Anyone here grow Blueberries before?

I know they love acidic soil, which mean they are a container plant in AZ due to alkaline soil here. I bought a bush variety that grows well here from reports.

What's the best way to get/buy acidic soil? I didn't see much at Lowe's outside of just adding sulfur to regular potting soil.

Blueberries require low PH. Thus the acidic soil to keep that low. There are acidic fertilizers available. Add it to the top of the soil. Don't mix it or your soil will be too "hot"

I plan on blueberry and raspberry bushes next year all along my fence on the western side. Blueberries grow great in this part of Florida. We pick a few towns over but I want my own. I'm just gonna hire someone who knows how to do it.

Anyone ever grow currents? I want just one small currant plant or bush or whatever it grows on. Can't get fresh ones here around Christmas. I like to use it as a garnish.

In Florida, you will want some shade on them. Expect first harvest after a year or more. Prune to fill it out and maximize yield. Deep root system helps a lot so allow for that.

Otherwise, they are really easy to raise. You've got the humidity they love but you are too warm. This the shade.

I read that my zone is fine for them if grown at a certain time of year. I want the berries to be there around Christmas.
I'm not as far south as Miami. It can get to 30° here in winter but it's usually just a few days total.

It reminded me about grape tomatoes better to grow in summer but bigger ones in fall and winter.

They require full sun in cooler, humid areas with plenty of summer rain. I would think Florida is OK as they flower very early spring.

The do best in the Northwest and Midwest actually. They are tough though so soil can vary. But keep your PH between 5.5 and 7.0. The leaves will tell you how to regulate accordingly. Ensure you have good drainage as well.

I would think you can raise/lower PH by adding adjustments straight to your watering system. I use 1g milk jugs with holes punched in the tops. Easy measuring.

Great choice for a fence line BEP.

Did not know that about mixing it. I do plan to have about 1/3 peat moss in the pot though. I'll add the sulfur to the top few inches like you suggest.



Planting some cheap and "weed like" Vinca flowers along my pool fence today. My red Mexican bird of paradise is finally going into full bloom near the backside of my yard. Adds some height to the smaller plants in front and finally looks nice.

You need drainage too so the roots are sitting is a pool of acid. Doesn't take much to **** up PH. I assume you know this as a pool owner.

Miracle-Gro makes a plant food called Mir Acid that can be used on blueberries etc. It's a water-soluble that you use when watering. Peat will also do a good job acidifying soil. We use cotton burr compost to lighten and acidify soil.

With all this wet weather I have an unusually high number of slugs and snails all over the yard. I use Sluggo for my containers and beds but really don't want to sprinkle it all over the yard. Any suggestions?

KChiefs1, you're doing an awesome job!

How big of a pot does this thing need? Can it tolerate full Phoenix sun all year in the yard?

First of all. DO NOT LET YOUR ROOTS SIT IN A POOL OF ACID.

I a word there.

The only thing hindering you in AZ is that we live in Zone 9 so the soil sucks butt, as you mention. Blueberries need FULL sun. They love that shit man. Ironically, they grow best in a sandy soil. Mulch is really the way to go. Your biggest risk is the PH and alkalinity, which is big in AZ. Beyond that, they are low maintenance.

Plant them in January, which is their dormant period. By spring, they will pop pretty good.

Read up on pruning for best yield. If you want to drive the roots down, prune the flowers during year one. You can go with a 12 inch pot for the first year or two. Then go on up to 24. Depth is what you really want.

You are going to want to protect them from birds when they start to bare fruit. Birds love blueberries.

Yea, I am having to protect my grapes from those ****ing birds right now.


So um.......what do I do with the $10 Misty Blueberry plant I bought today.....in June........? Just keep it in the small container for now and transplant to pot in winter? I'll probably just roll with an 18 inch pot or maybe even a whiskey barrel to start. I don't want to have to plant it more than once.

Go for it. See what happens. It won't last inside. Fruit flowers need that sun. As a fruit, you should know that.

Goes without saying, you will need to water more frequently. Which raises your risk of screwy alkaline and PH.

My first grow was a disaster but I learned a lot.

You know this Jew loves sales!!!

Can't keep in the house. The cat eats EVERYTHING with leaves, fake shit included.

She's reeruned.

Next option.

You post changing son of a bitch!!!!

