Topic: How to acidify soil for blueberries?

[veggiewomble]

I was silly and planted a blueberry plant I bought from a garden centre in the only existing compost and large container I had available. Now I have discovered that blueberries love acidic soil. How can one acidify soil??? Will adding coffee grounds help? Or should I dig out the existing soil and replace it with spadefuls of acidic soil from the garden centre?

 ???
vegwomble, new to all this

[tim]

Don't know what pH Blueberries like, but to make soil more acid by 1% apply 70g Sulphate of Ammonia per sqm.

[veggiewomble]

Thanks. Is this something I can buy from the garden centre??

[cambourne7]

yep, i think you can also pick up sulpher chips but its less exact.

[Tee Gee]

They require a lime free soil with a pH of 4.5 - 5.5

[manicscousers]

I read somewhere about adding coffee grounds to compost to make your own ericaceous compost for blueberries, one of the tv 'experts' it was..anyone else see it ?

[Jeannine]

I personally would re pot it with the right stuff.I grow a lot of blueberries and it can take a while to correct soil. The figures previosly quoted are right,not above 5.5. I keep mine at 5 and cranberry plants at 4.5. You could use the replaced soil somewhere else. I think it might be as cheap to do as buy the correctors. XX Good Luck XX Jeannine

[Columbus]

Hi Womble,  :)

Mulch with a couple of rhubarb leaves?

My bushes are small but growing year on year and producing a crop proportional to their size, they are mulched with woodchips which I think causes acidity? but under the top layers of soil is endless chalk and flint. Their roots must be in this layer which I can`t change.

When I needed lime for pumpkins grown on a compost heap which was too acidic I just dug a hole and used the chalk that came out, which worked well.

I don`t think your bushes will fail in less acid conditions but they may do better than mine  ;D I wouldn`t risk damaging the roots by poking about too much, just mulch or maybe give them a drink of tea from time to time?

Best of luck, Col

[mc55]

I've heard / seen that pine tree trimmings are a good mulch for blueberries - but if it were me, I'd swap the compost as well.

[Jeannine]

I said this earlier re repotting them.I get huge harvests from my 10 bushes,I had them in normal soil on the lottie, they were OK but just OK,I brought them home and  potted them in very large pots, the differnce in the plants in 2 weeks was incredible. If you repot it is done.They will be flowering soom and you may get a decent harvest if their toes are comfy. I moved mine in full flower and it didn't phase them at all.XX Jeannine

[veggiewomble]

Mine is already sitting in a large pot. I tried removing some of the soil around the plant on the outer edge and replacing it with acidic soil (for rhododendrons etc) - around 4-5 inches all around the plant. I can't replace all the soil in the pot this way but hopefully this may help a little??

My plant is already flowering but birds seem to be picking at it and lots of the flowers have dropped.  >:(

vegwomble

[agapanthus]

I dug out a large hole in the lottie and laid pond-liner
into it, speared it with my fork a couple of times
and returned the soil mixed with a large amount
of ericaceous compost, planted the blueberries
and watered well with butt water. They are going
great guns and have masses of flowers already. :)
Will feed with ericaceous feed.

[sweet-pea]

I have another question abour blueberries. I'm thinking of buying a plant but I've read somewhere that you get a better harvest if you have more than one plant.  Is this true, or would I get a decent amount with just one plant?  Think I'm going to take the advice here and plant it up at home in a container of suitable compost. 

Jeannine, how big are the pots you grow yours in?

Thanks

SP x

[Jeannine]

I ow have 12 plants I have four  different ones . Huge differenve in yeild XX Jeannine

[Raisedbed]

I have 3 different varieties of Blueberry because I have read that you do get a bigger crop if you have more than one variety although you will still get a crop if you have only one.   Mine are planted in a quite large tubs which reduces the chance of the compost drying out which would be detrimental to the plant.  However 12" pots would be sufficient.  The roots grow quite close to the surface so it's a good idea to provide some mulch so the compost doesn't dry out too quickly.   (I use bark chippings but you can also use pine needles which are acid).   I have also read that it is better to use sequestered iron instead of sulfate of iron.  Sulfate of iron chemically reacts with any lime in the soil and quickly become unavailable to the plant whereas sequestered iron is "chelated" which allows it to remain in the soil for longer and therefore available to the roots.   Sequestered iron does not reduce the pH of the soil and needs to be applied every year in late winter/early spring.  It comes in sachets which you dilute with water.   

[Jeannine]

Hi Sweetpea, my pots are 18 inch accross the top and about 20 inches high.  Some of my blueberries are very big now XX Jeannine

[veggiewomble]

I'm a little concerned with my blueberry plant. Since I last posted here, I have replaced part of the compost with ericaceous compost but it is difficult to replace all the soil in the pot without digging out the plant completely, and I don't really want to do that if I can help it. :( It doesn't seem to have grown much, most of the flowers have dropped off and while many leaves have sprouted, it doesn't look particularly healthy. Should I just go ahead and replace all the compost?

Also, a jay seems to have taken a liking to the bush for some reason. It keeps coming and digging up the soil, because I have a thin layer of pine needles as a mulch... now they are almost all gone, but I often find piles of dirt sprayed all over beside my blueberry pot!!! No idea what the jay is doing.  ???

vg

[Leonnie]

are you keeping it well watered? blueberries like moist soil and in pots they can dry out quite quickly, it's been (until this last week) quite hot and dry.

[Si]

I would shake the compost from the roots and re-pot, stick it in the shade and give it a drink with soft water.

[Larkshall]

Also, a jay seems to have taken a liking to the bush for some reason. It keeps coming and digging up the soil, because I have a thin layer of pine needles as a mulch... now they are almost all gone, but I often find piles of dirt sprayed all over beside my blueberry pot!!! No idea what the jay is doing.  ???

vg

If your plant is looking sick, the Jay is probably looking for the pests that it thinks is causing it. People planting onion sets often find that birds dig up the sets thinking that the dead tops are a sign that there are pests there.