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Will Blueberries grow in sandy fill?

Posted by ScottCanada none (My Page) on
Mon, Dec 2, 13 at 20:09

Hi,
My wife and I just bought a house (that is 20 years old) that was built on fill. Really sandy/rocky stuff, I have as much composted horse manure (3 years old) as I want, should I plant the bushes in raised beds with the manure or just stick them in the sand/rock fill and try to fertilize later?


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RE: Will Blueberries grow in sandy fill?

The biggest thing about blueberries is getting the PH right. Sand is fairly acidic or can be. Which is what blueberries need. Manure compost is fairly neutral, so not the best fertilizer for blueberries. An acidic fertilizer is best. The sand amended with peat moss and possibly pine bark fines would be an excellent medium.
The sand could contain lime or other minerals that make it basic. First off the PH of the sand needs to be known.


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RE: Will Blueberries grow in sandy fill?

Composted manure can be part of the mix, but you need to know the pH of that as well as the soil. I agree with everything else Drew said and as long as you use 50% peat with sandy soil the manure probably isn't necessary- but blueberries do like a lot of organic matter in their soil and compost is more stable than peat moss which can break down in a hurry. The compost would also supply slowly released N. and other nutrients not concentrated in PM.

If an adjustment of pH must be made, be careful using sulfur that you get the right instructions for you soil or mix on how much to add. Doesn't take much to lower the pH of sandy soil.

I would submit a sample of the entire mix I plan to use for analysis and specific instructions on amendments needed.


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RE: Will Blueberries grow in sandy fill?

Thanks for the response, if I wanted to use something other than peat moss (because of sustainability issues) what would that be? Also, I leave in Canada, not a lot of Pine around but a whole lot of spruce, would spruce bark due?


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RE: Will Blueberries grow in sandy fill?

Scott,

Like Drew said check the PH. I do disagree about sand being low in PH....sand, silica can't be diluted in water so would have no PH so would be neutral PH. Things in the sand mix could lower or raise the PH so without a test you would not know.

I think spruce bark would be fine to use but bear in mind what Drew said bark FINES. You need the right particle size. Big pine/spruce nuggets won't do it.

I live in Florida and the entire state is just one big sand bar. Grow almost 200 BB bushes and they like sand just fine as long as it has a lot of organic material mixed in to hold moisture around the roots.


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RE: Will Blueberries grow in sandy fill?

Fir bark is also good. if you can find super fine bark, it is about the same as peat. But no doubt moss is the very best amendment for blueberries.

On the sand here in MI on the west side we grow the most Northern High Bush than any other state, and it is because the rain has made the sand acidic. What's great about sand is it is so easy to change the PH! Clay pretty much will always remain alkaline, why many don't even try to grow blueberries in it. That evidence is all over the net, and is why I said sand is usually acidic in nature.
But you could have building materials such as lime in your sand, you need a PH test.
Here's an article from Michigan State University that backs my claims. I will never state anything without some evidence. A great series of articles here on PH and organic matter too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Why MI sand has a low PH

This post was edited by Drew51 on Tue, Dec 3, 13 at 13:31


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