I'm in california and I have had 2 blueberry plants for 5+ years. my tips 1. grow in pots not in ground. 2. use at least 50% Peat moss soil (they need the PH peat provides). 3. I fertilize once a month spring- summer with miracle grow shake n feed. They have been super easy to grow! The real trick is to use Pots and Peat moss.
This is not only the best blueberry video on the internet, this is one of the BEST videos - regardless of topic - on the internet... period. Informative, well-researched, VERY informative (with educated sources), and it was considerably grammatically correct! (I.e., "shovels full" ...THANK YOU for that!) VERY GOOD VIDEO! WELL DONE! BRAVO!
@@TheMillennialGardener TOO MANY TH-cam channel owners do ZERO work BEFORE getting in front of the camera, and MAYBE a little work AFTER the in-front-of-the-camera moment is done. If you keep this up, you will QUICKOY become THE "go-to" TH-cam source for gardening. Bar none. I've already forwarded your video to almost everyone in my texting list (safely hundreds!). I SINCERELY wish you the best. I'm North of Houston, so my zone and overall climate is different than yours, but you provide all the information ANYONE living in the USA can use. Again, thoroughly enjoyed. Excellent. Wish you the BEST!
Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. I hope the video can help a lot of people. Lots of useless stuff goes viral. I hope something like this can go viral and inspire some people.
Damn, you weren't kidding when you said this video was packed with information. This one's definitely going in the watch later playlist for next spring. Thanks!
Thank you. I put *a lot* of work into this video. I've been collecting footage since February, and spent hours researching different varieties and categorizing them to make everything as easy as possible. Hopefully, it'll be worth it in the long run and help a lot of people.
Your videos are AMAZING. I learned more about why I have never had success growing them here in NJ, in your first 4 minutes, than in years of “experimenting myself. Your videos must take many hours of prep, and they are probably the best I’ve seen on TH-cam. MANY THANKS and continued success.
Thank you. This video legitimately took days of research and was probably a 40 hour endeavor to put this together. But, it's worth it to me, because my goal will always be to help as many people grow food as possible. Here in my HOA, everyone has these ugly, ratty bushes around their homes, and I always think...why can't you rip them out and put blueberries around your house? They're beautiful bushes, and you get blueberries out of the deal!
@@TheMillennialGardenerexcellent video! Thank you so much. You are correct there is much to proccess here. This will require several listens! Looking forward to better understanding. But alteady so much has become more clear. Keep up the good work! Have you ever propagated from cuttings? I saw on another blueberry video that blueberry seeds can be grown from an organiclly sourced blueberry but it probably will not bear fruit ever but that a fruiting bush cutting can be grafted onto the plant grown from a seed. Wondering if you have explored this?
Thank you. I worked really hard on this one, and I would not call it the best guide on the internet if I didn't believe it was the case 😀 Thank you for watching!
That was incredible! Not only do you have knowledge but you are great at teaching and conveying that knowledge. Video editing is top notch. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you , I purchased 2 blackberry 2 blueberry an 2 different peach 🍑 trees an planting this week , the peaches I planted already & blackberry, Blueberry this week & live in Montgomery County, Texas 🙏🏻 Have a nice weekend Josette 🇨🇱 🙏🏻💙💙💙💙🍑🍋🥦🥬🍅🌶🌽🍊🍈🫑🥒🥕🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
May I say your videos are among the best on TH-cam. Ways you can improve. Show more love to those of us in Los Angeles or Southern California because there are 20 million of us that are avid gardeners and I for one feel neglected. I believe I’m in zone 10 B with six backyard raise beds growing mostly vegetables. I have two blueberry plants that I bought from my local nursery of different varieties that never get more than 2 feet tall and since I put them in the ground they’re not bearing fruit. I did take a big hole and mix in blueberry potting soil and plants produced a couple of blueberries last year and none this year. Thank you for Sharing your vast knowledge of planting
This video is the most complete ‘blueberry related’ video I’ve seen! I’ve saved it for future reference. Ps-you could be a college professor your video is so complete and in-depth. Thanks for giving me the inspiration to finally dedicate part of my yard to blueberries!
I've viewed this video several times. MG - my compliments on a well organized, information packed and patiently presented video about the topic. I've just begun my blueberry garden and dug my first three holes for blueberry plants out by the fence in the backyard. I return to the relevant section in the video as I progress.
I'm so glad to hear this was helpful! It took a lot of work and several months to put together this video, but it's worth it if it helps a lot of people. Every time I drive past the hundreds of homes in my neighborhood and see all those decorative bushes planted around the homes, I think to myself...what a waste! Blueberry bushes are the same size, they're just as beautiful, and you can be harvesting gallons of blueberries for little more effort. I hope edible landscaping becomes the norm!
This is absolutely the most in depth and informative you tube video on growing blueberries I have encountered so far. Thank you so much for this well organized information!
You are SO RIGHT ABOUT RESEARCHING CHILL HOURS! Because there's false chill hours being reported (like this map 4:37 says Tucson is "600" nope, realistically it's 300 sometimes only 250! Some sites say "400" -- that's not to say that once in a blue moon we MIGHT hit that but we need to plant items in the 150-250 range. How much $ I have wasted reading a plant needs 400-500 chill hours and that Tucson is 250 many years so NO FRUIT.
So... this year, I've decided to grow blueberries... but first, let me check my favorite TH-cam gardener... and as always you are the Best!!! Thanks from Raleigh NC ❤
Today my goal was to learn to grow blueberries, and your videos on the topic are top notch, per usual! You might just be my #1 favorite gardening channel on TH-cam. Thanks for all the work you put into these videos!
Kudos for the stellar research! As an aside, I just received my soil analysis report and was dismayed to learn my garden is highly acidic(5.6pH). Well.....thanks to you I've found one bush that will thrive here.
Outstanding! I have more good news: many plants love acidic soil. Tomatoes, peppers, and figs will also thrive in those conditions. Acidic soil can turn out some awesome tomatoes.
You were right. Tons of info on BB's and well explained. I don't know how you could go wrong selecting and growing after that. We have about 8-10 bushes (rabbit eye - zone 8b) that have produced super for us the last several years and we rely heavily on the pine chips as a mulch. They purely love anything PINE - chips, bark, needles you name it. Nice job on the video again.
Thank you. I put a ton of effort into this one. Too many "Complete Guides" are very incomplete, and I really wanted to cover everything. Variety selection is walking a line between chill hours and bud break. It's often tempting to get low chill varieties "to be safe," but if the buds break too early, frost will kill the blooms. It definitely is a balancing act.
@@TheMillennialGardener I can tell you put a lot of effort into it and explained it so even I can grasp it :). As far as the chill hours vs bloom break that is definitely of high concern because even down here in 8b we still get frost nipped in early spring sometimes. So yeah as you say that's a real balancing act within itself.
@@TheMillennialGardener I had no idea there were so many.. I live in South Texas so no need to worry about frost; I planted a southern highbush last fall and I think I already see some blueberry forming!
Thanks for noting your results with pine needles. As a total newbie, I have heard mixed things from various videos (diluted vinegar is good/bad, pine needles are great/dried pine needles actually aren’t very acidifying, coffee ground do/don’t work). As the pine needle mulch is easy and agree this video shows a lot of thought and effort, I’ll give it a try.
I have a couple rabbiteye bushes here in southern Alabama. We only get around 600-700 chilling hours so I have to be careful about blueberry selection. I have Climax and Brightwell varieties, chosen for heat tolerance mostly. Brightwell produces larger, sweeter fruit but Climax grows better. Brightwell is said to split in wet weather but it rains a lot here and they seem fine. I recommend picking up Brightwell for a good tasting berry that grows in hot climates.
Rabbiteye are native to our general region, so they all mostly perform pretty well. My blueberries have been blooming since January, and none of the February or March freezes affected them. They're great plants.
Thanks so much. I'm a landscaper and I didn't know all of this. We do things pretty much the same. I use pine fines in most of my plantings for texture and drainage. It will also help with the ph.
Excellent guide. So glad to finally have a start to finish guide to blueberries in the mid-Atlantic/Southeast US. There are some good older videos on youtube from places like the Maine Extension, but we needed something like this down here in the south. Thanks! The only issue I have, and it is very minor, is the myth that pine bark (or needles or any mulch) affects soil pH. There can be a small temporary affect from pine bark on pH in the top few millimeters of soil as they break down, but it is only temporary. As soon as bark or needles come off a conifer tree the biological activity that created the acids for the trees defense stops and those chemicals start to break down. As you know, pH is a measure of free H ions, and H ions do not stay free for very long on their own... hence why the only way to more permanently change soil pH is to feed the microorganisms that create acids, not by adding acid to the soil. Like I said, its not a big deal, I just like to point that out. I see way too many people out there who think they can just throw some pine needles/bark on their beds and iit'll turn their soil more acidic. That is an old myth that needs to be put to rest.
