Posted by Stephanie | Posted in Fruits | Posted on 14-04-2008
I suspect that we all love growing our own fruit. The satisfaction of biting into a sweet, fantastic apple or pear that you've grown yourself can't be beat (nothing's better than fresh). Blueberry plants are especially popular. The fruit is not only delicious and extremely healthy, it's also versatile. Blueberries are not only great raw, alone or in cream, but also baked in almost any way you can imagine. The problem that many people have with growing blueberries is that many blueberry plants aren't the prettiest fruit plants available out there. Park Seed has found one, however, that is one of the best-looking plants you'll ever see. The foliage on the Blueberry Sunshine Blue is a glossy silvery-green color, and it's semi-evergreen to boot! It's a dwarf blueberry bush with a dense habit that makes it a perfect container plant. Sunshine Blue is easily attractive enough to stand alone as an ornamental potted plant, but come spring it is covered in bright pink flowers followed by masses of sweet, juicy dark blueberries.
Blueberry Sunshine Blue is also an exceptionally easy blueberry bush to grow. It's self-pollinating, hardy all the way from Zone 5 to Zone 9, and it's more tolerant of high pH than most other blueberries. Add to that the ease of container gardening (it's certainly easier to adjust the pH of a couple of gallons of soil than a patch of uncontained ground), and you've got one of the easiest blueberry bushes I've ever seen.
I just recieved my sunshine blue bush today, I have some great pots to plant it in but I am worried because the one I planned on using is a medium sized ceramic container without drainage holes. Will the blueberry bush do ok with that or do I need to got a new one. Your input would be greatly appreciated. ~Holly (new at this gardening stuff!)
Holly:
I pretty much always recommend that gardeners don’t use planting containers without drainage holes for planting anything that doesn’t require swampy soil. I find that it’s just too difficult to prevent root rot. I’ve been known to put holes in my own pots when they had none, but that’s difficult at best with ceramics. One thing you could do is plant the bush in a liner pot the same size as your ceramic and take it out to water it, but, I’m sorry to say, that’s not the best solution.
A lot of ceramic pots do not have a glaze on the bottom, so it’s possible to use a masonry drill bit and drill a hole in the bottom of the pot. If the bottom is glazed, you may have to use a diamond point drill bit. Normal drill bits will not cut through the glaze.
What is the best Soil to use for planting blueberry Sunshine Blue in a pot? I normally just use a
bag of potting soil but I heard this blueberry plant needs a special mix? Also how big a pot
should I use? I do thank you for any information you might have. Donna
Plant Sunshine Blue blueberry plants in azalea-camellia potting mix. This is an acidic mix. If you live in a western state, the water may gradually make the soil more alkaline and you should fertilize with an acidic fertilizer to keep the soil acidic. If the leaves become too pale or unevenly green, this indicates the soil isn’t acidic enough and you can add aluminum sulfate granules from the nursery to the surface and water it in. Grown this way, the plants thrive and produce heavily. I love ‘em.
Will these plants thrive at all if planted in the ground, or must they be potted in containers? I’m looking for small shrubs to line my front porch and love the idea of blueberries, but I don’t want the hassle of full-sized bushes, so these seem perfect. Thanks.
I like it very much because Blueberry Sunshine Blue has an exceptionally easy blueberry bush to grow.
I love my Sunshine Blue! I got busy and forgot to start watering and fertilizing last spring 2011…and did not get a good result this summer…by the time I figured out what I needed to to, it was too late. Next year I WILL remember to get busy in February at least! Any tips on propagating?
Are Precast concrete type pots okay to plant the Sunshine Blue in? I am in Phoenix AZ and am wondering if the concrete pot will hold too much heat in the summer and kill the plant. The pot will be placed in part shade or filtered sun.
In filtered sun you should be just fine. Keep in mind that shrubs in containers need to be watered more frequently.