2010 Blueberries
Blueberries can be grown in Houston, if you get a couple of things right. I happened to luck into a good berry-growing technique that will hopefully be even more productive this year than last year. My first crop in 2009 consisted of 6 blueberries. In 2010, we picked somewhere around 2-3 gallons. This year, I'm hoping for the mother lode, and based on what I've seen so far, we just might get it.
Here's what works in my yard:
1. Plant the bushes in the biggest pots you can get filled with a 1/2 peat moss and 1/2 potting soil mix. I get big 30-gallon black plastic pots from Plants for All Seasons. They'll give them to you for free if you ask nicely.
2. Place the pots in an area where they get sun until around 1:30 pm, and then shade for the rest of the afternoon. For me, this is by the fence on the northeast side of my house. Making sure they have shade in hottest part of the afternoon will help get them through the worst parts of the summer. A thick layer of mulch helps too.
3. Whenever possible, irrigate with rainwater. Blueberries like acidic conditions, and our alkaline Houston tap water has a pretty high pH. Also, as Dr. Bob Randall points out, they probably don't like the chlorine or fluoride either. I have a 300-gallon rain tank and a home-rigged drip irrigation system that is pretty much dedicated to the blueberries. I realize not everyone can do this, but it really is amazing what a big difference it makes.
We have 8 bushes that are doing very very well so far. The bumblebees in particular have been working the flowers pretty hard. There were so many that I was afraid to mow the grass over there. I think we have Tiftblue, Woodard, Brightwell, Premier, and Climax. Over time I lost the tags, or the tags got buried under the mulch, so I'm not sure anymore which bush is what variety. But I am sure that they are all delicious, and I can attest that they make a wonderful pie.
Last year, every day when I got home my one-year-old son would grab my hand and want to go out to the blueberry bushes to get a snack. This year the bushes are LOADED. Hopefully we'll have enough berries for all of us this year. I've found the best source of bare-root plants to be Ison's nursery, but potted southern highbush varieties can be found at almost all the area nurseries right now.
Here's what works in my yard:
1. Plant the bushes in the biggest pots you can get filled with a 1/2 peat moss and 1/2 potting soil mix. I get big 30-gallon black plastic pots from Plants for All Seasons. They'll give them to you for free if you ask nicely.
2. Place the pots in an area where they get sun until around 1:30 pm, and then shade for the rest of the afternoon. For me, this is by the fence on the northeast side of my house. Making sure they have shade in hottest part of the afternoon will help get them through the worst parts of the summer. A thick layer of mulch helps too.
3. Whenever possible, irrigate with rainwater. Blueberries like acidic conditions, and our alkaline Houston tap water has a pretty high pH. Also, as Dr. Bob Randall points out, they probably don't like the chlorine or fluoride either. I have a 300-gallon rain tank and a home-rigged drip irrigation system that is pretty much dedicated to the blueberries. I realize not everyone can do this, but it really is amazing what a big difference it makes.
We have 8 bushes that are doing very very well so far. The bumblebees in particular have been working the flowers pretty hard. There were so many that I was afraid to mow the grass over there. I think we have Tiftblue, Woodard, Brightwell, Premier, and Climax. Over time I lost the tags, or the tags got buried under the mulch, so I'm not sure anymore which bush is what variety. But I am sure that they are all delicious, and I can attest that they make a wonderful pie.
Last year, every day when I got home my one-year-old son would grab my hand and want to go out to the blueberry bushes to get a snack. This year the bushes are LOADED. Hopefully we'll have enough berries for all of us this year. I've found the best source of bare-root plants to be Ison's nursery, but potted southern highbush varieties can be found at almost all the area nurseries right now.
Blueberry Blossoms
Unripe Blueberries
Summer 2010
February 2011
Blueberry Pie
