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Dying blueberry bush
I have had this blue berry in a pot for 2 years. Last year I got a few berries and this year lots of flowers and baby fruit. Suddenly the whole plant is going brown, the leaves are crisp and the fruit shrivelled. It has been watered with rain water throughout.
Any ideas on the reasons why?Can this plant be saved?
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Message as above still applies with the problem with my blueberry. Help please
I'm not very used to using photos on my computer so sorry I made a hash of it!
Is the second photo the plant you are discussing? If so, it looks dried out. Has it had a very hot dry spell and not been watered well during that time? If you are growing in pots, it's quite easy to have issues with drying soil in hot spells. Because it needs to be rain water, you should try to invest in a water butt or collect rain water some other way.
Give it a really good water for the next week. Warm weather and over watering is unlikely to kill your plants.
Last edited: 29 June 2017 16:57:52
Hi Borderline
Yes, the second photo is the blueberry in question. The first one is an indoor tomato which is doing well.
Thanks for your comment. Like you, my first thought was that it hadn't been watered regularly enough but in fact the pot is next to the water butt and has been watered almost daily especially throughout the recent heatwave and has been kept damp.
When you say suddenly, is it over a few days or you noticed it deteriorating over a period of a month? I can't see the leaves properly but wondered whether they have been scorched in some way. Wind or chemicals can do this. Either way, remove all those dead leaves sitting on top of the pot and scrape off the top layer of soil as it may be harbouring something that can carry on through to next year. Put a new layer of ericacous compost and water in and keep an eye to see. If it's still alive, I think it's best to cut down to give the roots a chance to recover.
Last edited: 29 June 2017 18:32:44
Vine weevil grubs? Check the compost for little white c shaped grubs. I couldn't actually find any in my blueberry but then discovered roots completely eaten. I would dig up plant to check for grubs....repot in ericaceous compost if roots still there and then treat with Nemasys. If roots completely eaten I think it is likely gone.