when those berries ripen up....i made blueberry once from fresh blueberries i hand picked about 6 years ago....unfortunately i was just starting out, and my mentor at the time gave me some wrong instructions and it started out oversulfited....it never developed anything other than a sulphite aroma, but after a few years of aging, the sulfite levels calmed down and was a very delicious wine....still probably could have used a few more ponds of berries, but got many compliments on it...

 

[Sammyk]

I made some blueberry last year from some we selvedge from the birds. I was so new to wine making and did a lot of things wrong. It is still under the house aging. I did go buy a can of Vinters Harvest and added it because I did not have near enough berries. Maybe time to check it because it is close to a year old now.......

 

[g8keeper]

yeah, if it's nearing a year, it's definitely time to check....might be pleasantly surprised....

 

[jswordy]

We have six bushes in their first year (picked all blossoms off). Planted last fall. Can't wait to start harvesting from our own bushes. Yours look very healthy.

 

[Deezil]

Just curious.. In the 11 years, what kind of pruning have you done? Have you had to thin out some of the older/less productive stuff yet or pretty much just let them tend themselves?

I'm assuming just by the size, that these are a Highbush variety - any idea which?
Any idea how many bushes ya have there?

My bushes are going into their 4th year, gonna propagate them some this year.
Both varieties i have are northern highbush, 'Spartan' & 'Duke' - they just got done flowering, well the spartan is still finishing up, and they're setting fruit now.

 

[Sammyk]

Nope no pruning. We use 12-12-12 every spring spread around the drip line. And lots of watering this time of the year to make the berries bigger and plumper. I don't recall which varieties they are.

 

[Deezil]

Ah, cool. Just curious.

I know blueberries like slightly acidic soil, and you must not have had to play with that much - they look healthy. I've also read that pruning out some of the thicker/older/woodier portions of the plants that are less productive can improve yields in the years to come.. Just things to think about, spewing them out here so i remember them (so they stick )

 

[Sammyk]

We have very acidic soil. pH on water out of the well is 6.0. Heavy red clay soil with 11 years of mulch added every spring. We work too many hours to fuss with the blueberries.

I always ended up with enough for a couple of blueberry pancakes, 2 pies, one for turkey day and one for Christmas. Most never made it to the house because we would eat them right in the garden.

Ah but now blueberry wine is on my agenda thus the covering......

 

[Runningwolf]

Manley, my friend owns a blueberry farm and first thing they do every year is thin out the cent of the plants to let more sun in. They usually do this between Feb and April.

 

[Deezil]

That makes sense, really.. My plants arent big enough to worry about some things yet but its always nice picking up tidbits from the professionals. I'm hoping to do some propagating this year, gonna try a week or two after the last fruit gets picked

 

[Neviawen]

We have six bushes in their first year (picked all blossoms off). Planted last fall. Can't wait to start harvesting from our own bushes. Yours look very healthy.

I just bought a blueberry bush this spring and planted it. It looked good in the flower bed that I made so I figured It would serve 2 purposes- be pretty and provide fruit. It is maybe 2 feet tall and has maybe 20-30 blueberries (not ripe) on it and some flowers. Am I supposed to pick the flowers and blueberries off it? If the birds don't get the berries first I might have a hand ful of them when they are ripe.

 

[Deezil]

Am I supposed to pick the flowers and blueberries off it? If the birds don't get the berries first I might have a hand ful of them when they are ripe.

Sometimes people opt to pick the blooms off if the plants are still pretty small - depends on the variety, some get 2-3ft tall and spread out, some get 4-5ft tall and as wide - just to encourage the roots and the plant to grow. The thought is that they encourage the plants to grow more that year, to get more fruit in the following years because the plants are bigger/healthier.

I didnt pluck the blooms off mine - but the birds got them all too.. If that tells you anything about karma

 

[jswordy]

Am I supposed to pick the flowers and blueberries off it?

No matter the source of the information, it will in every case I have found recommend that first year blooms/early berries be picked off to allow the plants to direct full energy to the roots and establishing themselves. That produces a better berry crop and more robust plants in the second year.

I even asked the 80-year-old woman at the nursery, who told me as I was checking out that she has 12 bushes. She said the same thing, and was quite adament about it.

The rabbiteye blueberries we must grow in the South require more than one variety to pollinate so we have started with 6 plants of 3 varieties. We plan to add more later once these are established.

Planting the bushes using a composted manure and also pine needles mixed into the soil helps acidify the soil and provides a very gentle fertilizer for starting out. Mulching with cardboard on the ground that is then piled with pine needles serves to keep moisture captured in the ground around the plants in summer and also acidify the soil as rains leach the needles.

Pine needles are easily obtainable for free around here.

 

[Sammyk]

We have 3 varieties with rabbit eye being one of them. I just can't remember the other 2 varieties. We did not pick the blooms. And according to my hubby, he trims them in late winter. We have separate jobs here at our farm so I don't always know what he is doing and vice versa.