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Garden Gate:  Blueberries too tart  |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 24 2012 : 8:18:32 PM
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I planted two highbush blueberries in my yard a few years ago. I fell in love with Michael Weishan's book The New Traditional Garden, and he recommended substituting fruit bushes for useless ornamentals in a small yard. They always have berries, but the berries are more tart than sweet. I moved them last year to get more sun, but it didn't fix the problem.
Now I'm wondering if it might be the ph balance. I admit, I did not get the soil tested before planting them. It's a very long and clunky process at our county extension. The original site where I planted them was a spot where I had just removed evergreens, so I thought that would take care of it.
Anybody know whether ph would cause otherwise healthy bushes to produce sour berries? And can I add something now to increase the acidity, or did I miss my chance?
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Dorinda
True Blue Farmgirl
1023 Posts
Dorinda
St. Cloud
Florida
USA
1023 Posts |
Posted - Mar 25 2012 : 06:50:10 AM
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My neighbor down the road has a blueberry farm. He has lots of blueberries on his bushes but have not started selling them yet. I ask him why and he told me that blueberries are not very sweet until about the third year after they are planted. His has been in a little over a year. About 2 acres. They are big quarter size blueberries. I picked a container full and made a couple of blueberry cobblers . They were a little tart so I added about half a cup of suger to the blueberries to sweeten them up and they turned out very good and tasty. So maybe that is why your blueberries is a little tart. Maybe they have not been in the ground long enough. Of course I love tart things like lemon slices dipped in vinagar and then salted. LOL so to me they were very tasty.......
Seize The Day!
Dorinda |
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jessabelluh
True Blue Farmgirl
349 Posts
Jessica
South Dakota
USA
349 Posts |
Posted - Mar 25 2012 : 10:29:58 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Dorinda
he told me that blueberries are not very sweet until about the third year after they are planted.
I have not heard this before, though I haven't researched it. I planted 2 bushes last year and they did produce sweet berries.
I have read that leaving them on longer even after they look ripe produce sweeter berries, but I haven't tried it. I have also read, but not tried, after picking them, letting them sit for a couple of days sweetens them.
~jess |
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prariehawk
True Blue Farmgirl
2914 Posts
Cindy
2914 Posts |
Posted - Mar 25 2012 : 6:11:19 PM
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I got a soil test kit at Lowes and it was only about four dollars. So check at Lowes before you call the county extension.
Cindy
"Vast floods can't quench love, no matter what love did/ Rivers can't drown love, no matter where love's hid"--Sinead O'Connor
"In many ways, you don't just live in the country, it lives inside you"--Ellen Eilers
Visit my blog at http://www.farmerinthebelle.blogspot.com/ |
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homsteddinmom
True Blue Farmgirl
441 Posts
Brandee
bullard
tx
USA
441 Posts |
Posted - Mar 26 2012 : 05:09:56 AM
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I was told at the local nursery water water water, the more water the plumper and sweeter the berries will be.
Homesteading Mom in East Texas. Raising chickens, Rabbits and goats here on my farm!
http://homesteddinmomsworld.blogspot.com |
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acairnsmom
True Blue Farmgirl
1319 Posts
audrey
cheyenne
wy
1319 Posts |
Posted - Mar 26 2012 : 3:10:38 PM
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Good and timely information...I have two blueberry bushes in my kitchen waiting to be planted. I bought my soil tester at Home Depot but haven't used it yet. I had a friend not too far away who's blueberries did poorly but they didn't amend their soil. I'm just assuming I'll have to put some sort of acidifier in ours for the blueberries to thrive but the soil test will tell me for sure.
Audrey
.jpg) Good boy Hobbs! I love and miss you. |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Mar 26 2012 : 3:30:07 PM
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| I'm going to try all of these suggestions! Interesting about the number of years in the ground...I wonder if I need to reset that back to 1 because I moved them? |
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mountainmomma
Farmgirl in Training
42 Posts
Miriam
Jonas
Pennsylvania
USA
42 Posts |
Posted - Apr 30 2012 : 07:32:55 AM
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I went picking blueberries with a friend a few years back. The berries turned out to be tart. She told me the soil wasn't acidic enough. I remember because I thought it would have been the opposite. I looked it up in "The Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening" and this is what I got in a nutshell:
Very humus and soft woodsy soil
pH from 5 to 5.6
Use peat liberally mixed into the soil &/or compost without lime.
good drainage (dig an open ditch next to plants)
a mulch of oak leaves is better than sawdust or pine needles to control weeds (don't want any weeds)
Compost is helpful
Hope this was helpful,
Miriam |
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Bella
True Blue Farmgirl
274 Posts
Karen
USA
274 Posts |
Posted - Apr 30 2012 : 08:29:00 AM
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I think the weather, also, has something to do with sweetness/tartness.
"Just living is not enough, said the butterfly. One must have freedom, sunshine and a little flower." -Hans Christian Anderson |
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Rosemary
True Blue Farmgirl
1825 Posts
Virginia
USA
1825 Posts |
Posted - Apr 30 2012 : 10:48:40 AM
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| I've always heard you need to plant at least two different varieties near each other to get good berries. If yours is everbearing, it might hve been bred more for looks than taste. |
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Garden Gate: Blueberries too tart |
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Blueberries too tart
