I Got SCHOOLED By An 83 Year Old Farmer On How To Grow Blueberries
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2023
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Thank you all so much for watching and Grow BIG! - Навчання та стиль
The older people have a wealth of knowledge. I am glad he shared and you listened.
You realize he just made that up for clickbait, right?
@@Prometheus4096you always look at things negatively? Then like your own comment 😂😂 this isn’t Reddit. Go back to watching pegging videos
@@Prometheus4096 same with his 'an Amish farmer taught me this trick'. It's pretty cringe and transparent 😅. Thanks 'Marvin' 🤭
We've commercially grown blueberries for nearly 12 years. we have found that the following works well in producing top-quality berries.
We are in Zone 6b to 7a
1. We mulch with at least 6" of fresh raw pine chips every fall around every bush.
2. In November and March we add Elemental Sulfur sprinkled around each bush. we also add additional pine chips if necessary in the spring to maintain a 4.7 soil pH. We pH soil test both in the fall and in the spring.
3. We spray with Copper fungicide in February followed by dormant oil a week later.
(this has been all the fungicide and insecticide we use all year)
4. We fertilize with soluble Ammonia Suflate through a drip irrigation system starting at the first show of buds in the spring and then we fertilize with the Ammonia Sufate every 14 days from the first sign of fruit through the entire growing fruiting and harvest season. We make sure the plants receive equal to 2 inches of rain a week (that's 1.25 gallons of water per square foot of plant dripline (the area below the branches)).
5. We prune our bushes when they are totally dormant in January. we take out all the dead branches and twigs open up the centers for airflow, and focus on leaving the maximum amount of new growth from the previous year as those are the branches that will produce the biggest berries.
We avoid using any nitrate-based nitrogen, blueberries need sulfate-based nitrogen.
If you notice that your blueberry leaves are turning maroon-red in the springtime, this could be an indication of a phosphorus deficiency. in the fall that's just an indication they're preparing to go dormant.
Iron chlorosis is common in blueberry plantings and, if left untreated, will cause decreased growth, yellowing foliage, early defoliation, and severely weakened plants. The characteristic foliar yellowing may be apparent early in the spring or can develop later during the summer.
Thankyou dixiechilieranch, I live on se coast of Massachusetts and put in 3 variety of bare root (from MI Gardener!) two years ago. I've fertilize with Espoma Hydrangea & Blueberry in Spring & October. I mulched with my own dead oak leaves run thru a leaf mulcher. Appreciate all your detail. I'm hoping to see some fruit buds next year - nothing yet.🤞🏼
@@riisbeech4465 The leaf mulch really isn't your best mulch as it doesn't maintain your soil acidity pH of 4.5 to 5.2. You need raw pine chips to accomplish this. I recommend going to Tractor Supply and purchasing some Raw Pine Chip Bedding for horses and placing at least 4 inches on top of your leaves under each blueberry bush.
I use pine bark around my plants. The bark chips are from my trees and are pretty big. I made a ring of bark around each plant about 4 inches. I grew blueberries in Washington state and had tons of blueberries 🫐 Now in the Idaho panhandle and its a different ball game.. just planted 7 new plants last spring. I appreciate any and all advice given
What kind of bird netting do you use? We have taller bushes, and the tule would be impractical for our plants.
Also we were told by agricultural specialist not to use fresh pine shavings because it uses up nitrogen during initial decomposition; he recommended using year old shavings
@mamoe3 Re-ask your Ag Expert about the raw pine shavings. Are you sure they didn't say not to use pine needles? As every blueberry expert I have talked with has said use raw pine chips, elemental sulfur, and ammonia sulfate as blueberries need nitrogen sulfate and raw pine chips deplete nitrogen nitrate. Nitrogen nitrate will neutralize your soil. (raise the pH) The raw pine chips help to utilize the elemental sulfur creating nitrogen sulfate which helps to lower and maintain your pH to 4.6 to 5.2 necessary for growing good berries.
