Advice on Planting Blueberry Plants, Please.

Hello all,

I've seen a few threads on this forum about planting blueberry bushes, but none that I have seen answer my specific questions. If I have missed answers that are already on here, then I apologise, and I would appreciate a link to the appropriate threads.

I recently bought two young blueberry plants from a reputable dealer by mail order. They have arrived, and I now want to plant them in pots to go on our patio. They are small plants, the roots on them would easily fit into pretty much any pot that I have. I also have a bag of ericaceous soil to use in the pots. A book that I have says that young plants should be planted into pots that are about 2 inches larger than the root. This would mean that I would be planting them in fairly small pots, does this sound like the best thing to do for the first year or so?

My second question is regarding frosts. I have read in several books/websites that although blueberry bushes are very hardy when they are in the ground, when in pots their roots tend to grow up to the edges of the pot, and therefore are more affected by pots. I have read that it is best to move them indoors when there is risk of a frost, or wrap the pots with bubble wrap. As there is still the likelihood of frosts here at the moment, will I need to worry yet? I only ask as the roots of the plants won't have spread to the edges of the pot that I put them in (unless I put them in really small ones), by beginning of spring, will they?

Thank you very much for any help that you can offer.

Matthew

 

Hi Matthew
We had two blueberry plants in pots, but they were planted into quite big ones as soon as we got them. After a couple of years I moved our first bush into the ground and it really took off. Our second plant spent last year and all this winter in a pot (about 10" ot 12" ) and despite the worst winter for decades (we been down to minus 9C and had about 8 weeks of continuous frost) has survived fine. I've just this week planted it in the ground and when I took it out of the pot the roots were at the base and sides. I think they are pretty hardy plants, but if in very small pots that get completely frozen things might be different.
Personally I'd go for planting in a big pot or container and if you have the space plant in the ground later. Though if you take the latter course you'll need to ensure that the soil is acidic, but this can be achieved by digging a big hole and adding ericaceous compost.

 

...youd probably be fine in big pots...think i would start small though...not for a full year though just till they root out the smaller pots

 

Thank you both very much for your replies.

I have two 34cm pots (13.4"), which I was thinking of planting the them in. Based on Dave's post, it would seem that these should be OK for this year. I'll consider planting them in smaller pots first though, I'll have to remind myself what I have spare.

Thanks again both of you.

Matthew

 

hi matthew, the normal reason for not putting small plants in a big pot is a risk of drowning, large volumes or compost in the abence of roots sucking water awy can get a bit boggy. Blueberries however like wet soil so would probably cope ok, if you do decide to go big..just be watchful

 

Hi plantman, I wanted to say thanks for this. I'm new to growing plants (rather than killing them) and always wondered why we shouldn't put small plants in huge pots.

 

I have two blueberry bushes in pots that are entering their third year now. First year a bit measly but they still fruited, last year we were eating blueberrries for weeks. I repotted one of them a week ago or so into a larger pot and there have been no ill effects, so hoping to do the same tomorrow with the other one. They both survived last year's winter which was a lot colder than this year, down here anyway.

I wouldn't be without them - lovely blossom in Spring, fruit in Summer and red foliage in Autumn. Not sure what I'll do with them when they need repotting in another couple of years though!

 

Thank you for explaining that, plantman. Once I'd actually removed all of the packaging the roots were bigger than I first thought, so I planted them straight into the 34cm pots. I added a little sharp sand to the ericaceous compost, and some pea shingle at the bottom of the pot. We've had a lot of rain since then, and the soil hasn't become boggy yet, so hopefully it will be OK.

Thanks Sussexgardener for sharing your experiences. I'm still bringing my pots in of a night for the time being, we had a frost again last night, and there's a clear sky tonight. Maybe I would be OK to leave them out though, based on what you've posted.

Matthew

 

I was just about to start my first blueberry growing attempt and this thread has helped me enormously. Thanks for beating me to the question Matthew and thanks for everyone else for the tips.

 

Could I plant a blueberry plant in a raised bed? The hight of the bed is about 20 inches above the ground to prevent my dog having a pee on my lettuces etc that I hope will grow this year. Oh and the bed is open to the elements on all 4 sides. Thanks.

 

only if you can fill the raised bed with ericacouse soil (unless your soil is naturally acidic). With lots of so called acid loving plants you can get away with a neutral soil (lime hating would be a better description) but Im told blueberries really are acid loving and will only thrive in acidic soil. That is why lots of people grow blueberries in a big (at least 10inch better 20inch) pot filled with ericacuose compost and john innes number three. As for being exposed on all sides, most plants prefer a bit of shelter to get establshed but blueberries are fairly hardy should cope fine given acid soil and lots of water.