Missed this part. Take into account that peat lowers your PH a tad as well. Might actually be enough, depending on the potting soil you use. In addition, to really drive the roots down and out, don't water till the leaves begin to wilt a little. This means they have gone as far as they can go for water. Keep doing that and the roots will dig. This only works with a deep pot that won't dry out uniformly with the upper soil. Roots will seek out moisture. Root grow helps but not much.

Some more questions for eDave in this post. Good stuff you're providing. And those in DC don't think you know shit?!?!

First, the small gardening job I did yesterday. Vincas along the pool fence, opposite side from my rose bushes. My new blueberry bush on the far left just for the pictures sake.

http://i.imgur.com/KmaKGki.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ggui6Bw.jpg


Now for the questions. Which side of the yard and pot type to put the blueberry bush in?

This is the wall on the West side of the yard. Sun from morning until about 2 pm when it gets shade from wall and palm trees from neighbors. Would put pot right next to pepper plant in this picture.

http://i.imgur.com/VgmDASL.jpg

Or wall on opposite side of yard? This is the wall on the east side of the yard. Morning shade (picture taken around 10 a.m.) with this spot receiving full blast sun the rest of the day. Pot would go next to that cactus (called dessert spoon).

http://i.imgur.com/6T9Mx3Q.jpg

What size of pot? This pot is 18 inches wide but only 13 inches deep. I take it this isn't deep enough?

http://i.imgur.com/DdeTQMh.jpg

Is your blueberry a self-pollinating? The ones I've seen around here have to have another variety for cross-pollination.

This one says self pollinating. "Misty" variety. I do read that even self pollinators can benefit from another variety. I personally wanna see if this one makes it first.

Have you considered honeysuckle for the wall? If not, it might be something to consider. And the aroma is amazing..

We have 3 Cape Honeysuckles bushes in the front yard. They grow big and have bright orange flowers. Not super aromatic though. Regular honeysuckle like you're thinking of doesn't tolerate the heat well here.

These grow nice and big here though. Both of ours are 6' tall (not my picture).

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...1/DSC09181.jpg

And honestly, after this blueberry pot, I am pretty much content with our landscape and plants for now. The yard is pretty full. :D

Ah, we have (had...) three rhododendron under the front window, and somehow a colony of yellow jackets got into the roots of one and it's all but dead. Perhaps the yellow jackets nested underground because the one was dying. IDK, but I've got my thinking cap on about what to put in, and honeysuckle was one idea. I just need a bush, hopefully that flowers a lot all summer long, that doesn't grow taller the 4 feet, I don't want to block the window.

Camellia?

It's on the list, along with the possibility of some azalea bushes.

Spent an hour today trying to clean out honeysuckle that is strangling the pampas grass. Finally got cut up enough I had to quit for the day.

Lewdog - Looking good. Yea, that pot is not deep enough. It's OK for now but should be transplanted next year. And put in where it will not get shaded at all.

We heard it was very tough to get rid of honeysuckle, but with my green thumb, anything is possible. Took 2 yrs.

I've got some Gezenia flowers in that pot. Was just gauging size.

I'll get a bigger pot tomorrow and place on east wall by that cactus then. No shade there!

This is cool!

A couple months ago, I bought these little cardboard tube thingies and roughly built a small box to hang near my garden. The tubes are perfect for mason bees. Well, it's just been hanging there since. This morning I noticed two holes have been filled, so we have bees!!!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4e8ea51c23.jpg

Gonna be looking at getting my seeds growing to start my "Fall" garden in Mid-August. When the June temperature soar here, I rip out my entire garden as it's not worth trying to keep the plants alive.

My plan is to do 3 Tomatillo plants, 2 Heirloom Black Krim tomatoes, 1 cherry tomato and 1 Serrano pepper. All will be new to me outside of the cherry tomato which I keep alive each year from August until June. These will be in addition to my Jalapeno and Sante Fe pepper plants which live year round with very little work.

Main goal here......more salsa and attempts at chile verde!

Been a while since I posted in this thread. Garden is doing pretty well, we have had so much kale we are sick of it. Lettuce, carrots and radishes are all done.

Tomatoes have been a battle with blight. Lots of peppers that I am freezing to use in Chili this winter.

Had about a half dozen edible plums, 5 pears and the figs are just now coming on.
Maybe peaches next year as they stayed small and hard.

http://i63.tinypic.com/295u9up.jpg

We have baby watermelons!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8897656f35.jpg

I see some tomatoes there! What kind of peppers did you grow?

