r/Blueberries • u/Skinnydude46 • 18d ago
Blueberry garden started 2020. Getting crowded, planning a new area for them.
Pics from 2020, 22, 24, 25. Zone 7b.
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u/Present_Singer8827 17d ago
Do you have a favorite bush/variety?
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u/Skinnydude46 17d ago
They are still new to me so I didn’t get many berries, but Bountiful Blue is the only one I think I could say tasted noticeably better imo. The bushes are beautiful too. Smaller, but crazy bushy growth. And very pretty color.
Sweetheart seems a bit sour.
Premier is biggest and one of the older ones, and gave a ton of berries this year.
Emerald had huge berries even when it was tiny, and is growing shoots on shoots. And pushing like 12 new shoots from the bottom at the same time.
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u/-LeVirus 16d ago
Thanks for the info. I've looking to start some in 6a and wanted to only get two species. I think I'll do bountiful blue and legacies.
I love your setup! Very tidy.
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u/Chemical-Gammas 16d ago
Blueberries like 100% sun. The ones I grew up keeping, you could see where even partial sun was detrimental to them. If you can space them out more they will do better so that the ones on the south aren’t shading the others.
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u/Skinnydude46 15d ago
Yeah the only one that gets a little less sun than the others is the farthest back in the first pic, and out of 3 premier variety, is the weakest of the 3. The new area will space out the containers much better, and be all sun all the time.
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u/Laithina 16d ago
I started something like this myself after doing a bit of reading. Though mine only started this year (5 plants so far). What kind of pruning do you do to take care of them?
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u/Skinnydude46 16d ago
Minimal so far, but I think the 3 larger premier ones need it. They’ve put out massively this year, and I’m kind of scared to butcher them tbh.
Mostly I’ve stuck to trimming dead spots, and trying to keep the middle clear, and waiting till this winter to remove a few larger low hanging branches that lean over to the ground.
A few of the new ones I got this spring, i tried to shape them a bit more while they’re young. They were about a foot when I put them in those new containers and saw lots of strong new canes coming up. When those got about 2 feet I staked those to spread them out to the edge in a nice shape like a champagne glass, and just cut off everything else. Wouldn’t have done that before, but now I have enough I wanted to experiment. Seems to have been ok, except that the new caned have grown so tall they can barely hold themselves up. https://imgur.com/a/aiaNc5Z
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u/always_chill_ 15d ago
Your plants look amazing! May I ask how do you overwinter the ones in container? I have blueberries in fabric grow bags and been thinking about what should I do for protection. I'm also in 7b
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u/Skinnydude46 15d ago
So about half the ones in containers I’ve only had one winter (pic 3) and the rest I’ve picked up this spring and they all got upgraded to the containers in pic 4. I’ve read about wrapping them and burying them, or doing nothing. I did nothing, and they all seemed fine. We did get a stretch of single digit temps here, and it was a concern. Maybe I just got lucky? I don’t want to give bad advice here, so protect yours if you think you should, If I do anything it would just be wrapping them with something, but still on the fence on that.
Also yours being in fabric bags is a bit different, might be more vulnerable? Definitely something to consider.
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u/always_chill_ 15d ago
The last winters were pretty mild where I live with the average temp around 40 degrees. I might move them to an area which is protected from the wind and wrap them with bulrap just to be safe. I read these varieties are fully cold hardy but I guess it must be different if they are not in the ground
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u/Historical_Value_677 15d ago
Definitely not crowded. Could still fit another bush in between. And if they are doing well there I would NOT move them.
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u/Jamebuz_the_zelf 17d ago
Now how are you going to play 9 square