Now with that said never mix raw chips into your soil their main purpose is to be a moisture retainment barrier for your plants from on top of the soil. And on top of the soil, they are not stealing any nitrogen from your blueberry bushes as they decompose on the bottom and mix with the slow-release elemental sulfur they will release nitrogen sulfate into the roots of the blueberry plants.
All I can tell you is in the 14 years I have grown blueberries when we started using raw pine chips 8 years ago our bushes doubled in size in the first year, and they produced 10 times more berries each year in the past 8 years. We've also maintained a consistent 4.9 pH level in our soil.
Question, is your: "ag Expert" a blueberry grower? The reason I ask is he is correct if one is growing fruits and veggies that require a 6.0+ soil pH. Not so with blueberries.
We don't use any bird netting, we use cats, tin cans on strings, and owl decoys on posts.
I grow blueberries in pots, I made my own potting mix so it would be more acidic, using half peat moss and half potting soil. I use a soil acidifier/ fertilizer and I also use pine bark wood chips to mulch them which also helps keep the soil more acidic. He's right about pruning, and as much as I hated to do it on baby bushes, I did it and the amount of blueberries I had this year was amazing 😍
Thank you for this! I will consider pine mulch around my blueberries.
If you don’t mind answering how aggressively have you cut back your bushes with success? My family discovered a large (probably 20+ yr old) blue berry bush that’s still producing but only on the branches about 15ft off the ground. I’m considering a hard cut but worried about harming a bush that’s been there for so long.
I too have have 20 year old plants that I did a drastic prune to revert them to a young plant..that was 3 years ago. But I did not have any of the fertilizer down, so still no fruit. Do they need to be pruned every year?
there's been a study that the pine bark doesn't actually help acidify the soil. Try using spent coffee grounds
@@amtra1778 I actually just did that this morning.
To keep birds away, I wrap sparkly tinsel from the Dollar Store around my bushes like they were Christmas trees. I’ve never had problems with birds getting my berries.
My mom used to use fake snakes
I used something similar, but the birds didn't care. I guess they were too hungry lol. The robins were super persistent.
I’ve watched your videos for years! One of the best things about your videos is your willingness to learn & pass that information along to your viewers. You’re continually learning and I appreciate that so much! Now I’m armed with info to grow better blueberries!
About 40 years ago, my father planted 3 blueberry bushes in the back yard, he had a problem with birds too, so he took 2x4s and chicken wire and made a 6 foot tall cage around all 3. I've had to replace some of the chicken wire because it started to rust and fall apart but every year I get loads of fresh berries.
I put round 2-feet tall chicken wire cages around my 20 blueberry bushes in the fall to protect them from wild rabbits, The rabbits like to eat not only the thin branches with the fruiting buds, but even the 1/2-inch thick ones. In addition to the chicken wire, I also run a 4-foot tall burlap fence around the entire row, so the rabbits would not even see the bushes. If they did, they would try to dig and crawl under the cage. They even dig to expose the fine roots and eat them. But in the spring, when the bushes start having flower buds, I remove both the burlap, and the chicken wire. I worry that the bumble bees would not be able to fly through the chicken wire to reach the blossoms. There are no regular bees yet when my early varieties of blueberries are blooming. My blueberries rely on the bumble bees, which are pretty chunky. Last year, I also bought some Mason bees to help with the pollination. Unfortunately, they did not nest for me, so I didn't get to harvest any cocoons. This year, I ordered a new batch of cocoons.
Thank you for preserving and publishing Marvin’s knowledge and wisdom. At his age he probably does not have the resources to pass it on himself. It is so important to preserve the knowledge of the seniors among us.
The worst thing about using bird netting on a plant is when new leaves start to grow through it. That's a great way to rip new leaves right off after fruiting. I've started using insect netting instead (although I have some tulle that will get used soon) and it does NO damage to the blueberry bush when removed.
Bought big bushes this year and yeah the new leaves go right through and then removing the netting it shreads them
Dead birds is also horrible.
Next level gardening tried a dark colored tulle and it worked. I guess it's because of the tighter weave. He said it worked for shading as well. I'm gonna try it in the spring. It can't hurt.