Yard looks nice. I do miss grass sometimes.

Nice. You ever grow them before? I tried last year. Got about softball size and all 3 I had going split down the middle.

Too hot and dry

Nope, first time. Sounds like too much rain.

My blank slate starts in 4 weeks. House goes just behind the small pine in the center that I took down this morning.

Getting my Fall garden going. 3 Tomatillos (new for me) on the far end with Serrano pepper plant in between. 2 Black Krim tomato plants (new for me). And 1 cherry tomato (always have). Plus the jalapeno bush you see which produces year round and never dies. It's a small garden but space is limited here. I rained a ton here today so I was glad I got my seeds in the ground yesterday.

http://i.imgur.com/9oqxA7O.jpg

Finally got the watering right for the Lime tree this summer and it's producing very well and looking very green. It seems to be a heavy feeder for fertilizer and Iron chelate.

http://i.imgur.com/mkF6OPR.jpg

And who knew grapevines loved the Phoenix summer heat?! Grapes came out small but were edible, although the birds got a ton of them. It's producing great green foliage with this monsoon weather and is going great covering that ugly pool fence.

http://i.imgur.com/PJeYCNb.jpg

What is browning off the leaves on your lime tree?

Unless it's heat coming off the brick, I'd get to talking to a horticulturist pronto. That looks disease-ish

Good looking garden though. :thumb:

What's the latest in the year you all have potted a young tomato/pepper plant in KS/MO?

I have a spare hanging basket on our deck and toying with the idea of grabbing a veggie to put in there to see what happens.

It's sunburn. Common on citrus when temps are consistently 110+ for weeks on end. Nothing wrong with tree. I promise. Leaves are burned, die off and replaced as weather gets nice in fall. You'll see most citrus with this look mid summer here.

ROFLThat's what I figured. But that does look like a lot of leaf diseases.

House is moved and on site. Setting piers this weekend. Still a lot of work to be done.

Off grid homesteading?

Anybody have any strong feelings about dethatching?

I take care of a few lawns on the side and I usually just aerate and overseed. I don't really think dethatching is necessary unless it's really built up. Aerating kind of helps the thatch break down anyway.

Thinking of maybe using a slice seeder after aerating to kind of get work on thatch without actually dethatching.

I'm still going to have electric through the coop. I've got 2 friends who do solar installs that convinced me to wait. LP and a water well, though.

Best yard care company in the KC area?

It's hugly awesome.. In fact, when I was better able to do so, we pulled the machine backwards and it pulled up about 5 times the thatch. Not easy, but we had 35 bags of thatch. The neighbor had 42. But the lawns, THE LAWNS... After adding aeration (THAT job done by the robotics team) and over-seeding, the lawn was fargin beautiful.

So yeah, try pulling it backwards for a strip, or two, and see how much more thatch it'll pull up..

Not me goddamit! I do my own lawn care, and that's enough.

Are you referring to the thatcher or slit seeder? Some thatch is good and I only think one of the lawns I do possibly needs some removed. I just wonder if it's worth the hassle of renting both machines when aeration can in itself help with thatch.

The one time I dethatched it created a crazy amount to pick up.

Power rake. And pull it backwards.. Yes, it pulls up a crazy amount of thatch. And I bag pretty-much every time...

And it's well worth it. Verticutting and aeration just aren't power raking. They are important, but they just aren't the same thing. Perhaps power rake then verticut. Make a weekend of it.. if you pull it backwards for the whole lawn, then rake/bag, if you can get out of bed on Sunday you'll be good to go to verticut. You can take M-W off from the gym!

Yeah turning those things isn't fun after a while.

Anything owned by Jose or Pedro.

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What kind of grass? If it's Bermuda you need to donut.

that is a classic. what is that vid now, 8 years old. love it to this day and reference it when possible. no one in australia knows what salvia is, in lawrence i smoked it three times :D

Been a strange summer. All tomato plants got blight, hardly any leaves, sick ass looking plants. Made Salsa twice though.

Bell peppers and Jalepenos have been awesome.

Fig trees are amazing. We will have at least a couple hundred juicy figs.

Lettuce and kale made us grow tired of them.

How about yours? Did you let it go to weeds once it warmed up?:D

I bought a dethatcher and aerator since I installed the mulching kit on the mower. That shit built up bad.