Pine needles are not very acidic and do not provide significant soil acidification, but pine bark is very acidic. It does affect the soil pH as it decays. The key to success is that you need to constantly add pine bark mulch so it is always in a state of decay. This shouldn't be a problem, because all fruit trees and bushes should be mulched at all times. If you place pine bark nuggets at planting, but never place them again, your soil won't remain acidic after it breaks down. This is why I recommend constantly amending your soil. You should be applying a thick layer of mulch and supplemental sulfur in spring and again in the fall. Amending twice a season will keep the process going so the soil maintains acidity.
@@TheMillennialGardener Unfortunately, it's just not true. It would be nice if it were, we could save a ton of money! The scholarly information out there from the past 30-ish years about using pine bark isn't in regards to it being used as a mulch, it is related to finely ground pine bark used as a soil amendment at time of planting. Over the decades, people have misconstrued that research to mean that any pine bark thrown on top of the garden will lower soil pH (and then eventually that was further misconstrued to the belief that eve pine needles will do it too). There is a reason why you can go to any extension office or search google scholar and find out how much elemental sulfur you need to change your pH by X amount over Y number of months in various types of soil... but there is no such information about pine bark as a mulch. Because it just doesn't have a significant effect on pH below the top few mm to cm of soil or for very long. Natural pine bark mulch has a pH between 4.0 and 5.0, but the acids that pine trees produce for defense leach out and break down quickly in the environment. You can mulch your blueberries with any hardwood mulch, sawdust, compost, black plastic (Bell and Kroon, 1979 and Mainland and Lilly, 1984), straw (Moore and Pavlis, 1979), and even corn cobs (PSU Extension)! The plants will be just fine as long as you keep amending your soil with fertilizer to counteract the decomposition of mulch and keep using additives that actually cause bacteria to create acids, as you pointed out. That said, pine bark is useful because it has other properties conducive to the blueberry industry (inexpensive and readily available in large quantities, high water retaining capacity, high lignin content that helps slow decomposition and not bind up N as much as other mulches, etc). Now there is a difference between mulching with pine bark and amending the soil with finely ground pine bark, as is often done with sphagnum moss at the time of planting. When the finely ground pine bark is mixed with the soil close to the roots, then it allows some of that acidity to leach into the immediate area around it, but again that is only temporary. The myth seems to come from some research in the 1970s that were limited in scope to only the pH of various tree products, not their long term effect on soils/plants. There has been no peer reviewed research on the actual effect of mulch on soil pH in various types of soil, for how long, how deep, etc because we know its not a major factor beyond the top few mm of soil. Its quite astounding how long that myth has stuck around and actually grown to include needles and other tree leaves now!
@@manofthewild07 this is why I specifically recommend using sulfur prills. Elemental sulfur will correct the problem when used in the proper amounts and added regularly so there is always some acting to acidify the soil.
I am grateful you took the time out to make this video. You are very detail and I truly appreciate that because I am going to try for the first time to plant blueberries I wasn’t aware of all the different brands and how important it is to know what grows best in your area and a different soil so i appreciate you caring enough to make this video to help others Who see the wisdom and value. Thank you for also listing everything we need and even where to purchase. 🤗👍
You’re welcome! I’m happy to hear the video was helpful. Now is the perfect time to buy blueberry plants since they can be plated in late winter/early spring. I got my plants from Bottoms Nursery in Georgia. They have an incredible selection.
You are SO THOROUGH in Every aspect of Your Work!👏Here in Zone 7B, My Daughter gifted Me a "Jellybean" Blueberry Bush, in early Spring. 🥰You have definitely provided Me; with More than Enough information for a Success Grow! Thanks A Million; and Perpetual Success to You!❤️👑
I bought a random blue berry plant from Lowe’s that I was already ab 1.5-2 ft and producing fruit, then I learned about all these things and bought two pink lemonades and some sulfer. I sure hope that they end up doing well. Thinking of keeping them in containers so I can take them with me if I move.
I'm in NC zone 7b and this has to be the most thorough video I've seen on blueberries that is applicable to my area. The North Carolina folks were 10,000% right about how great this channel is!
i see this guy as the G.o.a.t-Gardener🙌🏽 he keeps making better videos over the years and keeps my interest at all times. love how he thoroughly explains everything, keep up the awesome work u do my guy👍🏽
Thank you for explaining so well, as always😊 I’ve tried to grow blueberries with no success. I will try your way next time..so helpful! Dale is adorable 😁
The challenge with growing blueberries is to pair them with your environment. A lot of people buy the blueberries that come in at Home Depot in April, but the truth is, they may be horrible varieties for your climate, because they just get whatever they get. Blueberries need to be carefully selected and special ordered from good nurseries. If you pair the right varieties for your climate, they will thrive.
08:14 - the chart is what I really needed. I know nothing about blueberries except how to cook and bake with them... 🤣 For the first time in the past few years I managed to grab a pot from the local market before everyone bought them out ahead of me 😁 "Sunshine blue" is what I'm working with 😻
I live in zone 7B Piedmont triad region of North Carolina, and I have 4 rabbiteye blueberry bushes. I live in the country where it gets colder than the city at night. I promise you rabbiteye variety blueberry flowers can take a frost easily. My blueberry bushes survived a few nights in the mid-twenties in bloom. I lost all of my plums and pears, but I had more blueberries than I knew what to do with. My Wife and I probably harvested about 80 lb worth of blueberries.
I would think it depends on what stage the bloom is at. Flowers become progressively less hardy as they open. A bud may be able to take temperatures into the teens or low 20's, but a completely open bloom may be killed by a light frost. It varies species to species, but universities have done studies on apple flowers, which are as hardy as blueberries, and they've shown the blooms become progressively less hardy as they open. You're in an appropriate zone to grow rabbiteye blueberries, and probably within their native habitat, but someone in Michigan, for example, may struggle.
G'Day from Australia, we spray white vinegar around soil of our blueberries they love it. We have done the concept of a forest garden, mulch, mulch & more mulch which breaks down really well. Our plants fend for themselves so they get the water from rain & in drought times we water. Give the odd seaweed solution & that's it. I have 4 varieties of blueberries along with fruit trees, strawberries, roses, lavender, herbs.
I need to thank you for all the advice! Got any Bilberries? Have you ever thought of growing cold hardy kiwi? I feel like it's up your alley. The fence might make a good trellis in your backyard
I have not considered growing bilberries. I've only heard them advertised as a supplement for night vision loss. I am not growing kiwi, but I am considering building an arbor in the future for vining crops, and kiwi's crossed my mind. I'm not a huge kiwi fan, but I like sharing 😀
Excellent video, packed with everything you need to know about blueberries. Thank you. I have read different articles suggesting to avoid compost because it can increase the PH level or move it towards neutral. I also know people had great results with compost. So may be it does not matter
Compost is fantastic, but it just needs to be prepared beforehand. If you can build a mound, mix in elemental sulfur, top it with pine bark and let it sit for a few months to decompose and acidify, it could be an incredible growing environment. That's what I did. I put down compost months beforehand, added sulfur and pine bark around my house, and I let it break down for 8 months.
I killed a container blueberry many years ago but now am inspired to try again! Now to find some space in the yard :) Thank you for the excellent video!
Your videos are great and encouraging, thank you. I am glad you discussed planting against your home and using the Blueberry as an alternative bush. Mentioning it is a shallow rooted plant that will not damage the house foundation was a great thing to hear. I am currently working with a company that develops fertilizers. They just had a farmer who had issues with his crop dying due to cow manure used as a fertilizer. How? After investigation, they tested the manure, and it contained the chemical found in Roundup. You mentioned using cow manure as a fertilizer. Please tell your audience that not all cow manure is created equal. Maybe do a segment on this potential issue. Thanks again!!!!
This is an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to grow blueberries. I bought a few bushes in pots and some fruit buds have shown up. I am in the tropics and they are doing well since I got them. I got Emerald, Sharpblue and some lowbush ones as well. Thank you for such the helpful,in depth guide to blueberries I've seen anywhere! I just subscribed to your channel and look forward to more excellent content! PS Ferrous sulfate is also a good acidifier,I use it for miracle berry plants,it helps against chlorosis. And since bone meal is expensive in my area, I use Duofos. The cheapest pine bark I've found is marketed as reptile bedding but does just as well for plants. Can you please do a video on roses? Thank you
From California's North Valley where the heat burns everything up in the summer... I really appreciate your shade cloth methods and detail in this blueberry vid. Now I think I'm ready to try again after giving up a few years ago. Thank You!
Interesting info. Where I grew up, blueberries self seed and grow into big trees - think 3 m or more tall. That's in northeastern Botswana. They self-pollinate too. Dec is a great time for enjoying the fruits. I guess they love the soil, weather and plentiful underground water.
