Re: The blueberries I grow in Berkeley.

   Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 10:18:13 -0700 (PDT)
   From: Michael Barclay <opga@wenet.net>

Thanks for this list.  I've saved it.  I want to add in more blueberries.
I'm a bit too far east to get much summer fog so our climates are slightly
different.

   15) Sunshine Blue - an evergreen blueberry with glaucous foliage,
   practically no chill requirement-recommended for zones 16-24 and
   exceptionally good in containers.  Been on the market about four years
   but we've been growing it for ten.  Hot pink flowers.  Small delicious
   fruit.  Self fertile.  Available from Greer Gardens and Gossler Farms.

I grow this one too (my only blueberry).  I bought it bareroot in January
1998, and just before I planted it, the El Nino rains started.  I didn't
get it into the ground until April.  It was a bareroot that had been potted
up by the grower and it gave me some leaves but then it died.  I planted it
"just in case."  To my surprise, it lived.

I got berries for the first time this summer (1999).  A pretty good crop
considering how small the bush is.  It's a dwarf.  And mine had to regrow
from the roots...I only have a couple short branches.  Hoping for more next
year.

The berries were wonderful, very flavorful.  I've picked blueberries in
Mass before and these were the best I've ever tasted (though I might be
biased since I grew them myself :-)).

In theory the bush gets regular water but practice isn't theory.  It gets a
decent soaking once a week and that's about all I can guarentee the poor
plant.  It would do better with more water I am sure but that will have to
wait until I install more drip watering.

I have very alkinline soil but I topdress with homemade compost and the
bush is doing fine.  The organic gardening list has had this discussion a
hundred times; using compost and mulch seems to fix any pH problems the
soil has so that even acid lovers do fine out west.  I don't use sulphur or
any other amendments to change pH.

Am I correct that most blueberries (Sunshine being an exception) need to
have another blueberry variety around to produce fruit?  How close do they
need to be and does the Sunshine count?

Cyndi

_______________________________________________________________________________
Oakland, California            Zone 9 USDA; Zone 16 Sunset Western Garden Guide
Chemically sensitive/disabled - Organic Gardening only by choice and neccessity
_______________________________________________________________________________
"There's nothing wrong with me.  Maybe there's                     Cyndi Norman
something wrong with the universe." (ST:TNG)           cyndi@consultclarity.com
                                                 http://www.consultclarity.com/
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