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Post by Gianna on Dec 9, 2017 14:30:34 GMT -5
Here's a previous thread on picking blueberries: notjusttomatoes.proboards.com/thread/3535/blueberries
I grow southern highbush blueberries. Because of our warm SoCal winters, I have to grow plants with very low or no chill requirements. Anything listed at more than 300 hours of chill just does not do well here.
I have about 60 plants, all in pots. Most in 15 gallon with a few larger. They do really well here with proper care. 'Proper care' means either watered with rainwater or tap water that's been acidified. They are not easy, but well worth it.
Over the last decade, many new low/no chill berries have been developed by both the University of Florida, and I think Georgia. As well as private breeders. And more and more blues are grown in warmer parts of the world.
I grow Emerald, Sharpblue, Misty, Jewel, Abundance, Scintilla, Southmoon, Kestrel, SweetCrisp, IndigoCrisp, SnowChaser, Biloxi, and SpringHigh. I've tried others that got culled.
Some say you can never be too rich or too thin. I say you can never have too many blueberries.
Anyone else grow blueberries?
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poppopt
Junior Member
Posts: 89
Joined: May 2017
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Post by poppopt on Dec 10, 2017 12:12:19 GMT -5
I don't yet but just bought a new place (north central Tennessee) and would like to put in a few blueberry bushes. I don't have enough room for berries to sell but perhaps for our own use.
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Post by ladymarmalade on Dec 10, 2017 14:33:42 GMT -5
I wish! It's on my bucket list.
When the berries are in season, I easily buy 50-80 pounds from farmers to stash in the freezer.
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Post by Gianna on Dec 10, 2017 16:31:35 GMT -5
I don't have enough room for berries to sell but perhaps for our own use. My 60 plants are not to sell - they are for personal use, lol. I freeze some, and dehydrate more. And give lots away.
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Post by Gianna on Dec 10, 2017 16:35:43 GMT -5
When the berries are in season, I easily buy 50-80 pounds from farmers to stash in the freezer. I was reading in another thread here how little some of you pay for blueberries in season. We have a YouPick place about an hour away, and several years ago they were charging $3/pound. Too much for me. Of course what I've spent setting up my own 'little patch' would have kept me in those berries for many years.
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Post by ladymarmalade on Dec 10, 2017 17:10:07 GMT -5
When the berries are in season, I easily buy 50-80 pounds from farmers to stash in the freezer. I was reading in another thread here how little some of you pay for blueberries in season. We have a YouPick place about an hour away, and several years ago they were charging $3/pound. Too much for me. Of course what I've spent setting up my own 'little patch' would have kept me in those berries for many years. For a number of years I was ordering blueberries with a local farm who contracted with a Michigan farm for blueberries. Oh my gosh, the best berries ever! They were generally around $3.00 a pound- may have been as low as $2.75 when I first started. So then one year I hear about a u-pick blueberry farm that was a little distance away and decide to make a day of it. Took my kids and my sister and had a blast picking blueberries, and then ended up paying $3.00 a pound. It was fun to pick, but gosh, $3.00 whether or not I pick them myself? Now I just order them from Michigan. We did not get any this year and I finally seem to be seeing the light in the freezer so next year we'll be placing another order.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Dec 10, 2017 20:28:47 GMT -5
We grow Southern Highbush types. We used to grow Rabbiteye varieties also but the others are larger and taste better.
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Post by coppice on Dec 11, 2017 14:41:09 GMT -5
I am supposed to get seed from up-land (low-bush) blueberry. If I can wintersow them and gets some started. I aspire to start to seed a pasture at wisteria campground with plugs of seedlings.
There are a couple of fields that only get mowed as hay field annually. I think that six inch clearance is enough to get a field started.
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Post by spike on Dec 12, 2017 8:33:38 GMT -5
I do not grow blueberries myself but an old high school friend that lives near me does. Once he has all he wants he turns me loose!! /happy dance
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Post by Gianna on Mar 27, 2018 0:18:29 GMT -5
The early phase of this years crop is ripe. Been lightly picking for about 2 weeks. Still very slow, but about a half cup or more every couple of days. And the plants are still putting out flowers, so the season this year could be long. There are usually some out there till July.
Even though they are still a wee bit tart this early (short days, not bright sun), I'd forgotten how good they are.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 27, 2018 9:49:25 GMT -5
Nice! My two young bushes (I hope to add more bushes later on) bloomed very nicely this year. One is essentially finished blooming and has a nice set of berries. The other is a bit later and still has a mix of young berries and blooms, but so far looks like it will have a nice fruit set also. I had been a little worried about the blooms and bloom buds when we had those mild frosts mid-month, but they were undamaged. I have a while yet to wait for fruit, though.
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reubent
Pro Member
Posts: 389
Joined: May 2011
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Post by reubent on May 1, 2019 7:27:18 GMT -5
My dad's favorite fruit was blueberries. We started a good row of them some years back, but they are getting overgrown and drowned. Not really a good location for them. Been thinking about starting a new area and working up to half acre or better of them. Planted 4 last year kind of late, thought they'd all died, but just checked and 2 are coming back, so maybe they will survive.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on May 1, 2019 10:30:18 GMT -5
I hope your blueberries pull through, reubent. My two small rabbiteye blueberry bushes (1 Brightwell and 1 Powderblue) survived being crushed under my privacy fence during the storm and are growing nicely this spring. They have good fruit set, too. They are still small, especially since some of their canes were broken last fall, but the new growth is vigorous, so I think they will end up a good bit bigger this year. I need to get some other things taken care of before I devote the time to expanding my blueberry patch, but I do want to get more bushes. Partly to have more blueberries, and partly to spread out the ripening times. With the right mix of rabbiteye and southern highbush varieties, in theory I should be able to have fresh blueberries from April to early July. Also, just because they are cool-looking, I am intrigued by the Pink Lemonade blueberry. The berries ripen to bright pink instead of blue and the fall foliage is also supposed to be pink.
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Post by coppice on May 2, 2019 18:35:54 GMT -5
Planted low-land BB a couple years back at daughters. They really really need a good weeding & mulching. Bought 50 this spring and set them out in pots. I expect they will go in somewhere. Still at the wishing stage for upland blueberry.
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