That's interesting. I wonder if they're the same species as the blueberries that grow here. Perhaps they're different. Do you know the genus and species name?
@@TheMillennialGardener Very good point. I don't know the genus and species name unfortunately. An elderly neighbour was given the plant years ago by foreigners and we just get seedlings from her now. Blueberries are definitely not native to this area. But, I've found that some native trees develop similarly in different parts of the country too. In one area, they are bushy, lush and abundant; in another they are mid-sized and still plentiful; while in another area they are very tall with thick branches with a wonderful canopy - same species and genus. They seem to thrive in different ways depending on the area. It has always fascinated me all this.
That’s a lot of great information there! When I’m working on my blueberries here at the nursery, I will make sure to mention this video for people to go check out.
Yeah Buddy, you certainly made this detailed and well thought-out. I just planted some a month ago and used your info and that from a dozen other people, and your info is the most concise and detailed. I got my soil form 7.2 to 6.5 by the time the plants got here. Still hovering around 6.2, but I know the sulfur I used will continue to bring the PH down over the summer. Liked and subscribed already Thanks for the info!
I'm glad to hear the video was helpful. That's great progress with the soil. As the ground heats up, the acidification should accelerate since the sulfur will be processed by the soil microbiology more quickly as temps increase. In the meantime, something like MiracleGro MirAcid can be a quick bridge to keep the plants healthy in the short-term while you work to long-term alter your soil with sulfur.
Thank you so much SO MUCH INFORMATION… have two that I just purchased a few weeks ago STILL IN POTS so now I need to figure out when to plant these as they are already loaded with berries 😩I’m thinking AFTER I HARVEST THE BERRIES and they won’t be so stressed putting on fruit and being planted in the ground … much appreciated the links on Amazon will go to order today crossing fingers that I don’t ruin these and that they thrive once they are in their forever home
That was a ton of great information, all presently simply and concisely. Even though I don't know a lot about blueberries I can tell that you definitely know what you're talking about! I would love to see an update sometime this summer to see how your bushes are doing!
Excellent video, comprehensive information - I would caution on the use of cow manure, as some people have recently experienced catastrophic results - because cattle were on pastures sprayed with Grazon. This herbicide is sprayed on pastures and hay fields because it kills broadleaf weeds without killing the grass; however, it is a persistent herbicide and can be ingested by livestock and pass through into their manure, and continue its killing ways. In some cases people have mulched with hay - only to find out after testing that the hayfield had been sprayed with Grazon, and now they've contaminated their garden space. It doesn't appear to break down in composting and, if you contaminate a growing area, the only "cure" is to remove all of the contaminated soil and replace it.
Excellent video! I live in FLA an picked up a blueberry bush - glad to know I need to get additional for polinators. I like to use peat moss to help acidify the soil prior to plant time -
Lost my blueberry plants that I bought last spring. The heat was just to much for them (we hit 45 degrees Celsius.) I did buy the variety here and was told it can survive our summers, but think I will have to create a section in our orchard that has enough dappled shade for them. Your video has given me lots to think about, before trying again, this coming spring. 🤞
That heat is a challenge for blueberries. I planted them along the east side of my house, because they will get full sun from around 7AM to 1PM in this area. However, once around 1-2PM or so rolls around, they start getting shade. After 3PM, they're basically in total shade. A setup like that - an east facing wall of sorts - may be ideal for you, since they'll get the morning sun and avoid a lot of the strong UV rays of the afternoon. Alternatively, you can always use shade cloth in the summer. Simply buy yourself a 40% shade tarp and throw it over the plants. I have an inexpensive one linked in my Amazon Storefront that I use for my young pawpaw trees.
This video was so amazing! You really helped me plan my berry forest. I bought 4 blueberry plants from Bottoms Nursery along with some LSU Purple fig plants. The customer service was phenomenal so I reccomend them big time.
I’m glad to hear it was helpful. Bottoms is where I bought my plants, and the quality was outstanding. Did you hear of them from this video? I had to search pretty hard to find them.
@@siljatanner1318 Agriculture is destroying the planet. It is very frustrating how much misinformation there is on this topic. Grazing can actually sequester far more carbon than forests at a much, much faster rate. If we grazed animals on a large enough scale, we could actually mitigate all human emissions. Growing plants can not do this. Plant agriculture uses massive amounts of fossil fuels and unlike grazing cattle, it doesn't mitigate its own emissions. The soil microbiome is killed with chemicals and that dead soil is lost rapidly, causing complete land infertility and desertification. Grazing animals is the fastest way to replenish these lands, bring the microbes back, give nutrients back, rehydrate, break up impaction, and build soil faster than any other process. It would take nature decades to build the amount of soil made in a couple of yrs of Grazing.
Thank you so much. Super informative as always. I'm in the UK so it's much colder here but I've seen others growing blueberries here & with your information I shall definitely start now btw before you put your compost etc.. in the hole I usually fill the hole with water and let it drain away first - to ensure all of my plant roots go down rather than come up towards rain water. Take care and thanks again. I've Subscribed so see you in the next video.
North Carolina? I came here to learn how to grow blueberries in Philly. I know a local accent when I hear one. Found out your about page to confirm you are from Jersey. If there is one thing I know Jersery grows the best blueberries around. This guy knows what he’s talking about! Great information especially about the growing zones. Subbing
Planted mine in a tub size home I filled with peat and some manure. This year they looked pale so I watered in some vinegar and a week later they greened up and grew.
i had a poorly growing blueberry bush in a pot, to which i had added sulfur earlier. ph was 5.5. I planted it out in the garden and it lost the rest of the leaves and was bare for a year, but still alive. i added hydrated lime to soil and it came back to life.
Okay, I'm in Wisconsin, and I've had a quart blueberry bush, a bluecrop highbush that was pretty small to begin with, planted for 3 years now. It hasn't flowered yet or budded, berried or anything. What's wrong? It's also way smaller than those bushes you're planting there, both types. 3 years! It's planted in my back yard, and I have acidic additive from a big box, 4-3-6. I put a handful around it twice a year.
I plant my blueberries in pots of peat moss. They seem to thrive with little to no soil amendments . I use azalea fertilizer and fish emulsion mixed with my rain water.
For the combination of needing a very unusual soil pH and also being right next to the house foundations, I'd be setting up some variant of a wicking bed design. If your rainfall is such that the bed just needs a whole lot of drainage rather than any particular help staying watered, a wicking type bed still gives you control of where that drainage runs to and you can use a pipe to take it away from your foundations.
I recently purchased blueberries and this is the perfect video. One thing concerns me. Everyone talks about keeping mulch away from the foundation. You have put mulch closer to the foundation. I know you do your research. Can you explain further about the safety and termite concerns. Thanks.
This is the video I was looking for! Too bad I didn’t see it earlier in the year. I have several bushes still in pots and need to be planted. Thank you!!!!
Now is a good time to start preparing your soil by putting down some sulfur and pine bark mulch if you need to lower the soil pH. Let it decay for the fall while daytime temps are still warm enough, so now is the best time to prepare if necessary. Thanks for watching!
Very good information. U gave me more info that any other vloger has on blueberries planting. I'm saving this video. I think u've changed my blueberry game. Thanks.
Idk if you're married or not ,but if so your wife is one lucky lady! I love gardening and I have learned so much from you! Having a hubs that can garden is just awesome lol
Excellent and full video. For someone who’s moving to NC (near Rocky Mount), this is almost made specifically for me. I’m going to be using this video for sure when preparing for and planting my bushes. Thanks so much.
Super useful tips and recommendations for one of my favorite fruits. Your passion for gardening and equally sharing your knowledge is so evident in all your videos. I live in the RTP area and find your gardening videos very useful and relevant to what I am trying to do after our relo from up NORTH
Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying the videos. Moving down here from PA/NJ was a big shock to the system, since growing the classic vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, etc.) is dramatically more challenging here. The pest and disease pressure is a whole different ballgame in the Carolinas.
Thanks! This was very helpful--esp describing the different categories. My area has a mild winter so I know low chill hours are very important. While looking at some unfamiliar varieties, I used my phone to look up chill hours when another person came up doing the same thing. When we discovered one of the varieties required 1000 chill hours, we totally laughed!
Variety selection is walking a fine line between chill hours and bud break. If you go too low, your buds will break before frost stops, leading to failure. If you go too high, you will have seasons with poor or no fruiting. It's a dance, so really planning ahead in mild winter climates is important. It's much easier to grow blueberries in places with cold winters.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks! I will look up the bud breaks on what I have so I can pay attention to protecting the plants when we have one of our very rare frosts (zone 10b), I've had a Misty for 3-4 and haven't had the buds frosted so far so good. My biggest struggle is finding the right shade later in the day when our sun turns into laser beams.
@@shaysummers3520 Do you have shrubbery around your house? Blueberries make excellent landscaping bushes around a home. Planting them on the east side of a house is good in areas with strong sun, because they get full sun in the morning and shade when the sun gets high after noon.
