Blueberries And Strawberries

0PTICS

Active Member
i'm thinking of ordering blueberry and strawberry from botanus i dont have much experience but would love to try growing my own fruits the two i'm thinking of ordering are "top hat" and "all star" i will be growing them outside once the order comes(shipped in april) any info on growing these would be great
 

a dog named chico

Well-Known Member
they like sandy well draining soil...as far as variety it depends on your region and what your choosing to grow them for...I am planning a garden for profit this year and am focusing on berries, tomatoes, and cucumbers. although i am still in the research myself, let me know what you decide...
 

0PTICS

Active Member
thanks for stopping in chico i'm just planning to grow them in my backyard for my own personal berry stash lol i love to grab any advice you can give me on this because i too would like to one day grow fruits and veggies for profit
 

a dog named chico

Well-Known Member
Well were to start....i just started googling what would grow in my region ( i am in 6). I know you have to get live starts because seeds take years to mature...are you growing indoors currently? if so i would clear a little space. i plan on getting mine (as soon as they can ship) i am planting 3/4 while using the last 1/4 for propagation.. take note of the area needed...are you going to use raised beds? I am trying for 50 plants (3 varieties) although that is subject to change as i add other crops...
 

0PTICS

Active Member
i'm planning on growing in my backyard in a 1 foot raised bed 3x3 garden planting as soon as they ship
 

ANC

Well-Known Member
As a kid I grew a shitload of strawberries.
You need a large barel or wastebin.
Cut lots of 2 inch holes around the sides and plant your strawberries in the holes.
Keeps off all the insects and dirt.
 

a dog named chico

Well-Known Member
As a kid I grew a shitload of strawberries.
You need a large barel or wastebin.
Cut lots of 2 inch holes around the sides and plant your strawberries in the holes.
Keeps off all the insects and dirt.
Interesting...it would save a ton of space...about how many plants per 50 gallon barrel??
 

jimmy jones

Active Member
We grow a ton of fruits here. The blueberries are very shallow rooted so I plant mine in/on a mound to make sure they don't drown. I lost two of six last year because we had sooooo much rain that even the mounds flooded. Our strawberries are in a raised bed covered with a net to keep birds off of em. One thing to remember about strawberried is that they quit producing very much after two seasons. Every third season I remove the oldest original plants and leave just the new sprouts for the next two seasons. This will ensure maximum yeild every season. we also grow dragon fruit, miracle fruit, star fruit, and cocoa =)
 

jimmy jones

Active Member
No never occured to me to take pics of the fruit garden. Maybe in the spring I will take some. Most of those in my list need to come in for the winter so everything is dormant right now anyway. We plan on building a greenhouse in the next couple years. While I will admit I love nothing more than fresh blueberries most of our harvest goes to homemade blueberry wine =). If you're a drinker I really recommend making some.
 

thepodpiper

Active Member
One thing you need to check is the PH where you are going to put your blueberries. They need really acidic soil, around 4.5-5.8. They do best in soils with this PH. If your soil is nuetral (7) they will not do well. That would be the first thing you should check way before ordering and planting. There are ways to amend the soil to get what you are looking for though. IMHO I would not even plant them if your soil is around a PH of 7.

Dale
 

ANC

Well-Known Member
I'll keep that in mind, I have some youngberry seed I want to plant (which is a cross witha blueberry), I'm on a river bed and there used to be lots of wild rasberries arround, so I guess I should be ok.

I'm also in a winter rainfall area, my winter beds have like 1 foot deep spaces in between to cope. And in summer I have to level and mulch it to reduce surface area and keep water in. not fun with crippling arthrits of the back.
 
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