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Dying Blueberry plant?
Citygirl
Posts: 23
I purchased two blueberry plants of different varieties last autumn. I potted them up in ericaceous soil and left them outdoors over winter, and in spring they developed nice foliage and an abundance of flowers.
However, one plant suddenly started to turn a brownish red and the flowers wilted and died. The other is perfectly healthy and developing fruit.
I can't figure out what has happened as they receive the exact same conditions. I'm attaching two photos. Does know what has happened and if the plant can be saved?
0
Posts
Looks thirsty to me. They are woodland edge plants from the USA and Canada so don't like to be thirsty or baked. I once left two blueberry plants in pots - along with many other treasures - to be watered by a friend's daughter whilst we were away for just 2 weeks. She didn't follow instructions and underestimated the amount they needed so I came home to two crisp blueberries.
I watered them profusely, standing them in trays so they could soak it up. It took a while but both greened up again and I then trimmed off the dead ends of each stem. Having learned my lesson, I got OH to dig me two 60cm square and deep holes in a spot in the veggie plot, filled it with ericaceous compost and planted my blueberries in there once they'd recovered. Watered in with rainwater and mulched with a thick layer of chipped bark.
All the other pots were henceforth gathered together with an automatic night time sprinkler to keep them happy.
Last edited: 30 May 2017 12:49:26
If they have not dried out, the other possibility is that the drainage in the pot has become blocked and they have been standing in water, causing the roots to rot. This happened to one of mine a few years ago and it turned out that the soil-based ericaceous compost was simply too heavy and provided very poor drainage. While they need lots of water, they also require good drainage especially over the winter in the UK due to the high rainfall.
Since then I have been using peat-based ericaceous and no more have succumbed to root rot (I have more than a dozen plants, all in large containers.)
One way of telling if the roots have rotted is to try and (gently) lift the pot by holding the blueberry stems. If it comes out easily with hardly any roots then you know the cause.
Last edited: 30 May 2017 13:04:54
Thank you both for the ideas. Never thought it could be water or drainage related! Will take a good look tonight.