@@TheMillennialGardener I wish I could do that! There is only 4 feet between my house and the 6-foot fence on the east (and west) sides--long, narrow property that runs N to S. Last year, I took out several "weed" trees so I've been re-learning my sun patterns. I think I've found them a new home closer to the west fence to be used like your suggestion of using the house as a sunblock. I agree they are pretty shrubs in their own right.
@@shaysummers3520 if that doesn't work out, you can always get a shade cloth tarp that's 30-40%. I have one linked in my Amazon Storefront that's really inexpensive.
I wish I would have seen this before buying my blueberries!! I definitely don't have them that close together either.... just made me question my whole set up man! Haha you have a great way of sharing information. Between you and David the Good, I am set!
great info , shout out coming all the way from from New Jersey !!!! :) I am a new gardener....and by God by next summer my garden will be up and running... thanks for all your VERY helpful videos !! appreciate it ! I just bought two top hats, and I had no idea about cross pollination...so off to buy two other varieties in the morning... thanks !
I am going to plant blueberries bushes and found your information is very helpful. I am a new gardener in KY, subscribed to your site couple months ago and learned a lot! How are your bushes doing 2 years later. Wish you post another video with result. Thank you again and sending love to Dale🥰
Blueberries are quite nice as ornamentals, even if you just let the birds take the fruit. The leaves can be very colorful in the spring and fall, depending on the varieties. I have 3 Rabbit Eye, they did take root in native soil with a PH in the low 6's - but I got more fruit last year after mulching them with grass clippings.
My local Lowe's has had the acid-loving organic fertilizer for $3 on clearance the past few weeks. If you have pH in the 6's, an acidic fertilizer may help even more. My blueberries haven't even lost a single leaf here, yet. I wonder if they'll stay evergreen here? 😂
You actually just saved me a bunch of time with the intro! I'm trying to find a solo fruiting tree or bush for one location currently. Great resource though!
With all the research that you must have to do to have so much knowledge about gardening how do you ever find the actual time to garden? and produce videos to? I'm glad you do though, as it sure makes my life a little easier! Thank You!
Nice work! Blueberries are my passion! I find peat moss, and-in my case, doug fir bark mulch is good for my climate, mixed with a little native soil amended by sulfur.
Peat has a pH somewhere around 4-5.5 depending on the source, so that’s right where you need to be for blueberries. My concern is long term acidity, though, so routine supplementation is necessary for me since my soil is about neutral.
I’ve lived in multiple central NC counties from Durham, Alamance, Person & Orange county & blueberries grow wild everwhere. You take a stroll thru the woods, you never know what you’ll find. But usually somewhere in your vicinity you’re probably going to see wild ones growing! It’s amazing. They’ve had to be from the past droppings or people tossing them out I can assume in some of the areas I’ve seen. So apparently they will transplant from the seeds off old ones, but Maybe not the best, bc you’ll see only a couple vines next to eachother typically & not a lot of vines. I’ve only seen one spot that had a LOT, so I’m thinking that may have been a diff variety & also where I do know old foods were tossed into the woods prior to my living there. These are so great when fresh off the vine though! So they can self sustain pretty well year after year once they’re established. However, I would imagine they’ll eventually die off if they’re not tended to, only bc I’ve visited spots where they were & they were no longer growing. I’m not sure why, but I imagine a little assistance would have kept it going. These things are TOUGH! They’ll withstand the temps going low, frost & snow, the heat, all the elements we have here.
Love some advice on growing blueberries in Australia. I live on the mid north coast of New South Wales near the beach. It has a temperate climate - arm, humid summers, mild winters and some frosts a little inland. There is a Blueberry farm not far from me and their berries are ready for picking by mid December. So far I have one blueberry bush and it is called Gulf Coast.
Blueberries generally require cross-pollination to fruit. Your variety is a Southern Highbush that is known for its low chill requirement. While some highbush varieties are self-fertile, your bush will perform dramatically better if you give it a companion. Good pollinators for your variety are listed as Misty and Sharpblue. If you give it good companion pollinators, plant it in a sunny spot with well-draining soil, and you ensure the soil pH stays well acidic and you feed it well, it should thrive.
Hey Jude, I'm in Melbourne and I get blueberries in late October. I bought a pair of Blueberry Kisses and Blueberry Burst. You can get them from nurseries, but they go like hotcakes. I ended up getting mine directly from PlantNet (in NSW). They really do what the breeder claims. I am amazed how hardy they are, and the level of production. I have 4 other varieties, but I wish I had found Kisses & Burst earlier, as those two are all you need. You need acidic soil for Blueberries to thrive. A 50/50 mix of high quality camellia & azalea mix (Osmocote), and (Richgro) fine pine bark mulch (got both from Bunnings).
@@vsberlina3712 great call! This is the exact same pair I have, and bought from the same place online! I planted them in pots at the end of last year, and they are currently full of fruit and ripening up nicely. Azalea mix is the secret, plus I mixed in some extra bark mulch from the garden that had rotted down a bit. Recently threw on a bit of Vasiil’s black grit, and the things have gone nuts…😋 Enjoy👍
@@bonesx165 No! No! No! I don't think you're meant to put Black Grit on acid loving, plant's soil. It's got calcium in it, and that raises the pH level back to neutral. They might like it now cos they're getting extra phosphate and trace elements, but long term, it's not good for them. IMO, you should use a Sulphate Of Potash fertiliser. The potash will provide potassium for the fruit, and the sulfate the sulfur to keep the soil acidic.
Really great video! I just have one question. Why no mounding? I tried for years using most of these techniques and continually failed until I visited a few blueberry farms and discovered that they all built mounds. I built mine about 1.5 feet high and three feet wide. I'm told this helps prevent acidity being killed by potentially alkaline ground water and also ensures good drainage.
My blueberries are planted around my house, so I can't really mound them. However, I plant all my fruit trees "high." I only bury the root ball around 80% of the way. I always leave 2-3" of the root ball sticking above the soil line. Then, I cover that 2-3" exposed root mass with compost and mulch so surface roots can easily grow in the organic matter layer.
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You werent just whistling Dixie, this is the best blueberry video. I had to watch it twice, and I still bookmarked it to refer back to. Thank you!!!
I appreciate that! Thank you!
Couldn’t agree more.
Yes, awesome video! So detailed.
If you HAD to choose your top 2 figs for taste/production, which would you choose?@@TheMillennialGardener
I did same thing. Great blueberry vid!
I'm in california and I have had 2 blueberry plants for 5+ years. my tips 1. grow in pots not in ground. 2. use at least 50% Peat moss soil (they need the PH peat provides). 3. I fertilize once a month spring- summer with miracle grow shake n feed. They have been super easy to grow! The real trick is to use Pots and Peat moss.
Thank you for this tip.
Thank you for the info
Appreciate the info thanks😊
I have been thinking about growing blueberries and I will try those tips thanks
What size pot do you use?
This is not only the best blueberry video on the internet, this is one of the BEST videos - regardless of topic - on the internet... period. Informative, well-researched, VERY informative (with educated sources), and it was considerably grammatically correct! (I.e., "shovels full" ...THANK YOU for that!) VERY GOOD VIDEO! WELL DONE! BRAVO!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate that. It means a lot. It took several days to research this. I felt like I was back in school writing a paper 😂
@@TheMillennialGardener TOO MANY TH-cam channel owners do ZERO work BEFORE getting in front of the camera, and MAYBE a little work AFTER the in-front-of-the-camera moment is done. If you keep this up, you will QUICKOY become THE "go-to" TH-cam source for gardening. Bar none. I've already forwarded your video to almost everyone in my texting list (safely hundreds!). I SINCERELY wish you the best. I'm North of Houston, so my zone and overall climate is different than yours, but you provide all the information ANYONE living in the USA can use. Again, thoroughly enjoyed. Excellent. Wish you the BEST!
Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. I hope the video can help a lot of people. Lots of useless stuff goes viral. I hope something like this can go viral and inspire some people.
Damn, you weren't kidding when you said this video was packed with information. This one's definitely going in the watch later playlist for next spring. Thanks!
Thank you. I put *a lot* of work into this video. I've been collecting footage since February, and spent hours researching different varieties and categorizing them to make everything as easy as possible. Hopefully, it'll be worth it in the long run and help a lot of people.
Your videos are AMAZING. I learned more about why I have never had success growing them here in NJ, in your first 4 minutes, than in years of “experimenting myself. Your videos must take many hours of prep, and they are probably the best I’ve seen on TH-cam.
MANY THANKS and continued success.
Thank you. This video legitimately took days of research and was probably a 40 hour endeavor to put this together. But, it's worth it to me, because my goal will always be to help as many people grow food as possible. Here in my HOA, everyone has these ugly, ratty bushes around their homes, and I always think...why can't you rip them out and put blueberries around your house? They're beautiful bushes, and you get blueberries out of the deal!
