My sister bought 2 Bluebrry bushes last year and planted them in
ericaceous compost in tubs about 20" in diameter and about 15" deep.
One of the bushes flourished, as can be seen if you've looked at the
link in my post to the butterfly thread), although it only bore about 5
fruits this year. The other bush dwindled more and more and was reduced
to a few spindly sticks and hardly any leaves by the time it was thrown
out a few days ago. The two bushes were positioned side-by-side and
received identical treatment.

My sister is giving up on fruit and giving me all her bushes which will
remain in tubs, I plan to get another Blueberry as I understand there
will be better fruiting if I have two.

Is the probable reason for lack of fruit this year the fact that the
bush was very young or is it more likely bad weather at blossom time.
(I don't actually know whether it blossomed well or not.) Can I expect
it to perform at least reasonably next year?

Secondly, is there a "most likely" cause for the other bush to fail to
thrive? They both looked equally healthy when purchased. Would it be
best to discard the compost from that tub or will it be safe to use again?

--
Jenny M Benson
Wrexham, UK

On 09/08/2018 17:07, Jenny M Benson wrote:
My sister bought 2 Bluebrry bushes last year and planted them in
ericaceous compost in tubs about 20" in diameter and about 15" deep. One
of the bushes flourished, as can be seen if you've looked at the link in
my post to the butterfly thread), although it only bore about 5 fruits
this year.Â* The other bush dwindled more and more and was reduced to a
few spindly sticks and hardly any leaves by the time it was thrown out a
few days ago.Â* The two bushes were positioned side-by-side and received
identical treatment.

It is never a good idea to throw out a dead plant too soon if you have
room to keep them. They may come back from the roots. One of mine
struggled one year. My guess is the pots were a bit too big for them.

My sister is giving up on fruit and giving me all her bushes which will
remain in tubs,Â* I plan to get another Blueberry as I understand there
will be better fruiting if I have two.

Ideally you want two different cultivars to get the best fruit set. You
will also need to net them if you ever want to eat any of the berries.

Is the probable reason for lack of fruit this year the fact that the
bush was very young or is it more likely bad weather at blossom time. (I
don't actually know whether it blossomed well or not.) Can I expect it
to perform at least reasonably next year?

Secondly, is there a "most likely" cause for the other bush to fail to
thrive?Â* They both looked equally healthy when purchased.Â* Would it be
best to discard the compost from that tub or will it be safe to use again?

Throw it on the garden and start again with clean compost just in case
it was a diseased plant. I'd not pot it into a container more than 2 or
3 inches bigger than the one it came in in the first year.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 10/08/2018 13:51, Jenny M Benson wrote:
On 10-Aug-18 11:21 AM, Martin Brown wrote:
On 09/08/2018 17:07, Jenny M Benson wrote:
My sister bought 2 Bluebrry bushes last year and planted them in
ericaceous compost in tubs about 20" in diameter and about 15" deep.
One of the bushes flourished, as can be seen if you've looked at the
link in my post to the butterfly thread), although it only bore about
5 fruits this year.Â* The other bush dwindled more and more and was
reduced to a few spindly sticks and hardly any leaves by the time it
was thrown out a few days ago.Â* The two bushes were positioned
side-by-side and received identical treatment.

It is never a good idea to throw out a dead plant too soon if you have
room to keep them. They may come back from the roots. One of mine
struggled one year. My guess is the pots were a bit too big for them.

My sister is giving up on fruit and giving me all her bushes which
will remain in tubs,Â* I plan to get another Blueberry as I understand
there will be better fruiting if I have two.

Ideally you want two different cultivars to get the best fruit set.
You will also need to net them if you ever want to eat any of the
berries.

Is the probable reason for lack of fruit this year the fact that the
bush was very young or is it more likely bad weather at blossom time.
(I don't actually know whether it blossomed well or not.) Can I
expect it to perform at least reasonably next year?

Secondly, is there a "most likely" cause for the other bush to fail
to thrive?Â* They both looked equally healthy when purchased.Â* Would
it be best to discard the compost from that tub or will it be safe to
use again?

Throw it on the garden and start again with clean compost just in case
it was a diseased plant. I'd not pot it into a container more than 2
or 3 inches bigger than the one it came in in the first year.


Many thanks.Â* That all sounds like good advice, which will be heeded.

You don't say what size the plants were.
I've seen them on sale in anything form a 8cm pot to 3 litre pots.
I've got 5 in 3 litre pots, one almost died last year but is now back
and looking good, only one plant has a good crop and 2 others had a few
fruit, my aim is to get thenm into the ground this autumr or in the
spring, depending on work load.

On 10/08/2018 14:16, David wrote:
On 10/08/2018 13:51, Jenny M Benson wrote:
On 10-Aug-18 11:21 AM, Martin Brown wrote:
On 09/08/2018 17:07, Jenny M Benson wrote:
My sister bought 2 Bluebrry bushes last year and planted them in
ericaceous compost in tubs about 20" in diameter and about 15" deep.
One of the bushes flourished, as can be seen if you've looked at the
link in my post to the butterfly thread), although it only bore
about 5 fruits this year.Â* The other bush dwindled more and more and
was reduced to a few spindly sticks and hardly any leaves by the
time it was thrown out a few days ago.Â* The two bushes were
positioned side-by-side and received identical treatment.

It is never a good idea to throw out a dead plant too soon if you
have room to keep them. They may come back from the roots. One of
mine struggled one year. My guess is the pots were a bit too big for
them.

My sister is giving up on fruit and giving me all her bushes which
will remain in tubs,Â* I plan to get another Blueberry as I
understand there will be better fruiting if I have two.

Ideally you want two different cultivars to get the best fruit set.
You will also need to net them if you ever want to eat any of the
berries.

Is the probable reason for lack of fruit this year the fact that the
bush was very young or is it more likely bad weather at blossom
time. (I don't actually know whether it blossomed well or not.) Can
I expect it to perform at least reasonably next year?

Secondly, is there a "most likely" cause for the other bush to fail
to thrive?Â* They both looked equally healthy when purchased.Â* Would
it be best to discard the compost from that tub or will it be safe
to use again?

Throw it on the garden and start again with clean compost just in
case it was a diseased plant. I'd not pot it into a container more
than 2 or 3 inches bigger than the one it came in in the first year.


Many thanks.Â* That all sounds like good advice, which will be heeded.

You don't say what size the plants were.
I've seen them on sale in anything form a 8cm pot to 3 litre pots.
I've got 5 in 3 litre pots, one almost died last year but is now back
and looking good, only one plant has a good crop and 2 others had a few
fruit, my aim is to get them into the ground this autumn or in the
spring, depending on work load.


The point of re potting into a pot just a couple of sizes larger is that
if you intend to keep a plant in a pot then the roots grow out to the
edge of the pot and then circle round it, so if the pot is to large then
you have a lot of soil towards the middle of the pot that doesn't get used.