You can apply the bird netting so that it doesn't actually touch the plant... make an enclosure larger than the plant.
Well done. Blueberry growing does perplex me. I am in CA with 6 different lowbush varieties and so far, so good. However, over the past 3 days, my Florida Rose is suddenly dropping dried up leaves. Is it dying or is it deciduous? The other 5 look great -- I do fertilze quite often. But I have no clue about this one. Thanks.
Blueberries are one of the hardest plants I’ve grown! The first 3 years I tried to grow them, I botched them! The sulphur is KEY!!! They require a SUPER LOW PH! I now have about 15 plants and all but one or two look phenomenal.
Imo the key is seaweed😊. Bloobz need the element potassium in highest concentration. Sand, oak leaves and seaweed produce amazing deep green shrubs..
I'm on my 5th attempt. If one or two of the poor things survive, I'm lifting them and putting them in big pots with acid potting soil. Ugh. It's a challenge.
@@dr.greenthumb6535I think I will be referring to my blueberry bushes as "bloobz" from here on. 😊
One of the advantages of living in a city that has a very long history of mining is that - while things are slowly improving - we still have very acidic soil due to decades of acid rain. Blueberries practically BLANKET our forests here - but I'd love to grow my own at home so I don't have to compete with other people in picking the little wonders :)
Excellent information, Luke! Thank you for sharing Marvin's wisdom on this. I have 10 blueberry plants that are going to be much happier now that I've learned this information. Grow Bigger!!
It's worth noting a blueberry bush being purple or any other colors isn't always a bad thing, I have a blueberry variety that has a natural normal purple coloration to the leaves.
Last year I lost my 2 year old blueberry plants while I was spending 4 weeks in the hospital and not able to keep an eye on them. Likely the soil was not acidic enough and maybe they did not get enough water. When I went to replace them they were so pricey I said forget it. Luckily I saw some on sale that I could afford so I tried again. Sulfur takes 6 months to a year to add acidity to the soil. I used a lot of peat moss which did not seem to make a difference. I did mix 3 tablespoon of vinegar per gallon of water and pour in a 1-2 foot circle around the plants. They seemed to love that and are 3 or 4 times taller now. I grow in large containers so watering seems to raise the PH, so I water with the vinegar every week or two. If the leaves get lighter it's time to do it. I have them in containers so I can move them around to various locations for the best growing locations. Purslane, catnip, clover and other plants grow like crazy in the planters, so I know the soil is good. When I get a harvest I will let you know how it turns out. Great timing on this video Luke and great video too.
Tulle sounds appealing, but mostly maid from a synthetic fiber, so as it breaks down from sitting in the sun, it’s just adding more micro plastics into the soil. Not good. But there are tulles that are made from natural fibers, so definitely make sure to scout for some of that.
I had no luck with blueberries in the ground or in pots until I planted them in pure peat moss (in pots). They look fantastic, now. But, pH can change over time due to watering, so I'm prepared to amend with sulphur as necessary.
Regular Tulle is not UV treated and will disintrigate within a season...look for commercial netting like Agfabric insect netting. Also, wood stakes will tear the fabric on top....I use empty small soda bottles and stoop them onto the top of posts (I use bamboo stick, last longer). PS...also protects your head if you should bend over and hit the post....ask me how I know!😂 I use it in my berry patch, but also on small apple trees in my orchard to protect from deer munching.
Thanks for those tips!
Great idea for the deer! We had some come through our yard and munch my baby elderberries last fall. 😢 I'm going they're gonna come back ok this spring. 🤞🤞
True tulle is not uv treated but it is extremely cheap. You can get yards and yards of it for a few dollars.
@@BlessingsfromNorthIdaho Not if you have to replace it every year, and you'll need to.
How do the pollinators get through the tulle? Do you leave small openings and then they find their way?