@@TheMillennialGardener They can turn some pretty colors in the fall, too. Thanks for the great videos.
@@shampoo7112 thank you for watching!
This is very helpful. Thank you so much.
@@TheMillennialGardenerexcellent video! Thank you so much. You are correct there is much to proccess here. This will require several listens! Looking forward to better understanding. But alteady so much has become more clear. Keep up the good work!
Have you ever propagated from cuttings? I saw on another blueberry video that blueberry seeds can be grown from an organiclly sourced blueberry but it probably will not bear fruit ever but that a fruiting bush cutting can be grafted onto the plant grown from a seed. Wondering if you have explored this?
Best blueberry video on the Tube!!! Bravo 👏 👏 👏 Answered so many questions i had from last season's grow.
Thank you. I worked really hard on this one, and I would not call it the best guide on the internet if I didn't believe it was the case 😀 Thank you for watching!
That was incredible! Not only do you have knowledge but you are great at teaching and conveying that knowledge. Video editing is top notch. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you , I purchased 2 blackberry 2 blueberry an 2 different peach 🍑 trees an planting this week , the peaches I planted already & blackberry,
Blueberry this week & live in Montgomery County, Texas 🙏🏻
Have a nice weekend
Josette 🇨🇱 🙏🏻💙💙💙💙🍑🍋🥦🥬🍅🌶🌽🍊🍈🫑🥒🥕🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
Congrats! That's going to be awesome once they're fruiting! Thank you for watching.
May I say your videos are among the best on TH-cam. Ways you can improve.
Show more love to those of us in Los Angeles or Southern California because there are 20 million of us that are avid gardeners and I for one feel neglected. I believe I’m in zone 10 B with six backyard raise beds growing mostly vegetables. I have two blueberry plants that I bought from my local nursery of different varieties that never get more than 2 feet tall and since I put them in the ground they’re not bearing fruit. I did take a big hole and mix in blueberry potting soil and plants produced a couple of blueberries last year and none this year. Thank you for Sharing your vast knowledge of planting
This video is the most complete ‘blueberry related’ video I’ve seen! I’ve saved it for future reference. Ps-you could be a college professor your video is so complete and in-depth. Thanks for giving me the inspiration to finally dedicate part of my yard to blueberries!
This video IS the BEST guide for blueberries. Thanks for putting in the time, you absolute legend.
You're very welcome! I'm glad you found it helpful. I appreciate the kind words.
This will be INVALUABLE! We have been struggling to get a good blueberry crop.
Thanks for sharing!
You're welcome. I really tried to make this as complete as possible. I'm glad you are finding value in it!
I believe that it is the first time I watch that descriptive and thorough video re: growing blueberries. Thank you so much.
I've viewed this video several times. MG - my compliments on a well organized, information packed and patiently presented video about the topic. I've just begun my blueberry garden and dug my first three holes for blueberry plants out by the fence in the backyard. I return to the relevant section in the video as I progress.
I'm so glad to hear this was helpful! It took a lot of work and several months to put together this video, but it's worth it if it helps a lot of people. Every time I drive past the hundreds of homes in my neighborhood and see all those decorative bushes planted around the homes, I think to myself...what a waste! Blueberry bushes are the same size, they're just as beautiful, and you can be harvesting gallons of blueberries for little more effort. I hope edible landscaping becomes the norm!
Thanks man, you consistently put out the most informative and well-arranged content of anyone I follow.
I appreciate that! Thanks for watching my videos.
This is absolutely the most in depth and informative you tube video on growing blueberries I have encountered so far. Thank you so much for this well organized information!
Glad it was helpful! I really appreciate the kind words. Thanks for watching!
I swear, every time I bring home a fruit, you always have it covered! Thank you for the comprehensive tutorial. Kisses to Dale!!!!
You are SO RIGHT ABOUT RESEARCHING CHILL HOURS! Because there's false chill hours being reported (like this map 4:37 says Tucson is "600" nope, realistically it's 300 sometimes only 250! Some sites say "400" -- that's not to say that once in a blue moon we MIGHT hit that but we need to plant items in the 150-250 range. How much $ I have wasted reading a plant needs 400-500 chill hours and that Tucson is 250 many years so NO FRUIT.
Really convenient timing that I came across this. We are working on our blueberry bed now
I'm glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
So... this year, I've decided to grow blueberries... but first, let me check my favorite TH-cam gardener... and as always you are the Best!!! Thanks from Raleigh NC ❤
Thank you! I appreciate that very much. I'm glad the video was helpful.
Today my goal was to learn to grow blueberries, and your videos on the topic are top notch, per usual! You might just be my #1 favorite gardening channel on TH-cam. Thanks for all the work you put into these videos!
Kudos for the stellar research! As an aside, I just received my soil analysis report and was dismayed to learn my garden is highly acidic(5.6pH). Well.....thanks to you I've found one bush that will thrive here.
Outstanding! I have more good news: many plants love acidic soil. Tomatoes, peppers, and figs will also thrive in those conditions. Acidic soil can turn out some awesome tomatoes.
You were right. Tons of info on BB's and well explained. I don't know how you could go wrong selecting and growing after that. We have about 8-10 bushes (rabbit eye - zone 8b) that have produced super for us the last several years and we rely heavily on the pine chips as a mulch. They purely love anything PINE - chips, bark, needles you name it. Nice job on the video again.
Thank you. I put a ton of effort into this one. Too many "Complete Guides" are very incomplete, and I really wanted to cover everything. Variety selection is walking a line between chill hours and bud break. It's often tempting to get low chill varieties "to be safe," but if the buds break too early, frost will kill the blooms. It definitely is a balancing act.
@@TheMillennialGardener I can tell you put a lot of effort into it and explained it so even I can grasp it :). As far as the chill hours vs bloom break that is definitely of high concern because even down here in 8b we still get frost nipped in early spring sometimes. So yeah as you say that's a real balancing act within itself.
@@TheMillennialGardener I had no idea there were so many.. I live in South Texas so no need to worry about frost; I planted a southern highbush last fall and I think I already see some blueberry forming!
Thanks for noting your results with pine needles. As a total newbie, I have heard mixed things from various videos (diluted vinegar is good/bad, pine needles are great/dried pine needles actually aren’t very acidifying, coffee ground do/don’t work).
As the pine needle mulch is easy and agree this video shows a lot of thought and effort, I’ll give it a try.
I have a couple rabbiteye bushes here in southern Alabama. We only get around 600-700 chilling hours so I have to be careful about blueberry selection. I have Climax and Brightwell varieties, chosen for heat tolerance mostly. Brightwell produces larger, sweeter fruit but Climax grows better. Brightwell is said to split in wet weather but it rains a lot here and they seem fine. I recommend picking up Brightwell for a good tasting berry that grows in hot climates.
Rabbiteye are native to our general region, so they all mostly perform pretty well. My blueberries have been blooming since January, and none of the February or March freezes affected them. They're great plants.
Thanks for the info I saw my local sams selling blueberries plants and my zones are 11-13 but it get real chilly in my area
Where did you purchase the blueberry brushes?
100% go to for buying planting maintaining BlueBerry bushes....
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
Thanks so much. I'm a landscaper and I didn't know all of this. We do things pretty much the same. I use pine fines in most of my plantings for texture and drainage. It will also help with the ph.
Excellent guide. So glad to finally have a start to finish guide to blueberries in the mid-Atlantic/Southeast US. There are some good older videos on youtube from places like the Maine Extension, but we needed something like this down here in the south. Thanks!
The only issue I have, and it is very minor, is the myth that pine bark (or needles or any mulch) affects soil pH. There can be a small temporary affect from pine bark on pH in the top few millimeters of soil as they break down, but it is only temporary. As soon as bark or needles come off a conifer tree the biological activity that created the acids for the trees defense stops and those chemicals start to break down. As you know, pH is a measure of free H ions, and H ions do not stay free for very long on their own... hence why the only way to more permanently change soil pH is to feed the microorganisms that create acids, not by adding acid to the soil.
Like I said, its not a big deal, I just like to point that out. I see way too many people out there who think they can just throw some pine needles/bark on their beds and iit'll turn their soil more acidic. That is an old myth that needs to be put to rest.
Pine needles are not very acidic and do not provide significant soil acidification, but pine bark is very acidic. It does affect the soil pH as it decays. The key to success is that you need to constantly add pine bark mulch so it is always in a state of decay. This shouldn't be a problem, because all fruit trees and bushes should be mulched at all times. If you place pine bark nuggets at planting, but never place them again, your soil won't remain acidic after it breaks down. This is why I recommend constantly amending your soil. You should be applying a thick layer of mulch and supplemental sulfur in spring and again in the fall. Amending twice a season will keep the process going so the soil maintains acidity.