I just picked up a new AreoGarden at an auction for half of list. I've been wanting one forever but was hoping the price would come don before I pulled the trigger. I can't wait for the fresh herbs

Let me know how that goes. Very interesting but I've never pulled the trigger based on price.

That's interesting. Limited space? Curious, don't know much about them except what comes up on a search.

A buddy of mine has had one for about 3 years now. the only thing he's had trouble with are the chives. Basil and cilantro grow like weeds though

Oh yeah, almost forgot. I snacked on my own home grown grapes while watching Mahomes light it up Thursday night.

They are small this second year, but have that conchord taste, but with seeds you have to spit out. Very happy and they should be better next year.

It's basically a mini hydroponics system tha sits on your counter. You can order the pods and food online. It has a built in timer and tells you when to add water and food.

Here is my setup

or not. won't let me upload from my phone

Nice!

I had a 2 year old grapevine this year and the grapes were super delicious but small and not many made if past the birds. I have Thompson Flameless seedless, which I love. What do you have your vine trellising on?

I heard year 3 is great though!

I also think it's a no go for me based on our cat.

She eats ANY plant that's alive in our house. Bring in a rose from the yard.....leaves ripped off and barf found around the house.

Nice green house plant for the bathroom. Bark used as a scratching post and cat bite marks across all the leaves. Barf left around the house.


****ING WORTHLESS!!!

Grow some Thai basil, let the cat eat it then stirfry the little bastard. Problem solved :)

Not a bad year at all, but the same spot burnt out (because flights window reflection) and the same area under the deck tuned to mud (because the deck grew) so GloryDayz will be doing some serious flat work and not fighting mother nature any more.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

Wow, that sounds cool for a lot of things that grow! looking forward to you being able to post your setup!

I have them in huge pots on the back deck. Last year the vines went crazy with no grapes and then I read up on how to do it. I cut them back and tied them 1/4 cable running along the lattice work. It turned out to be vines or grapes, I chose grapes. :D http://i66.tinypic.com/t0nrs2.jpg

I had one for a few years before the pump failed. It was fun to watch the stuff grow. You'll have a good time.

I've had one for more than a decade now. Got one of the originals for Christmas.

Parsley, thyme, and basil grow crazy good. The rosemary didn't do well at all. I've also had really good yield from their little pepper plants.

I just bought one of their seed starter kits to use for next year's outdoor garden.

Pump replacements are like $12.

I'm not knocking it in anyway. It was fun. We replaced what it was sitting on with a holy liquor cabinet and we were done messing with it. It's sitting on a shelf in the shop and I might fix it up again someday. I thought enough of it to not pitch.

:thumb:

Same thing here. Put it away for a couple years, just brought it back out 3-4 years ago.

Mostly perennial rye and tall fescue.

One of the yards is pretty spongy and based on the thatch layer I think it needs it. The rest I don't think really need it. I don't want to take all the thatch out.

I've been what seems like epic busy in the big, revenue generating garden.

We did put up corn last weekend. About 1/3 as much as last year, which was good. We got a little big for our britches last year and didn't get all of last years eaten.

I finally got the hideous assed flowerbeds in front of the house fixed......ish.

When we bought the house in Nov 14 it had these flowerbeds with these goddamned evergreen shitbushes. Dug all that shit out and put rocks in.

Initially, there were 3 trees out front. Each planted in a raised bed. Well, some ****nut that lived here before cut one of the trees down. They went ahead and left the bed. OK whatever. So then they thought, WOW that was a good place for a tree. Let's plant one. So they moved over 5 feet and planted one. Not in a raised bed. Just ****ing there. :cuss:

So we dug all the shit out of the old bed and moved it around the new one. We took a chance and put some dirt in there. There was a pretty good chance it would suffocate the trunk and it would die. Dug all the compost and bullshit out of there beds and put some different rocks in.

Well shit. I thought I had some pictures. I'll try to grab one in the light. It's not great, but the wife and I are strictly interested in minimal maintenance.

Got the piers set over the weekend and they came and sat the house down yesterday. Happily, there was no damage (none that I've found, anyway) during the 16 mile move and placement. I'm pretty happy with the project at this point, though it's been a lot of work. I have no idea how far along it would be if I was still working full-time.

Having to clear about a quarter acre more back behind so they can get power to the house, but it's one step closer than it was to being home. Beyond adding an 8x12' dropped deck on the front, I'm still mulling the landscaping plan. I'm planning to toss out some rye in the next month to get some cover for the winter, at least.