Planting Blueberry Bushes

Hi, I hope to have a bit of ground ready to attempt my first ever try at growing. I will be buying 5 mixed 2 year old Blueberry bushes. I've done a bit of reading into planting, some say not to plant till October.

Being 2 year old bushes i should be able to plant any time can't .

Also any tips for a first time grower of Blueberries.

 

I shall be watching this with interest, as I want blueberry bushes next year...

 

If they're pot grown bushes they can go in any time as long as you keep them well watered during dry spells ...Rain water is what they need and plenty of Ericaceous compost when planting and a good mulch of it too

 

Well, it looks like i'm getting conflicting pH readings along the first patch i intend to use. Stuck the meter in at several different points, i'm getting a few readings of 4/5 a couple at 6 and a few at 1/2. It might be the meter.

 

It might sound a silly question but after planting and putting a mulch around the bush can i just water them through the mulch in the future.

 

Yes

 

Oh, and do i have to use rain water, as i don't have much collected at the moment

 

It's better to, yes. Bear in mind though, growth will be slowing down now, so won't need as much water.

 

I've got my first 3 bushes on order and should be here by the end of the week.

After digging the hole should i be using an ericaceous compost to back fill or mix with the soil

 

Sorry, I completely missed the fact that you want to plant in the ground I think that before doing that you need to determine for sure the PH of your garden soil. If it's anything other than acidic, then I think you might be wasting your time. Try using a testing kit, something like this. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gardman-160...&qid=1441875188&sr=8-8&keywords=soil+test+kit

Those electronic ones are very unreliable.

 

Hi @John Loughray, I have two blueberry bushes, I've had some really good results.
When I planted mine I dug a hole bigger than the plant & deeper than I needed, filled the bottom of the hole with Ericacious compost, then put the blueberry bush in the hole & back filled it with more ericacious compost, every year I spread a bit more ericacious compost around the plants & sometimes sprinkle some really dry Christmas tree needles around the plants (not sure if the Christmas tree needles do any good but I read that somewhere!!) then I always water with rain water, they hate tap water. Do you have anywhere you could attach a water butt?
One more tip if I may...the blackbirds love them, they think you have grown a tasty treat for them! They need to be covered with some net in the spring!
Happy growing & I look forward to seeing your crop!

 

Well things looking good pH wise the 3 samples i took showed acidic to very acidic soil, happy days.

 

What did you use to take the reading?

 

This soil pH testing kit.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0017866I4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00