@@TheMillennialGardener Unfortunately, it's just not true. It would be nice if it were, we could save a ton of money! The scholarly information out there from the past 30-ish years about using pine bark isn't in regards to it being used as a mulch, it is related to finely ground pine bark used as a soil amendment at time of planting. Over the decades, people have misconstrued that research to mean that any pine bark thrown on top of the garden will lower soil pH (and then eventually that was further misconstrued to the belief that eve pine needles will do it too).
There is a reason why you can go to any extension office or search google scholar and find out how much elemental sulfur you need to change your pH by X amount over Y number of months in various types of soil... but there is no such information about pine bark as a mulch. Because it just doesn't have a significant effect on pH below the top few mm to cm of soil or for very long. Natural pine bark mulch has a pH between 4.0 and 5.0, but the acids that pine trees produce for defense leach out and break down quickly in the environment. You can mulch your blueberries with any hardwood mulch, sawdust, compost, black plastic (Bell and Kroon, 1979 and Mainland and Lilly, 1984), straw (Moore and Pavlis, 1979), and even corn cobs (PSU Extension)! The plants will be just fine as long as you keep amending your soil with fertilizer to counteract the decomposition of mulch and keep using additives that actually cause bacteria to create acids, as you pointed out. That said, pine bark is useful because it has other properties conducive to the blueberry industry (inexpensive and readily available in large quantities, high water retaining capacity, high lignin content that helps slow decomposition and not bind up N as much as other mulches, etc).
Now there is a difference between mulching with pine bark and amending the soil with finely ground pine bark, as is often done with sphagnum moss at the time of planting. When the finely ground pine bark is mixed with the soil close to the roots, then it allows some of that acidity to leach into the immediate area around it, but again that is only temporary.
The myth seems to come from some research in the 1970s that were limited in scope to only the pH of various tree products, not their long term effect on soils/plants. There has been no peer reviewed research on the actual effect of mulch on soil pH in various types of soil, for how long, how deep, etc because we know its not a major factor beyond the top few mm of soil. Its quite astounding how long that myth has stuck around and actually grown to include needles and other tree leaves now!
@@manofthewild07 this is why I specifically recommend using sulfur prills. Elemental sulfur will correct the problem when used in the proper amounts and added regularly so there is always some acting to acidify the soil.
@@manofthewild07absoultley correct!!! Pure science.
I am grateful you took the time out to make this video. You are very detail and I truly appreciate that because I am going to try for the first time to plant blueberries I wasn’t aware of all the different brands and how important it is to know what grows best in your area and a different soil so i appreciate you caring enough to make this video to help others Who see the wisdom and value.
Thank you for also listing everything we need and even where to purchase. 🤗👍
You’re welcome! I’m happy to hear the video was helpful. Now is the perfect time to buy blueberry plants since they can be plated in late winter/early spring. I got my plants from Bottoms Nursery in Georgia. They have an incredible selection.
Well done; this is how we planted our blueberries 4 years ago. Today, they are shoulder high and we pick berries every other day.
You are SO THOROUGH in Every aspect of Your Work!👏Here in Zone 7B, My Daughter gifted Me a "Jellybean" Blueberry Bush, in early Spring. 🥰You have definitely provided Me; with More than Enough information for a Success Grow! Thanks A Million; and Perpetual Success to You!❤️👑
I bought a random blue berry plant from Lowe’s that I was already ab 1.5-2 ft and producing fruit, then I learned about all these things and bought two pink lemonades and some sulfer. I sure hope that they end up doing well. Thinking of keeping them in containers so I can take them with me if I move.
The" BEST" blueberry video ever !! You knocked it out of the park with this one !!
Thank you. It took months to put this together. I'm glad to hear it was worth it!
The tips on how to prepare and acidify the soil for blueberries were very helpful. I'm going to get started today. Thank you!
I'm in NC zone 7b and this has to be the most thorough video I've seen on blueberries that is applicable to my area. The North Carolina folks were 10,000% right about how great this channel is!
i wish more people love their four legged friends as u do...thank you for doing that for the planet
i see this guy as the G.o.a.t-Gardener🙌🏽
he keeps making better videos over the years and keeps my interest at all times. love how he thoroughly explains everything, keep up the awesome work u do my guy👍🏽
Thank you for explaining so well, as always😊
I’ve tried to grow blueberries with no success.
I will try your way next time..so helpful! Dale is adorable 😁
The challenge with growing blueberries is to pair them with your environment. A lot of people buy the blueberries that come in at Home Depot in April, but the truth is, they may be horrible varieties for your climate, because they just get whatever they get. Blueberries need to be carefully selected and special ordered from good nurseries. If you pair the right varieties for your climate, they will thrive.
More helpful advice. Thank you! I appreciate it!
@@sylvia10101 You're welcome!
08:14 - the chart is what I really needed. I know nothing about blueberries except how to cook and bake with them... 🤣 For the first time in the past few years I managed to grab a pot from the local market before everyone bought them out ahead of me 😁 "Sunshine blue" is what I'm working with 😻
I live in zone 7B Piedmont triad region of North Carolina, and I have 4 rabbiteye blueberry bushes. I live in the country where it gets colder than the city at night. I promise you rabbiteye variety blueberry flowers can take a frost easily. My blueberry bushes survived a few nights in the mid-twenties in bloom. I lost all of my plums and pears, but I had more blueberries than I knew what to do with. My Wife and I probably harvested about 80 lb worth of blueberries.
I would think it depends on what stage the bloom is at. Flowers become progressively less hardy as they open. A bud may be able to take temperatures into the teens or low 20's, but a completely open bloom may be killed by a light frost. It varies species to species, but universities have done studies on apple flowers, which are as hardy as blueberries, and they've shown the blooms become progressively less hardy as they open. You're in an appropriate zone to grow rabbiteye blueberries, and probably within their native habitat, but someone in Michigan, for example, may struggle.
G'Day from Australia, we spray white vinegar around soil of our blueberries they love it.
We have done the concept of a forest garden, mulch, mulch & more mulch which breaks down really well.
Our plants fend for themselves so they get the water from rain & in drought times we water.
Give the odd seaweed solution & that's it.
I have 4 varieties of blueberries along with fruit trees, strawberries, roses, lavender, herbs.
I need to thank you for all the advice! Got any Bilberries? Have you ever thought of growing cold hardy kiwi? I feel like it's up your alley. The fence might make a good trellis in your backyard
I have not considered growing bilberries. I've only heard them advertised as a supplement for night vision loss. I am not growing kiwi, but I am considering building an arbor in the future for vining crops, and kiwi's crossed my mind. I'm not a huge kiwi fan, but I like sharing 😀
I Crown you-
King of the Blueberries!
So much knowledge!
Thank you!
Excellent video, packed with everything you need to know about blueberries. Thank you. I have read different articles suggesting to avoid compost because it can increase the PH level or move it towards neutral. I also know people had great results with compost. So may be it does not matter
Compost is fantastic, but it just needs to be prepared beforehand. If you can build a mound, mix in elemental sulfur, top it with pine bark and let it sit for a few months to decompose and acidify, it could be an incredible growing environment. That's what I did. I put down compost months beforehand, added sulfur and pine bark around my house, and I let it break down for 8 months.
I killed a container blueberry many years ago but now am inspired to try again! Now to find some space in the yard :) Thank you for the excellent video!
You’re welcome! Thanks for watching.
Thank you Mr Smartie Pants, definitely the best video on Blue Berries,a cut above the rest!
Glad it was helpful!
Your videos are great and encouraging, thank you.
I am glad you discussed planting against your home and using the Blueberry as an alternative bush. Mentioning it is a shallow rooted plant that will not damage the house foundation was a great thing to hear.
I am currently working with a company that develops fertilizers. They just had a farmer who had issues with his crop dying due to cow manure used as a fertilizer. How? After investigation, they tested the manure, and it contained the chemical found in Roundup.
You mentioned using cow manure as a fertilizer. Please tell your audience that not all cow manure is created equal.
Maybe do a segment on this potential issue.
Thanks again!!!!
This is an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to grow blueberries. I bought a few bushes in pots and some fruit buds have shown up. I am in the tropics and they are doing well since I got them. I got Emerald, Sharpblue and some lowbush ones as well. Thank you for such the helpful,in depth guide to blueberries I've seen anywhere! I just subscribed to your channel and look forward to more excellent content!
PS Ferrous sulfate is also a good acidifier,I use it for miracle berry plants,it helps against chlorosis. And since bone meal is expensive in my area, I use Duofos. The cheapest pine bark I've found is marketed as reptile bedding but does just as well for plants. Can you please do a video on roses? Thank you
Just picked up another 5 bushes. Thanks for a great guide!
You're welcome! Best of luck with your new bushes!
From California's North Valley where the heat burns everything up in the summer... I really appreciate your shade cloth methods and detail in this blueberry vid. Now I think I'm ready to try again after giving up a few years ago. Thank You!
