Sweetcrisp......trust me.

Thanks Bamboo,

I have been to many of the local nurseries and Big Box stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area in the last 6 months, I don't remember seeing Sweetcrisp any where. I think I may have to mail order.

The only place Ive seen Sweetcrisp in Houston is at the Urban Harvest Fruit Tree Sale. Never in a nursery. Sunshine is a late variety. Its the only SHB Im still picking at this point in the season. So far Sunshine might as well be a Rabbiteye as far as berry season goes. Sweetcrisp for me was a midlate variety. I just finished prunning Sweetcrisp last week after the last berry ripened. Cant go wrong with that one. Emerald and Jewel are great berries aswell and produces alot of mid season fruit. For early varieties Springhigh and Snowchaser get my vote.

Just don't order them from Florida Hill nursery. Just fruits and exotics would be a good place to try.

Thanks Blueboy for suggestions, can they all be grown in containers?

Probably I can get 2 or at the max 3 more, looks like I have to have at least two each for 3 fruiting seasons for pollination.

Between, I had gone thru some of your postings and it seems you also grow some blues in containers, could you please let me know the size of the containers. The max 'Planters' type container I see in Dallas area are 10 Gallons. Is it ok to grow Blues in 10G pots?

They can all be grown in containers. The plants will get larger if you make a raised bed for them over the existing soil. a 4ftx4ftx12in box with peat moss and pinebark mulch will grow a big plant. 10gallon pot will be fine for a few years. I grow mine in 10-15 gallon pots and have one Emerald in a raised bed and its a monster plant!

Something to consider is with most plants you don't want to put a small plant in a big pot but with BB you can do so safely. You can plant a 1 gallon plant in a half blue barrel (30 true gallons) right from the start.

Bamboo, thanks for the Just fruits and exotics reference, looks like they are done for this season and their new shipments would start from coming October.

Local Costco sells High Density Resin based half whiskey barrel planters for $18, they are big and I'm not sure of the size in Gallons but definitely looks more than 20G. One person cannot move these big planters, that is the reason I thought 10-15G would work for me.

Blueboy, your posting gives a hope that I can successfully grow blues in containers. In the past few months, I rarely heard any positive things about growing blues from my neighbors and friends, they all seem to think that growing blues is hassle and it is better to get berries from the grocery store. I wish to prove them wrong :-)

I understand that Blues need little more attention. could you please suggest fertilizers, preferably organic for Blues and approximate frequency. thanks

Your neighbors are probably right but if you like to grow fruit, blues are very rewarding! There not hard to grow. Actually I think they are pretty easy as long as you can get 2 things right. The right soil/ph and water. I like to keep it simple so for water that means rain water. It's no fuss and doesn't change soil ph like well or city water will. So that's the first thing I would work on is enough water storage to support the plants you got. Using well or city water will probably require acidifying a some point to achieve success. Soil is the easy part. I like a mix of 50-60% pine bark mulch ( bark not wood and small pieces at that) 20-30% sphagnum peat moss and 10-20% perilite. That mix works for pots and raised beds. For every 10 gallons of mix I usually add a teaspoon of soil sulfer for insurance. Don't know if its it really needed but I do it any way and have had success. I also add 5 to 6 oz of Micro Life 6-2-4 fertilizer to the mix aswell. Don't know if you can find it in Dallas or not but you can contact them and see if it is distributed locally. That's the only fert I've ever used on my plants and they seem to like it. It's all organic which is nice but not necessary. Another option for organic fert is Cotton Seed Meal. I use 2 ferts. Micro Life as stated above and Micro Life Azalea. The Azalea fert is the same it just has 14% sulfer add to it. I check Ph once a year on my pots in the spring. If its above 5 I use the Azalea fert, below 5 I use the regular fert. It's a slow release fert so I apply it every 2 months in pots and every 3 months in raised beds starting in Feb and last application is in Sept. I'm probably going to cut out the last app on my bigger plants as its not really necessary at this point. Ammonium Sulfate is another option for blues. It is chemical fert but many people on here use it with great success and its widely available. Just dont use very much at one time cause it will fry your plants if over used. Lots of info online and ask all your questions here. Lots of very knowledgable people on here will answer any questions you have.

Blueboy, thanks for the detailed response.

Yes, maintaining pH is what I'm finding difficult. I'm planning to install rainwater collection system but right now I mix vinegar to the water and try to keep the pH below 6. After going thru the forum I realized that vinegar may not work and adding sulfuric acid to the water is better option. I already got the acid and pH checking strips, planning to work on it coming weekend.

Regarding soil, I currently planted all the blues in MG potting mix, looks like I need to re-pot them. Please let me know when is the right time to re-pot Blues.

Also, Micro Life fertilizer is not available in Dallas. I called them and they said that they have their products until Austin and working on to sell further north. May be I need to looks for Ammonium sulphate or Azalea fertilizer. I have plans to visit Austin for July 4th long weekend and if I'm able to find Micro life, I'll get couple of bags. thanks