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Blueberry plants turning leaves bright green / yellow

pdolinajpdolinaj Posts: 50
in Fruit & veg
I have new blueberry plants - planted about a month ago - and some are turning bright green / yellow colour. Is this normal or there's a problem? Thank you.
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  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,384
    edited September 2018
    Is your ground acidic enough?  Blueberries require a pH of about 4.5 which is quite acid.  If you plant them in neutral or alkaline soil they are unable to take up nutrients (especially iron and magnesium) which are needed to make chlorophyll (which is green) and the first sign is the leaves turning yellow, starting in between the veins.
    They grow very well in pots so I suggest you lift it and gently shake off as much as the soil as you can and them plant it in a pot filled with ericaceous (acidic) compost.  Ideally the pot should be about 50cm in diameter.
    Edit: I've just re-read your post and realised you have several bushes.  If putting them in pots is out of the question then you may need to add a lot of ericaceous compost to the soil (at least 50%) and re-plant them.  Are they in planters or raised beds?
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • pdolinajpdolinaj Posts: 50
    edited September 2018
    Thanks for the help. I have total 6 plants and it's planted in raised bed. There was originally some topsoil but I removed about 20cm and filled it with 200l of pure acidic compost - maybe I made a mistake that I mixed it with the old soil? I've also added "Westland Sulphate of Iron Plant Food for Ericaceous Plants" to the soil and then on the top "Miracle-Gro Slow Release Azalea, Camellia and Rhododendron Plant Food". I'm attaching some photos when it was firstly planted. Interesting is that 3 plants are doing fine, the other 3 turning yellowish. Do you think I should add more of that sulphate of iron? Is it easy to just take them out of the ground - wouldn't it damage the roots?
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,384
    OK, you are using acid growing medium so I think it's possible that you may have over-fertilised them and the yellowing plants have been affected most (maybe they got more fertiliser?)  Surprisingly, too many nutrients can produce similar symptoms to those of nutrient deficiency.
    I would scrape off as much of the fertiliser on the surface as you can then water generously every day for a week (use rainwater if you can) which should leach out some of the excess.  After that it's just a matter of waiting to see what happens.
    Blueberries need very little feeding in general. 
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • pdolinajpdolinaj Posts: 50
    Thanks Bob, I'll try that and see what happens. Will post later the results.
  • pdolinajpdolinaj Posts: 50
    Looks like the blueberries recovered. They got some green colour back and now in autumn they turned red, no more light yellow leaves. Thanks Bob for the advice!
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    That's good news.  Always pleased when someone reports successes.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • widgetwilk annwidgetwilk ann Posts: 361
    Don't they need some protection in the winter? I have one in a large pot and always bring it in greenhouse over winter, it also sheds all it's leaves,
    are there different varieties?
  • pdolinajpdolinaj Posts: 50
    widgetwilk ann said:
    Don't they need some protection in the winter? I have one in a large pot and always bring it in greenhouse over winter, it also sheds all it's leaves,
    are there different varieties?
    I believe they should be hardy enough to survive even much colder winters than the ones in UK. I'll let you know in spring ;)
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    If they can cope with the winters of their home in North America/Canada i think they can cope ok with the worst the winters here in Norfolk can throw at them ... mine are outside in big pots. 
    Does yours produce fruit?Most available varieties need pollination by another variety in order to fruit.  

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • widgetwilk annwidgetwilk ann Posts: 361
    Yes, I have only one and it gives me a lot of fruit. so it must be one that needs no pollination, can't remember what it is, might try and look for label later.
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