Thank you. I now have a to do list for my berries.
You’re welcome! Thanks for watching.
Interesting info.
Where I grew up, blueberries self seed and grow into big trees - think 3 m or more tall. That's in northeastern Botswana. They self-pollinate too. Dec is a great time for enjoying the fruits. I guess they love the soil, weather and plentiful underground water.
That's interesting. I wonder if they're the same species as the blueberries that grow here. Perhaps they're different. Do you know the genus and species name?
@@TheMillennialGardener Very good point. I don't know the genus and species name unfortunately. An elderly neighbour was given the plant years ago by foreigners and we just get seedlings from her now. Blueberries are definitely not native to this area.
But, I've found that some native trees develop similarly in different parts of the country too. In one area, they are bushy, lush and abundant; in another they are mid-sized and still plentiful; while in another area they are very tall with thick branches with a wonderful canopy - same species and genus. They seem to thrive in different ways depending on the area. It has always fascinated me all this.
Hi. This is the best presentation i have seen on TH-cam.. Thank you very much!
You're welcome! Thanks for watching!
That’s a lot of great information there! When I’m working on my blueberries here at the nursery, I will make sure to mention this video for people to go check out.
Thank you! I appreciate that. I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
Yeah Buddy, you certainly made this detailed and well thought-out.
I just planted some a month ago and used your info and that from a dozen other people, and your info is the most concise and detailed.
I got my soil form 7.2 to 6.5 by the time the plants got here. Still hovering around 6.2, but I know the sulfur I used will continue to bring the PH down over the summer.
Liked and subscribed already
Thanks for the info!
I'm glad to hear the video was helpful. That's great progress with the soil. As the ground heats up, the acidification should accelerate since the sulfur will be processed by the soil microbiology more quickly as temps increase. In the meantime, something like MiracleGro MirAcid can be a quick bridge to keep the plants healthy in the short-term while you work to long-term alter your soil with sulfur.
i directly plant mine into pots with only natural pinebark mulch, they love it. its what blueberry growers here in florida do
Blueberries are pretty amazing. I have trouble with many plants but my blueberries are resilient.
Thank you so much SO MUCH INFORMATION… have two that I just purchased a few weeks ago STILL IN POTS so now I need to figure out when to plant these as they are already loaded with berries 😩I’m thinking AFTER I HARVEST THE BERRIES and they won’t be so stressed putting on fruit and being planted in the ground … much appreciated the links on Amazon will go to order today crossing fingers that I don’t ruin these and that they thrive once they are in their forever home
That was a ton of great information, all presently simply and concisely. Even though I don't know a lot about blueberries I can tell that you definitely know what you're talking about! I would love to see an update sometime this summer to see how your bushes are doing!
Excellent video, comprehensive information - I would caution on the use of cow manure, as some people have recently experienced catastrophic results - because cattle were on pastures sprayed with Grazon. This herbicide is sprayed on pastures and hay fields because it kills broadleaf weeds without killing the grass; however, it is a persistent herbicide and can be ingested by livestock and pass through into their manure, and continue its killing ways. In some cases people have mulched with hay - only to find out after testing that the hayfield had been sprayed with Grazon, and now they've contaminated their garden space. It doesn't appear to break down in composting and, if you contaminate a growing area, the only "cure" is to remove all of the contaminated soil and replace it.
Excellent video! I live in FLA an picked up a blueberry bush - glad to know I need to get additional for polinators. I like to use peat moss to help acidify the soil prior to plant time -
Be sure you have a variety that requires low chill hours and can tolerate warm summers (like a Southern Highbush or Rabbiteye). Best of luck!
The title was a bold claim, I was ready to hate. But this actually the best blueberry guide. Nice video.
As usual, no need to look any further for more info. You've done all the research for us
Thank you! I'm glad you found it helpful. This video took more research than almost all my others. I really wanted to be comprehensive.
Love the comment about positioning the bent bushes to grow out. I've never thought about that!
I can't wait until they start leafing out for the new year! Thanks for watching!
Love your videos! Just rewatched it as I’m getting ready to plan for blueberries in my yard. Learn something new every time I watch.
I’m happy to hear it was helpful!! Thanks for watching!
Lost my blueberry plants that I bought last spring. The heat was just to much for them (we hit 45 degrees Celsius.) I did buy the variety here and was told it can survive our summers, but think I will have to create a section in our orchard that has enough dappled shade for them. Your video has given me lots to think about, before trying again, this coming spring. 🤞
That heat is a challenge for blueberries. I planted them along the east side of my house, because they will get full sun from around 7AM to 1PM in this area. However, once around 1-2PM or so rolls around, they start getting shade. After 3PM, they're basically in total shade. A setup like that - an east facing wall of sorts - may be ideal for you, since they'll get the morning sun and avoid a lot of the strong UV rays of the afternoon. Alternatively, you can always use shade cloth in the summer. Simply buy yourself a 40% shade tarp and throw it over the plants. I have an inexpensive one linked in my Amazon Storefront that I use for my young pawpaw trees.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks!
@@juliemcgugan1244 you're welcome!
This video was so amazing! You really helped me plan my berry forest. I bought 4 blueberry plants from Bottoms Nursery along with some LSU Purple fig plants. The customer service was phenomenal so I reccomend them big time.
I’m glad to hear it was helpful. Bottoms is where I bought my plants, and the quality was outstanding. Did you hear of them from this video? I had to search pretty hard to find them.
Yes, I heard about them from you in this video. I told them that you sent me. 😁
@@siljatanner1318 Agriculture is destroying the planet. It is very frustrating how much misinformation there is on this topic. Grazing can actually sequester far more carbon than forests at a much, much faster rate. If we grazed animals on a large enough scale, we could actually mitigate all human emissions. Growing plants can not do this. Plant agriculture uses massive amounts of fossil fuels and unlike grazing cattle, it doesn't mitigate its own emissions. The soil microbiome is killed with chemicals and that dead soil is lost rapidly, causing complete land infertility and desertification. Grazing animals is the fastest way to replenish these lands, bring the microbes back, give nutrients back, rehydrate, break up impaction, and build soil faster than any other process. It would take nature decades to build the amount of soil made in a couple of yrs of Grazing.
Thank you so much. Super informative as always. I'm in the UK so it's much colder here but I've seen others growing blueberries here & with your information I shall definitely start now btw before you put your compost etc.. in the hole I usually fill the hole with water and let it drain away first - to ensure all of my plant roots go down rather than come up towards rain water. Take care and thanks again. I've Subscribed so see you in the next video.
This was great. How much sun do they need? Can they grow in shade or partial shade?
North Carolina? I came here to learn how to grow blueberries in Philly. I know a local accent when I hear one. Found out your about page to confirm you are from Jersey. If there is one thing I know Jersery grows the best blueberries around. This guy knows what he’s talking about! Great information especially about the growing zones. Subbing
Planted mine in a tub size home I filled with peat and some manure.
This year they looked pale so I watered in some vinegar and a week later they greened up and grew.
i had a poorly growing blueberry bush in a pot, to which i had added sulfur earlier. ph was 5.5. I planted it out in the garden and it lost the rest of the leaves and was bare for a year, but still alive. i added hydrated lime to soil and it came back to life.
Okay, I'm in Wisconsin, and I've had a quart blueberry bush, a bluecrop highbush that was pretty small to begin with, planted for 3 years now. It hasn't flowered yet or budded, berried or anything. What's wrong? It's also way smaller than those bushes you're planting there, both types. 3 years! It's planted in my back yard, and I have acidic additive from a big box, 4-3-6. I put a handful around it twice a year.
I plant my blueberries in pots of peat moss. They seem to thrive with little to no soil amendments . I use azalea fertilizer and fish emulsion mixed with my rain water.
For the combination of needing a very unusual soil pH and also being right next to the house foundations, I'd be setting up some variant of a wicking bed design. If your rainfall is such that the bed just needs a whole lot of drainage rather than any particular help staying watered, a wicking type bed still gives you control of where that drainage runs to and you can use a pipe to take it away from your foundations.
I recently purchased blueberries and this is the perfect video. One thing concerns me. Everyone talks about keeping mulch away from the foundation. You have put mulch closer to the foundation. I know you do your research. Can you explain further about the safety and termite concerns. Thanks.
This is the video I was looking for! Too bad I didn’t see it earlier in the year. I have several bushes still in pots and need to be planted.
Thank you!!!!
Now is a good time to start preparing your soil by putting down some sulfur and pine bark mulch if you need to lower the soil pH. Let it decay for the fall while daytime temps are still warm enough, so now is the best time to prepare if necessary. Thanks for watching!
Thank you so much for such good detail on blueberries. Very helpful for me and what to ask my local nursery. He has been helpful but I need to know.
Incredible information THANKS for all the research....
You’re welcome! I’m glad it was helpful.
