All I can suggest is how I grow mine and I get a reasonable crop on slightly acidic clay...well I do if I can get to the fruits before the birds!
I mulch with ericaceous compost and feed with seaweed and sequestered iron. The latter isn't a feed as such but reduces the buffering capabilities of the soil so it can make any iron available for the plant. I try to avoid feeding phosphorus...or at least keep to a bare minimum as this increases buffering of iron in the soil. And water with rainwater when possible.
Hi IanC.
Interesting. Ive seen sequestered iron on a lot of acid specific feeds over the last two days. I thought it was a feed. I didn't realise it was used to regulate the pH of the soil.
Yes birds are hungry little things but we had a few years where they disappeared from our area altogether and I really missed the local sparrows and robins popping by the garden. They're thankfully back but it is a race as to who gets the fruit. Fortunately Ive gone a bit fruit mad so have planted strawberries and gooseberries in addition to the blueberries. The variety keeps the birds on their toes so every now day or so we get to pick a handful of berries of some sort. We also have a bird feeder in the back of the garden so that helps too. Now squirrels on the other hand are a lot harder to beat...
Ours are thriving this year. We use ericacous compost and feed weekly with the same feed. We also use ground coffee beans at the base of each plant. This seems to work a treat
Ours are thriving this year. We use ericacous compost and feed weekly with the same feed. We also use ground coffee beans at the base of each plant. This seems to work a treat
Thanks Ryan. Yes I was using ground coffee beans but read that whilst they're a good source of nitrogen, they are pH neutral if they have been used. This has obvious plusses and minuses.
Ive repotted them with fresh soil and gave them a good feed now. The Miracle-Gro fertiliser says to feed fortnightly but to begin with I might do weekly. Colour is already returning to some of the leaves which is really encouraging.
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Best of luck to you and your blueberries!
Let us know how you get on
Pete
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Interesting. Ive seen sequestered iron on a lot of acid specific feeds over the last two days. I thought it was a feed. I didn't realise it was used to regulate the pH of the soil.
Yes birds are hungry little things but we had a few years where they disappeared from our area altogether and I really missed the local sparrows and robins popping by the garden. They're thankfully back but it is a race as to who gets the fruit. Fortunately Ive gone a bit fruit mad so have planted strawberries and gooseberries in addition to the blueberries. The variety keeps the birds on their toes so every now day or so we get to pick a handful of berries of some sort. We also have a bird feeder in the back of the garden so that helps too. Now squirrels on the other hand are a lot harder to beat...
Many thanks for the tip!
Nick
Yes I was using ground coffee beans but read that whilst they're a good source of nitrogen, they are pH neutral if they have been used. This has obvious plusses and minuses.
Ive repotted them with fresh soil and gave them a good feed now. The Miracle-Gro fertiliser says to feed fortnightly but to begin with I might do weekly. Colour is already returning to some of the leaves which is really encouraging.