Blueberries Thinking of Growing My own
By suspenseful
@suspenseful (40192)
Canada
August 24, 2007 2:34pm CST
My husband does not let me buy blueberries when we go shopping. In fact, I had to take time to go to Safeway and buy some out of my own money which is not that much. I live in Winnipeg Manitoba and since there is a lake nearby, the temperature can be quite humid and the area besides our house,well I had to build it up quite a bit because of the moisture and everything grows there. I was wondering whether planting a blueberry bush would be acceptable, when I should plant it, and the general care? Thank you for your help.
1 person likes this
6 responses
@chrislotz (8136)
• Canada
21 Nov 07
I, too, live in Winnipeg, Manitoba, by the way. I know blueberries will grow here. I have a wild blueberry area in my yard. I picked them, plants and all, up at Stead, Manitoba. They also grow quite well in the Whiteshell area. I planted them in the early fall about 15 years ago and they still grow quite well every year. I buy peat moss every year because they need the nutitions in it. Once you plant them and put peat moss around them you don't have to do anything else to them. They will grow on their own. I just water them when I water the garden. Good luck.
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
21 Nov 07
I have quite acid soil in my garden, so I might not have to buy much peat moss. I do love the weather, I hate the snow. Oh I live in Mission Gardens in the general Transcona area.
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@chrislotz (8136)
• Canada
21 Nov 07
Oh, by the way, how are you liking the weather right now. It's November 20th and no real snow yet. Pretty neat. I hate the snow so I'm enjoying this. I live in West Kildonan. What area do you live in?
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@chrislotz (8136)
• Canada
21 Nov 07
Thanks for answering my question of where you live. I know the area quite well. It's nice knowing someone else here that lives in the same city as me. There aren't to many people here from Winnipeg, at least not that I have found. Do you have any other friends in mylot that are from Winnipeg? If so I would like to request their friendship. Let me know which ones so I can go to your profile page and request them. Thanks.
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@GreenMoo (11833)
•
17 May 08
As this is an older discussion, I hope you now have your blueberry bushes planted.
I wanted to butt in just to say that I've found them really easy to grow.We just plonked them in earlier in the year and we have a lovely drop of fruit growing. I must find some net soon to put around them otherwise the birds will get to them before I do.
Blueberries and other soft fruits are great to grow at home, as they are just so expensive to buy in the shops.
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@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
17 May 08
Our planting season does not really start until the beginning of June. We have just started to get our flower plants and our vegetable and herb plants at Walmart. What happens is if we plant sooner, like about now, we have this big freeze that comes around about the first of June. I will not have any money to get anything until the end of May anyway, so right now it is just looking.
@orsnoir (1)
• Canada
8 Jun 09
About Blueberries in Winnipeg.
You can add aluminum sulfate to make the soil acidic; I got mine at Jensen's Nursery. I'm told you can also plant them by a pine tree. The soil has to have a lot of compost mixed in and they must be planted in a sunny location. You need more than one blueberry plant because they cross pollinate.
Diana
@pendragon (3348)
• United States
24 Aug 07
Someone once told me that when it comes to blueberries, you need a male and a female plant. I dunno if that's true or not, or how you'd even know,lol. i guess the plants would! We have successfully grown grapes, strawberries, raspberries, tomatoes and carrots... good luck in your endeavour!
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@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
25 Aug 07
I suppose the female plants come with a pink ribbon and the male plants, with a blue one. :) I will check it out.
@TerryZ (22076)
• United States
24 Aug 07
Hi suspenseful do you let your husband tell you what to do? Oh sweetie thats so wrong. You do want you want to. But anyway blueberries have to grow in the right area. Look on the internet there should be plenty of sites on growing blueberries. Good luck
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@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
25 Aug 07
Last year, there were hardly any blueberries on sale for us, that is. There was an article, a rather large diversity type about the Native Canadians going out and picking blueberries, even showed pictures and I got really angry. "Do you mean the reason that the blueberries are so expensive is because they hog them all? So they are allowed to be healthy, and we are not? Look, they get married young at fourteen or so, and we have to wait until we're eighteen!,etc. We're the ones that need the help, healthwise." I guess I was not the only one complaining, because this year I was able to pick four small packages, and at the rate of a handful a day, they should last me quite a while. He is the boss in somethings, but not everything. But he makes the money and that is the trouble. He just retired, and he is still trying to figure out a sensible budget, i.e. one where I do not feel resentful.
@seagoddess28 (873)
• Canada
24 Aug 07
I love blueberries too, (and they are not cheap at the store) so I asked my hubby if we could grow some. He told me that the soil has to be quite acidic for this, and since our backyard is mostly builder's debris with about 4 inches of topsoil, it would take quite a lot of work (and money!) to do that. It may be a good idea to check the pH of your soil. I would maybe go to a garden centre and ask if they have any ideas on how you can do this. We do have some raspberries (self-seeded from the neighbours'--this is how we got our cherry trees too) and they seem to thrive. Good luck on your blueberry project! Keep me posted...:-D
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
5 Nov 07
Too cold to plant them now and I will have to get a plant in spring, but our soil is quite acidic. We have wild tomatoes, wild cantelopes, wild trees sprouting up there. I was able to get some blueberries and they are in the freezer, but with I having to pay for them out of my measly pension, I would not mind having a couple of bushes, unless we can go berry picking in the summer.
@oscarbartoni (2581)
• United States
25 Aug 07
Go to a garden center and buy some peat moss to enrich the place where you want to put your blue berries. Peat moss is naturally acidic and if you incorporate it into the soil it will help many acid loving plants. A bale of peat moss should not cost too much, just try to get some that has not been sprayed with anything.
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