Excellent information. Thank you so much. I’ve planted my first blueberry last year in Ontario Canada. So now I know it needs a friend!!
Very good information. U gave me more info that any other vloger has on blueberries planting. I'm saving this video. I think u've changed my blueberry game. Thanks.
Outstanding! That was my goal. It was a big effort putting it together, so I'm glad to hear it was helpful!
Idk if you're married or not ,but if so your wife is one lucky lady! I love gardening and I have learned so much from you! Having a hubs that can garden is just awesome lol
Ahh, I wish you could tell her that 😂
Excellent and full video. For someone who’s moving to NC (near Rocky Mount), this is almost made specifically for me.
I’m going to be using this video for sure when preparing for and planting my bushes.
Thanks so much.
Wow! You're knowledge and attention to plant care is Amazing! Great job!
Glad it was helpful!
Super useful tips and recommendations for one of my favorite fruits. Your passion for gardening and equally sharing your knowledge is so evident in all your videos. I live in the RTP area and find your gardening videos very useful and relevant to what I am trying to do after our relo from up NORTH
Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying the videos. Moving down here from PA/NJ was a big shock to the system, since growing the classic vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, etc.) is dramatically more challenging here. The pest and disease pressure is a whole different ballgame in the Carolinas.
Best video with no fluff. Thanks
Thanks! This was very helpful--esp describing the different categories. My area has a mild winter so I know low chill hours are very important. While looking at some unfamiliar varieties, I used my phone to look up chill hours when another person came up doing the same thing. When we discovered one of the varieties required 1000 chill hours, we totally laughed!
Variety selection is walking a fine line between chill hours and bud break. If you go too low, your buds will break before frost stops, leading to failure. If you go too high, you will have seasons with poor or no fruiting. It's a dance, so really planning ahead in mild winter climates is important. It's much easier to grow blueberries in places with cold winters.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks! I will look up the bud breaks on what I have so I can pay attention to protecting the plants when we have one of our very rare frosts (zone 10b), I've had a Misty for 3-4 and haven't had the buds frosted so far so good. My biggest struggle is finding the right shade later in the day when our sun turns into laser beams.
@@shaysummers3520 Do you have shrubbery around your house? Blueberries make excellent landscaping bushes around a home. Planting them on the east side of a house is good in areas with strong sun, because they get full sun in the morning and shade when the sun gets high after noon.
@@TheMillennialGardener I wish I could do that! There is only 4 feet between my house and the 6-foot fence on the east (and west) sides--long, narrow property that runs N to S. Last year, I took out several "weed" trees so I've been re-learning my sun patterns. I think I've found them a new home closer to the west fence to be used like your suggestion of using the house as a sunblock. I agree they are pretty shrubs in their own right.
@@shaysummers3520 if that doesn't work out, you can always get a shade cloth tarp that's 30-40%. I have one linked in my Amazon Storefront that's really inexpensive.
I wish I would have seen this before buying my blueberries!! I definitely don't have them that close together either.... just made me question my whole set up man! Haha you have a great way of sharing information. Between you and David the Good, I am set!
great info , shout out coming all the way from from New Jersey !!!! :) I am a new gardener....and by God by next summer my garden will be up and running... thanks for all your VERY helpful videos !! appreciate it ! I just bought two top hats, and I had no idea about cross pollination...so off to buy two other varieties in the morning... thanks !
I am going to plant blueberries bushes and found your information is very helpful. I am a new gardener in KY, subscribed to your site couple months ago and learned a lot! How are your bushes doing 2 years later. Wish you post another video with result. Thank you again and sending love to Dale🥰
Blueberries are quite nice as ornamentals, even if you just let the birds take the fruit. The leaves can be very colorful in the spring and fall, depending on the varieties. I have 3 Rabbit Eye, they did take root in native soil with a PH in the low 6's - but I got more fruit last year after mulching them with grass clippings.
My local Lowe's has had the acid-loving organic fertilizer for $3 on clearance the past few weeks. If you have pH in the 6's, an acidic fertilizer may help even more. My blueberries haven't even lost a single leaf here, yet. I wonder if they'll stay evergreen here? 😂
thank you watering affects/effects yield schedule.. i did not know that.
You actually just saved me a bunch of time with the intro! I'm trying to find a solo fruiting tree or bush for one location currently. Great resource though!
Your attention to detail is exceptional. So much new information. Just when we thought we knew it all😉…
I'm glad the video was helpful! Thank you for watching!
With all the research that you must have to do to have so much knowledge about gardening how do you ever find the actual time to garden? and produce videos to? I'm glad you do though, as it sure makes my life a little easier! Thank You!
Thank you for the informative video! It will certainly help in preparing my area for the bounty of my blueberry harvest! Keep up the great videos!
Nice work! Blueberries are my passion! I find peat moss, and-in my case, doug fir bark mulch is good for my climate, mixed with a little native soil amended by sulfur.
Peat has a pH somewhere around 4-5.5 depending on the source, so that’s right where you need to be for blueberries. My concern is long term acidity, though, so routine supplementation is necessary for me since my soil is about neutral.
So much information, thanks! I now feel confident that I can grow my new blueberry bushes.
I’ve lived in multiple central NC counties from Durham, Alamance, Person & Orange county & blueberries grow wild everwhere. You take a stroll thru the woods, you never know what you’ll find. But usually somewhere in your vicinity you’re probably going to see wild ones growing! It’s amazing. They’ve had to be from the past droppings or people tossing them out I can assume in some of the areas I’ve seen. So apparently they will transplant from the seeds off old ones, but Maybe not the best, bc you’ll see only a couple vines next to eachother typically & not a lot of vines. I’ve only seen one spot that had a LOT, so I’m thinking that may have been a diff variety & also where I do know old foods were tossed into the woods prior to my living there. These are so great when fresh off the vine though! So they can self sustain pretty well year after year once they’re established. However, I would imagine they’ll eventually die off if they’re not tended to, only bc I’ve visited spots where they were & they were no longer growing. I’m not sure why, but I imagine a little assistance would have kept it going. These things are TOUGH! They’ll withstand the temps going low, frost & snow, the heat, all the elements we have here.
Love some advice on growing blueberries in Australia. I live on the mid north coast of New South Wales near the beach. It has a temperate climate - arm, humid summers, mild winters and some frosts a little inland. There is a Blueberry farm not far from me and their berries are ready for picking by mid December. So far I have one blueberry bush and it is called Gulf Coast.
Blueberries generally require cross-pollination to fruit. Your variety is a Southern Highbush that is known for its low chill requirement. While some highbush varieties are self-fertile, your bush will perform dramatically better if you give it a companion. Good pollinators for your variety are listed as Misty and Sharpblue. If you give it good companion pollinators, plant it in a sunny spot with well-draining soil, and you ensure the soil pH stays well acidic and you feed it well, it should thrive.
Hey Jude, I'm in Melbourne and I get blueberries in late October.
I bought a pair of Blueberry Kisses and Blueberry Burst.
You can get them from nurseries, but they go like hotcakes. I ended up getting mine directly from PlantNet (in NSW).
They really do what the breeder claims. I am amazed how hardy they are, and the level of production.
I have 4 other varieties, but I wish I had found Kisses & Burst earlier, as those two are all you need.
You need acidic soil for Blueberries to thrive. A 50/50 mix of high quality camellia & azalea mix (Osmocote), and (Richgro) fine pine bark mulch (got both from Bunnings).
@@vsberlina3712 great call! This is the exact same pair I have, and bought from the same place online! I planted them in pots at the end of last year, and they are currently full of fruit and ripening up nicely. Azalea mix is the secret, plus I mixed in some extra bark mulch from the garden that had rotted down a bit. Recently threw on a bit of Vasiil’s black grit, and the things have gone nuts…😋
Enjoy👍
@@bonesx165 No! No! No! I don't think you're meant to put Black Grit on acid loving, plant's soil. It's got calcium in it, and that raises the pH level back to neutral.
They might like it now cos they're getting extra phosphate and trace elements, but long term, it's not good for them.
IMO, you should use a Sulphate Of Potash fertiliser. The potash will provide potassium for the fruit, and the sulfate the sulfur to keep the soil acidic.
@@vsberlina3712 thanks for the heads up👍
another great video... very helpful!
Really great video! I just have one question. Why no mounding? I tried for years using most of these techniques and continually failed until I visited a few blueberry farms and discovered that they all built mounds. I built mine about 1.5 feet high and three feet wide. I'm told this helps prevent acidity being killed by potentially alkaline ground water and also ensures good drainage.
My blueberries are planted around my house, so I can't really mound them. However, I plant all my fruit trees "high." I only bury the root ball around 80% of the way. I always leave 2-3" of the root ball sticking above the soil line. Then, I cover that 2-3" exposed root mass with compost and mulch so surface roots can easily grow in the organic matter layer.