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Blueberry substrate - pine bark and soil
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Posted by
julia.scheidt none (
My Page) on
Sat, Sep 6, 14 at 15:59
I have planted a few blueberry plants in a mixture of 70% chipped pine bark and 30% soil, do you think they are going to do well in this substrate?
Should I have put more soil and less pine bark?
I'm afraid the plants may not get all the nutrients they need.... |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Blueberry substrate - pine bark and soil
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- Posted by fruitnut z7b-8a,4500ft SW TX (My Page) on
Sat, Sep 6, 14 at 16:24
| I'd think that could work OK. Sometimes they are grown in large raised beds of pure sawdust. You just need to add enough nitrogen and other nutrients to feed both the plants and the soil organisms that will decompose the wood. Is this in pots, raised beds, or in-ground? |
RE: Blueberry substrate - pine bark and soil
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| Fruitnut, they are in pots. Do you think I'd better add more soil to the mix? |
RE: Blueberry substrate - pine bark and soil
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- Posted by fruitnut z7b-8a,4500ft SW TX (My Page) on
Sat, Sep 6, 14 at 18:58
| No, not in pots. Soil in pots doesn't drain as well as normal. In pots you want water to run right through in a matter of 15-30 seconds. If it doesn't the mix may water log and there will only be roots in the top few inches. |
RE: Blueberry substrate - pine bark and soil
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| Fruitnut, thank you! I was told that I should use more pine bark than soil because blueberries need a lot of drainage, but I was afraid the lack of soil would cause a lack of nutrients for the plants. I guess I made the right choice then =) |
This post was edited by julia.scheidt on Sat, Sep 6, 14 at 20:44
RE: Blueberry substrate - pine bark and soil
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- Posted by fruitnut z7b-8a,4500ft SW TX (My Page) on
Sat, Sep 6, 14 at 21:07
| You can add the nutrients via fertilizer either organic or chemical. The only nutrient deficiencies I've seen in blueberry is the result of high pH or not applying enough fertilizer, mostly nitrogen. |
RE: Blueberry substrate - pine bark and soil
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I would say your using too much soil, don't use any, ever!
Use pine bark, peat moss and perlite. You can add compost, but I would not with blueberries.
Almost all commercial potting soils, have no soil in them. |
RE: Blueberry substrate - pine bark and soil
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| What Drew siad. I use a mix of 60% pine bark mulch, 20-30% spagnum peat moss and 10-20% sifted perlite. I sift the perlite to remove the dust. It drains well and still holds enough water to only have to water once a day in summer heat considering the pot is big enough to support the plants water needs. Blues like water and I find its hard to over water them in the summer. Ph is right too with this mix. The only trick is trying to maintain this Ph. Rain water is best if you can store enough to water daily in the summer. If not, you will need to acidify well or city water. If not, you will have Ph problems. Most people seem to identify this as nutrient problems and over fertilize or add the wrong fertilizer. Then the problems compound and most blues will die at that point. They are very easy to grow if you can keep the Ph in that magic zone. |
RE: Blueberry substrate - pine bark and soil
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| Or you can cut the bottom out of the pots so they function like raised beds- improving the drainage and eliminating the need for an extremely coarse planting medium that is in most ways inferior to soil besides the ability to drain water in a restricted environment. Pots are good if you need to move the plants regularly, have no land or if you want to control root growth. The problem with planting blueberries in pots out in the open can be that the extra water required may by highly alkaline further complicating keeping the medium adequately acidic. |
RE: Blueberry substrate - pine bark and soil
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| Agreed, raised beds at least 1ft tall, the taller the better IMO, will grow a superior plant compaired to pots assuming the bed is at least 4ftx4ftx12inches high, the wider the better IMO. I had raised beds at my old house and filled with pretty much the same mix but I did go a little heavier on the peat moss. Those plants were 3x the size of my potted plants. All plants were started at the same time. If you have the room and time I would definatly do raised beds just from a production stand point unless you will need to move them during the winter months. |
RE: Blueberry substrate - pine bark and soil
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| Julia probably has the same issues we do. She probably can't buy proper media ingredients. I have no idea what's available in Brazil. What she used might work if the soil isn't too high in clay. If it doesn't drain well enough she'll learn like the rest of us. |
RE: Blueberry substrate - pine bark and soil
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- Posted by Drew51 5b/6a SE MI (My Page) on
Sun, Sep 7, 14 at 12:39
| Brazil where we get our winter blueberries. The local Universities should have info that could help her too. |
RE: Blueberry substrate - pine bark and soil
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- Posted by mrclint z10SoCal Valley (My Page) on
Sun, Sep 7, 14 at 18:43
RE: Blueberry substrate - pine bark and soil
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| Thanks for all the information, guys! I liked the idea of cutting the bottom out of the pots so they function like raised beds, I'm going to try this! I live in southern Brazil. I planted Southern Highbush and some rabbiteyes. The SHB are growing well, but I think the rabbiteyes won't do well in my climate because our winter is too warm for them. Something that I have noticed is that the rabbiteyes that I left in the shade have flowered, but the ones that stayed in full sun during the winter did not flower at all, their buds didn't open, I believe they didn't get enough chill hours... So I learned that the amount of chill hours can vary a lot depending on where you place the pot in the yard. So I guess what I will have to do with the rabbiteyes every year is leave them in the shade during all winter, and then move them to a sunny place during spring, summer and fall. |
This post was edited by julia.scheidt on Sun, Sep 7, 14 at 20:58
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