Also, Tulle is sold at fabric stores and if often on sale depending on the color and season so you can stock up. You can buy it on a roll, or the best way for larger shrubs and plants is on the cardboard ‘bolt’. Check out a fabric store near you. I keep mine on a cardboard bolt on a shelf to use for all sorts of things. You can get it super cheap if you catch after holiday sales, like greens after Christmas , oranges after Halloween, you get the idea. Doesn’t matter the color, it works great! It also makes good suet hangers in the winter, so after you use the tulle for your blueberries and if it is about done and can not be stored for the nest blueberry season… you can make or buy suet and string bunches of it throughout your garden for the winter birds that will stay through the seasons. You can also use it in your house and make pouches to deter moths with cedar, or hang charcoal for dampness. Lot’s of uses, before you toss it away.
I use tulle in my garden EVERYWHERE. I even sew a gathering tulle for my grape bunches and other vegetables/fruits, plus it's cheap at the sewing place. Buy it in bulk. My brassicas would be upset if I didn't use it to keep borers off. Good advice Luke. ❤
The pink icing blueberry bush actually is suppose to have colorful shades of pink , and green in spring
Thx on the information. I use tulle over my strawberries and over the top of my tomato cages as they were getting hammered by wildlife. Pollinators are still able to get to the Flowers , just have to go out and lift the tulle because wasps have a hard time getting out Also tulle does a great job against June bugs allowing you to easily pick them of the fabric and dispose of them
Luke, I can’t thank you enough for passing along Marvin’s knowledge to the rest of us! Really can’t beat the value of experience, in the garden and in life!!! Love and appreciate you bunches!!! ❤️
I killed every blueberry plant I’ve ever tried to grow and I won’t even say how many I’ve had! Love blue berries and resolved to just buying the expensive buggers. Thanks for this video. I’m now inspired to try growing my own again 👍🏿
The difference between a success and a failure is that the success got up and tried one more time. Never give up!
TULLE OVER SQUARE TOMATO CAGES AFTER THE FRUIT HAS FORMED, and flower petals have fallen off (not before because the bees need to get in and help to pollinate the flowers), I use tulle wrapped twice around large, metal, square tomato cages. It works perfectly! I kept the tulle attached to the cages with 3 clothes pins on one corner of the cage, and gathered the extra tulle at the top, twisted it, and zip-tied it closed with a zip-tie that can be reopened so I could open the top, reach in and pick the berries, then reclose the tulle with the ziptie afterward. No damage from staples, can be reused yearly as long as your plants are small and fit within the cage.
I live in the SE US and rake all my pine straw around my blueberry (and hydrangea). It breaks down slowly, but it adds to the acidity of the soil. It also makes it easier to pull weeds. It's smart to have different varieties. You should mix and match rabbit eye, highbush and lowbush to get better pollination and yields.
Blueberries turn red in the fall. Whole fields of them are red right now. From Muskegon south to South Haven, Niles area.
I went to a local recycling place you know where you can buy other peoples cast offs and I bought sheer curtains. Thats what I use to protect plants.
Thanks for the tips. Last year I had about a dozen wild blueberry plants pop up in my side yard so I've been nurturing them. This year I had a great harvest but like you I really didn't know much about them haha. Thanks to you and let Marvin know I appreciate it too!
For those beginners who want to grow *blueberries* in buckets:
01. Bucket 55l (15 gallon)
02. Soil from a pine forest
03. Mix the soil with pine twigs and pine bark
04. Pine bark mulch
Purchased soil is dead soil. No doubt.
Purchased fertilizer is not as good as slowly decaying pine twigs with pine bark. They gradually give the blueberries nutrients. If you really want to take care of the blueberry, it is a good idea to let pieces of pine bark stand in water for several weeks. As soon as the water "rusts", it also has a low ph, then water them. If you have blueberries in black buckets, they will heat up a lot in the sun and the roots will suffer. Either use white buckets or simply paint the black ones white or wrap them in paper or aluminum foil. One last piece of advice: the more varieties of blueberries, the more fruit you will have.
*Failure is not possible with this procedure*
Luke, my first fertilization in the spring is 46-0-0, it really helps, about a half cup around the bush a foot and a half from the main stems. My bushes are between 4 feet to 6 feet tall and we have 13 of them, love blue berries.
Thank you, that was one of my questions answered. Wish i knew if you're supposed to prune every year!
