Re: [nafex] northsky/northblue-blueberries

[Ginda Fisher <ginda@concentric.net>]

You may not want my advise.  My plants are happier than yours, but I
haven't had enough berries to bring inside.  (Well, maybe one or two
just to prove to my husband that they were there.)

I have tried a little of everything.  I added lots of peat moss when I
planted.  I have been mulching with oak leaves and pine needles.  The pH
(from a kit I got at the hardware store) was still pretty neutral, and
the plants looked kind of pale, so I added some ammonium sulphate.  I
didn't want to add too much of this, though, because I didn't want to
over do the nitrogen.  Someone suggested magnesium (I think) so I picked
up some epsom salts which I have sprinkled liberally around the bushes. 
I finally found some aluminum sulphate, so I added a bunch of that. 
I've been fertilizing with holly tone (according to package directions)
and I have also tried miracid and a chelated iron foliar supplement.  I
really want the blueberries to succeed!  The one time that they visibly
perked up was after drenching with Miracid, so it's possible that I am
being over cautious with the N and they could use more.  Maybe all the
mulch is tying up the fertilizer.

Because the kit gets used up, I haven't tested pH often.  The grass and
clover that keep invading the blueberry bed suggest to me that the soil
is still fairly sweet.  This summer, the plants looked pretty healthy. 
A friend of mine put in some blueberries a few years before me, and
didn't really get a crop until this year, so I've been assuming that
mine will do better with time.  Also, I think they like ample
irrigation.

Ginda
eastern Mass, zone 6

del stubbs wrote:
> 
> >From: Ginda Fisher <ginda@concentric.net>
> 
> >The northblue is larger and more fruitful than the Northsky.  All but
> >one of my plants look healthy, with minimal die back.  I have had a
> >running battle with chloriosis, and keep trying to acidify the soil.
> 
> Ginda, thanks.  Same here on the size comparison between northsky and
> blue....the blue is twice the size. The two weakest northskys have died back
> to ground level and this last year's growth is a half dozen sprouts about 4"
> long, and about the size of pencil lead.
> Could you give a 'cloriosis 101' as relates to these?
> What was your acidifing method? Did you keep a PH test going or some
> observable indication of proper PH? Del
> 
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