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swahilian

Top Hat Blueberry

swahilian
11 years ago

Hi all,

I have been trying to grow a Top Hat blueberry plant in a container recently and have noticed it looks like it is iron deficient(Dark green veins and yellowing leaves).The plant was purchased from a plant store and put in the ground around a year ago but was moved to container as I noticed there was lime nearby. The plant currently lives in a fishing bucket with holes in the bottom and is roughly 50% peat moss and 50% strawberry mix + compost.It is fertilized with an acid food meant for azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons that has sulfur in it. I water it with a vinegar/water mix that is around pH 5. The plant has produced 2 blueberries in its life and growth is very slow. Has any body got any tips for me? Im assuming the pH is too high but cant understand why with the peat moss, vinegar water and acid fertilzer. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

Jacob

Comments (10)

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    11 years ago

    hey jacob ...

    there is a fruit forum.. and i have never seen those specialists here ... though you may get some good help here.. it sure wouldnt hurt to try the fruit forum ...

    one thing for sure.. your plant is stressed ...

    and it is winter for most of us.. where are you??? oh.. downunder.. so spring is on the way..

    how did you know there was lime nearby .. have you ever had a soil test of your native soil ...

    where did you come up with this formula: 50% peat moss and 50% strawberry mix + compost. [i never heard of a strawberry mix]

    how often do you fertilize it.. in what amount .. sounds like a small pot.. for a lot of fert???

    and then why water with vinegar??? .. is there a water issue.. and are you guessing here.. or has it been tested???

    and the root of your problem.. MIGHT be right here: Im assuming the pH is too high

    why are you PRESUMING THIS???

    i figure.. you are on the verge of loving this thing to death ...

    i would probably.. at this point .. get rid of all the media you have manipulated to no end.. and let it settle into new fresh media .. and simply keep it properly watered..

    if you can get a media that already has the proper ph ... i would suggest you stop all the other manipulations ... i have a gut feeling you are over-thinking this all ... and guessing too much ...

    and finally .. i wonder about using a fish bucket ... plastic??? galvanized???? i wonder if this is a variable ... since i have no clue what a fish bucket is ...

    but i dont do blueberry in pots in Au ... so i would defer to anyone who has experience with either ...

    good luck

    ken

  • rusty_blackhaw
    11 years ago

    I have to admit I don't go to all that trouble with acid pH (my blueberries are in a raised bed, and got one fertilization with azalea-type fertilizer last year) and have reasonably healthy-looking fruit-bearing plants.

    So you might well have an iron deficiency, and could try an iron/trace element supplement while dialing back on the acid water/fertilizer. It can be difficult to diagnose/treat chlorosis - this past summer I had one hibiscus out of a half-dozen in pots that looked badly chlorotic that I figured initially was iron-deficient. It was only after I started giving it acid fertilizer that it slowly began to respond with healthier growth, but never looked as good as its neighbors. Sometimes you just get a sickly plant and have to toss it and replace with a healthier one.

  • mistascott
    11 years ago

    The best thing you can do is to purchase a pH measuring device and figure out exactly what your pH is. I know vinegar can be a little rough on plants, so be sure you aren't using it in too high of a concentration -- you should heavily dilute it if you use it and even then it isn't a good method of reducing soil pH permanently. Until you actually know the soil pH, you are shooting in the dark. If you find it is too high, Hollytone makes an excellent Sulfur-based fertilizer/soil acidifier that should help.

  • swahilian
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Hey Ken

    Thanks for the reply. It is Summer where I am now in New Zealand and the weather has been very hot lately. The strawberry mix is just a mix they "TUI" recommend for all berries. The bucket is 60 litres(around 15 Gallons) and I don't add much fertilizer in fear of over doing it.I found the lime in the form of lime chip all over a certain part of the yard and decided it easier to grow in containers.I think you may be right, it needs a new start and I am definitely over thinking it. What would you recommend for the new mix?

    Hey eric_oh,

    Thanks for your help and sorry to hear about your hibiscus. I will look into an iron supplement.Will it interfere with the acid fertilizer I have recently applied?

    Hey mistascott,

    I have tried a cheap pH tool but it seems to give fairly inconsistent readings. It says around 6 for the mix the blueberry is in.I use a very small amount of vinegar which I test with pH paper afterwards to make sure it is around 5.5.I will have a look for Hollytone but there seem to be three dominant brands around here and not much else!Thank you for your help.

    Thanks all for your help , I am young and new to gardening so am trying to learn as I go. The plant may need to be thrown away but I don't really want to give up on the poor thing.

  • mistascott
    11 years ago

    Hollytone is fairly widely available in the US but not sure about NZ -- check the link below to see if you recognize it.

    If you are serious about getting a nice crop of blueberries, I would invest in a decent pH device. A good one shouldn't run you more than $20-30US.

    Your success somewhat depends on how well your climate suits your specific variety of blueberry. There are varieties better suited to different climates (northern/southern highbush, lowbush, half-high, rabbiteye). I know New Zealand has a highly variable climate depending on where you are. If your summers are hot and/or humid, you may want to try a rabbiteye as opposed to what you have which is a lowbush x highbush hybrid.

    Never give up on your plants until they give up on you! Good luck!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Espoma Soil Acidifier

    This post was edited by mistascott on Fri, Dec 14, 12 at 19:42

  • swahilian
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks! I will go in search of that soil acidifier!Would much prefer something like that than Aluminium sulfate. I didn't really think about climate so thanks for bringing that to my attention.I have recently purcahsed another blueberry plant that is a rabbiteye and while its early days it does appear to be growing okay. Thanks again

    Jacob

  • mistascott
    11 years ago

    'Top Hat' is actually a hybrid (corrected above). It is listed for U.S. Zones 3-7 which means that a warm climate would probably not be ideal.

    This post was edited by mistascott on Fri, Dec 14, 12 at 19:44

  • swahilian
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    This could be part of the problem! Thanks for that. I will give the plant a dose of iron and try to lower the pH and see how it goes. Thank you

  • rusty_blackhaw
    11 years ago

    "...iron solubility (and uptake) generally decreases with increasing pH because iron precipitates out of the soil solution at higher pH levels. Phosphorus also precipitates out of solution at higher pH levels. Phosphorus uptake will be further reduced above pH 7.2 because any phosphorus left in solution is converted into a less available form. Nitrogen uptake can be indirectly affected by media pH because low pH decreases nitrification (conversion of ammoniacal nitrogen to nitrate nitrogen) or the conversion of urea to ammoniacal nitrogen."

    http://www.greenhousegrower.com/article/21543/understanding-plant-nutrition-an-introduction

    So Jacob could be running into nutrient problems depending on whether pH is too high or too low. A device to measure pH sounds like a good idea especially if his goal is to harvest a sizable blueberry crop (one container plant is going to fall short in any case).

  • swahilian
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Hey eric_oh,

    I have tested and its given a reading of around pH 6 - 6.2. I gave it a liquid iron dose and am waiting to see if this makes any difference. I do have a small Rabbit eye plant growing in another container with similar soil and it seems to be growing okay so far but it is a young plant so time will tell.

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