@@sueweathers3978me too!
@sueweathers3978 don't use a synthetic fertilizer, do yourself a favor and apply blood meal.. the blood gives nitrogen and iron and other minerals.. just buy store bought if your using synthetic garbage... feed your body. And grab some seaweed😊
..
I have replaced organic with synthetic and am progressively eradicating blood meal and bone meal and etc from all my fertilizing. Organic is more garbage than synthetic which only cant be called organic cause its made naturally through a encouraged process its just as natural as organic but because we encourage the process that produces it its somehow not organic even if it has less toxins or pollutants than organic does. Its the biggest scam in gardening. @@dr.greenthumb6535
I want a high nitrogen not low and by that I mean not 10 or 15 percent.@@dr.greenthumb6535
Oh my goodness, so much wonderful information that I'll be putting to use. I'll also be using tulle for my blueberries. I haven't been happy with using bird netting in the garden either and have been waiting to find a better product to use. Such a blessing to have an elder share some of his wisdom and knowledge for you to pass along with others. Now I need some help with my honeyberries. Blessings
Great tips, love your channel! ❤ thanks for keeping the birds safe! 😊💯
Thank you for passing on this info❤
Aren't the leaves supposed to turn red in the fall though? I understand red leaves in the growing season but in Oct-Nov my leaves usually turn red naturally before dormancy in the winter.
Yes, they do. Several varieties have fall color- some are just yellow/orange and some are a red. Some even have beautiful red stems for winter color. So pretty!
Yes, the leaves will turn red in the fall, but mine were red from the beginning lol
My understanding/experience has been that red leaves in a time other than fall has more to do weather conditions (sun and temperature). Your red leaves this year may have been on account of the smog reducing light to the plants…
My experience has less to do with gardening and more to do with foraging and natural law. If you haven’t checked out Learn Your Land or Back to Eden, I HIGHLY suggest them both to improve your understanding of soil health. Feed soil, not plants…
@@delyco1You are correct - some of mine had red leaves in the beginning of the season because we had a colder spring and was not getting enough light on one side!
I was just going to comment about this!
I stopped using bird netting for the same reason. I felt bad killing birds that got caught in the black netting because they didn't see it. Tulle is less expensive but it light weight and doesn't hold up to garden use. Raised bed bug netting in white is a better alternative. If you put it on frames you can reuse it year after year.
Im overjoyed to revieve all that Wisdom!!!
Thanks Marvin!
Thank you Marvin for this garden wisdom!! 😊
Glad you'll be covering Blueberries more. I'm in AZ zone 9b and I am determined to grow some for my grandbaby 😊
TY Luke and Marvin. Grand tips. 🤗
Good looking out Marvin and luke, very much appreciated!
Great to aquire knowledge from your elders
Thank you Marvin for sharing your secrets with Luke and all of us!😘
It's always nice to learn from experienced gardeners. I've learnt a lot from my granny.
thank you Marvin!!!
This was very helpful, thank you.
Many thanks for the video Luke. That is a lot of information for growing blueberries and very helpful. You have answered a number of questions we have with our own plants.
Thanks for the informative video. I love that you gave credit to Marvin as well!
A humble heart sharing knowledge of the old ways from those who walk before us is the best way to learn. Thank you Luke! Love that most of my seeds for next year came from your company!
Awesome info! Thanks Marvin and Luke! Blessings 💞🙏
Great information. Have been having so-so luck with blueberries. Thank you.
Thank You (and Thank You Marvin)!
So glad I saw this. I'm planting my blueberries. Trying to decide what dirt they need and where to plant. Thank you for sharing.
Growing blueberries in my area (SE Idaho) is super difficult, because both our soil AND water are very high pH. Even if you amend the soil, the pH goes back up every time you water. People in my local gardening group suggest growing honeyberries instead; they apparently taste a lot like blueberries, but don’t need the high acidity like blueberry plants do.
I also live in SE Idaho. Haven't tried blueberries, but I'm definitely making a note of the honeyberries now. I also haven't heard of honeyberries. I'll have to see if anyone local sells them
Honeyberries are good, and the birds think so too. :) I have used netting to get my fair share - or maybe just a few. Funny thing, two years ago I had a duck nesting under the bird netting and the honeyberry bush (live in IL). Almost stepped on the nest while trying to get some honeyberries or put the netting up, can't remember which now. Anyway saw the nest, and the duck seemed to be fine with getting under the bush and netting. One day, duck was gone, and egg shells were left. Never sure if eggs hatched or if nest was gotten into by another animal. Should say I live in suburbia, and no water source very close at hand (other than my multiple bird baths).
Would collecting rain water give you a lower ph water source?
@@slowpoke4557 Not really. We don’t get the rainfall to provide enough water for a garden without still having to pull the majority of it from the tap, as this is a high desert. Summers are very dry, going most of the season without any rain. Most of our precipitation comes from the winter snow.
@pearsaregreat oh, I didn't know that. This might be a lot of effort to do, but wouldn't it be possible to hook up a rain collection system from the gutters of your roof and collect the water into barrels or a large tote? Filtering and whatnot might be an issue, I'm just wondering. I'm wanting to do something like that myself.
Thanks for the great tips. I have had super productive blueberries here in MT. Pest free, disease free, very winter hardy and the birds haven't been interested. They look beautiful in all seasons; survival food must have! LOVE & HUGS
Great tips. Blueberries are one of my favorite plants in the garden, always enjoy videos on blueberries.
Thanks, to Marvin and Luke. Great tips!
sweet my first year with a gifted blueberry bush... thx for the tips
Thank you Marvin and thank you Luke for the information!!! I planted several blueberry plants this year and hadn't a clue as to what to do! I look forward in learning more along with you. Would I treat my raspberries the same way?
Rabbits will eat those little baby blueberry plants down to nothing in fall or winter so remember to protect them. chicken wire on the wood posts would work fine.
GREAT point!! Thank you so much for that.
Thank you for this! I have two small blueberry bushes, and I will be referring back to this. I did deeply amend the soil with peat and a little bit of sand and maybe compost, because we have serious clay soil.
Also used tulle this year to keep birds and squirrels from stealing my peas which grow against a fence, so it doesn't stop pollinators. Then I continued using it as my green beans grew. My beans are beautiful this year, with only a rare bug bite.
Thank you Luke. This is really helpful, my two blueberry plants have never thrived and now I know why!!!! Great stuff!!
Finally a use for all that tulle I bought for my daughter's wedding years ago! I knew I kept it for a good reason!
Awesome timing! I literally just planted some more Elliots and Auroras and bought some more Sulfur from Ace Hardware yesterday. Figured I'd get the dusting wetting sulfur so more versatile applications like pathogen related if you can deal with the smell. I like Ammonium Sulfate for short term pH down as well to green em up in the spring and in general if needed. I like MKP since I have a bunch of it for in the fall or transplanting. I like SuperThrive for transplanting as well with MPK at the least. I tried Pine Bark Mulch hoping might be a little more acidic. Reminds me I should make a UA-cam video to document for the future me and I guess others that might find interesting. This is my first year attempting blueberries. Wanting to try MSU Kiwis next since will go well with my first Figs attempt. Thanks for sharing! Great info as usual.
Thanks Marvin!! and thank you as well, Luke.
My blueberry plant has those same purple redish leaves. Thanks for this info.
Can’t believe how much more fertilizer they need to be happy happy. Great video, thanks for sharing
Great timing, was just working on my blueberries. Thank you!
Thank you so much!!!
This very informative. Say thank you to Marvin.
Awesome information!! Thank you Marvin and Luke!
Thank you. I'm new to blueberries and this was great info!! Thank you Luke and Marvin
Thank-you I just planted blueberries last spring I'll follow these instructions and hopefully they'll do well
I put a lot of azalea food on my blue berry bushes 4 months ago...they are exploding with fruit now.
Thank as always Luke.
😊 Can you do a follow up video to show cages and growth of blueberry plants please???❤
thanks Marvin!
Thank you Luke and Marvin. 💕❤💕
Thank you! Would love to see Marvin on too!
I’m new here. Excellent video. I would love to see you do a video with your fruit farmer. I love to listen to older people talk
As a side note we have discovered that dehydrating the blueberries slightly before freezing helps to keep them from becoming mushy while baking. By slightly I mean about half the time to dry them into raisins, usually 24 hours for large berries. The blueberry raisins are not desirable and take quite a bit of time to rehydrate.
Thanks, Luke. Great info!
Thanks for sharing
I have followed your tips and wow what a difference. Thanks. The sulfur was a game changer. ❤ your channel.
I use 1 1/2 tubing for cages with netting to cover my plants. Easy to pick right off.
Thanks, Marvin!
We keep pine needle mulch around our blue berries all year long. They love that acidic mulch. Replace as it rots
Great points! Thx Marvin and Luke.
Glad you enjoyed it. Happy gardening!
Thanks for the extra info!
I was finally succeeding growing blueberry bushes in our 7.0 soil and the deer (or rabbits?) found them!! I thought they weren’t big enough to garner attention but they were gnawed to the ground and all my hard work and money went down the drain. I was using an evergreen food monthly on top of the Canadian peat I mixed with the soil.
I don’t think tulle will protect them. I was planning to use a chicken wire cage secured to small posts, hoping that would deter the deer and rabbits.
Awesome. I need this. TY so much
What a great bit of information!!!!!! Hubby and I are thinking of adding berries to our garden and these tips will help a out tremendously 😊.
Excellent video. I have been conflicted about caging my dwarf peach. The tule literally a life saver.
Wow so much I didn't know, thanks Marvin and MIgardner. I appreciate you sharing, I've struggled with my blueberry plants for a bout 3 yrs now and this helps a ton!!
I've used tomato cages turned upside down, wrapped the Tulle around and then held in place with a bungee cord to keep birds off of the plant.
Yes! Tomato cages are great for this!
I have upside down tomato cages around all "bloobz" in my row (love the BIG ones I scored on super clearance years ago before I decided I don't like using cages for tomatoes, lol), and on the largest ones I wrapped them with 1" chicken wire to keep the blue jays out. Worked great. The bees and hummingbirds could still get in, bird eaters could not. Tied reflective tape to the tops, or pretty colored glass bottles over them if they're the shorter ones so I don't walk into them. The biggest drawback is, like someone else mentioned, sometimes a branch will stick leaves through or berries, so you have to be careful when taking it off for harvest, though that could be solved if I left one section I could unhook and open🤔 Also hopefully someday the bushes will be too big for them.
My thought then was to get or make some of those even larger square type cages that can be stored flat, and attach wire to THOSE.
Also- I think birds get confused by the Pink Lemonade blueberry variety. They will try to get every other one of my bloobz, but I don't even have to cover it. Maybe they look unripe? 😅
Thanks Marvin. I just got a new bush today. Got the peat moss and some fertilizer.
That was terrific. Going to try all his tips except one - I’ve found out that when you put very fine mesh over the plants, it also stops the pollinators. So I am going to try constructing solid wire cages over the blueberries. Like chicken -wire but one with one and 1/2 cm width holes in it: too small for birds to get in and big enough for bees.. and because its a hard non -bending structure, birds can even land on its top and sides, and it won’t bend or wrap around them. This is my plan. See how it goes. Thanks heaps for this
Ohhhh! This came in at the perfect time. I just bought some from you and planted them this week. I was worried I put too much fertilizer. As well as the red leaves. Thank you so much for these wonderful snippets of info. They really help a beginner.
Thank you SO much!! I was given ten bushes this year! I really want them to succeed! We hope to teach children and adults how to be more connected to their food sources! God bless you and Marvin! 😊
Thank you Marvin. And think you Luke, that is really great information.
Glad it was helpful!
If you have pine or oak trees in your area, a good long term natural acidifier is using their leaves/needles and installing around the blueberry plants. The leaves/needles are acidifiers and contribute to acidic forest soils.
THANK YOU!!!