Blueberry plant looking very sick - is it too late? Pic!

[Safroniabee]

My jersey blueberry started taking on these red spots shortly after we planted it, and now the whole plant is basically red. What in the world is wrong with it and is there any hope?

[CharlieBear]

You didn't say when you planted it or where you are or what the weather has bee like. It appears to be in a pot and the pot planted in the ground, no mulch, and no indication of the ph of the potting mixture. The stems look okay on the picture, and many blueberry varieties turn red in the fall. In the picture it looks like the blueberry is just showing fall colors early. Blueberries are shallow rooted, need a low ph and grow best when mulched. They need to be watered longer than most people think as they put out new growth in the fall. Young plants spend most of their time developing roots after they are planted for a year or two. My biggest concern is the size of the pot, if I remember correctly Jersey is a northern high bush that should reach a height of 5-6' it would be better planted directly in the ground that has been sulfured if the ph is too high and mulched. Also, it needs a second blueberry of a different variety that blooms around the same time to bear fruit. Note, blues are rated early, mid and late, I can't remember if Jersey is Mid or late, ask at the nursery or look it up and get an other of the same time period. I would keep it hydrated and then in the very early spring when it is still dormant I would take it out of the pot and plant directly in the ground, mulch and add a little sulfur several times, but don't fertilize until the following year. If it doesn't sustain too much winter damage, it will probably be fine, just a little behind in the root growing process.

[Safroniabee]

It's actually not in a pot, that's edging to keep the lawn guy from nicking it with the weed eater. It is mulched as well, there's just some grass creeping through. It was planted in the late spring and right now the weather is in the 90's. I don't think it's fall color, it started out a few weeks after we planted as red spots and the spots have taken over the leaves one by one.

[CharlieBear]

there are several things that can cause that, including dehydration on very hot days, there is a ground born disease that will sometimes affect the leaves if the water is splashing up on to the leaves, but that usually happens earlier in the year out here. There is no way to guess the soil and the ph or the climate since you didn't provide the location information when you signed up. If you are dealing with clay soil, like is say Ohio, you will have a harder time keeping the ph down far enough for the blueberries to be able to utilize the nutrients in the soil, therefore, you would need to add sulfur more often. On the other hand, you may have fertilized it during it's first year and I have seen blueberries react badly and the leaves turn red prematurely as well. If you did fertilize it this year, don't next year add sulfur only several times during the season, just a hand full around the plant. Also blueberries are one of the plants where the roots on one side of the plant do not share with the other side. So you need to water etc all the way around. Remove all of the leaves when they fall and destroy them. It is always hard to tell from a picture taken this late in the season for sure what is happening. So, far the stems don't seem to be dying, that is a good sign. I see the spots now, by squinting on the leaves and generally the only thing you can do this late about that problem, if it is what I think it might be is pick up all the leaves, remulch in the spring, keep it watered and see. I have seen younger plants come back in the spring when they look like that, much of the time, the harshness of the winter will also be a factor. Watch it closely, if this starts again next year, remove the first 1-2 leaves that show the same signs, that will often curb it. Also, some people would dormant spray that blueberry for the next couple of years as well, that is up to you.

[Safroniabee]

Thanks for the help. I'm in middle TN, zone 7. I have not fertilized it and I think I water it pretty well. What is dormant spraying?

[tomc]

Blueberry need acidified soil. Your BB likely needs some sulfer or miracid.

[applestar]

Hmm... Remember, too that wherever a plant's leaves occupy the airspace, the roots underground have reached that far out, too. Looks like the grass could be already competing with the shallow rooted blueberry. It will be harder to deal with thIs later without damaging the blueberry roots.

I think it would be best to remove all grass to minimum 1 ft out from the tip of the leaves, two feet (or all the way to the fence and similar distant in front of the plant) would be best. The shrub will grow to need about 4 ft square space if low bush type, larger than that if high bush type.

CharlieBear already addressed the need for 2nd plant....

...Oh, I just looked up the cultivar - Jersey IS a high bush variety -- Starks Bros. recommends:

Mature Size: When your plant matures, it will be approximately 6-7' tall x 5-6' wide.
Recommended Spacing: We recommend spacing these plants 5-6' apart to ensure room for growth.

-- so that would mean mulched area 3 feet all around the plant.

...this will also keep the "lawn guy" from applying herbicides and lime in immediate vicinity of the blueberry plant. It would actually help, too, if the shrub was on a slight mound. (BTW DO YOU KNOW WHAT IS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE?)

And they do say this cultivar is self pollinating and can bear fruits without a pollinizer after 2-3 yrs.

[Francesco Delvillani]

Some cultivars start turning red in late summer....it's normal, soon they'll lose their leaves. The first years they put new roots...after they will start and bear better

[CharlieBear]

I agree the grass should go, but blueberries are very shallow rooted. The easiest fix I can think of is placing newspaper 10-12 layers thick around the plant to get the desired distance, plus about 2". The papers need to be overlapped at least 1" and then weight it down with 3-4" of mulch or up to 8" if mulch. The grass will be deprived of sunlight etc and most of it will die over the course of a year or so. The blueberry will only get bigger over time and the drip line will move out further as it does. Grass is not recommended around blueberries or fruit trees, because it uses up too much of the available water. As for dormant spray, it is sometimes called dormant oil spray and can be purchased many places in the garden center or nursery. It can be a simple as brewing an extremely strong batch of chamomile tea. Let it cool add 3-4 T of canola oil and 2 t of liquid ivory soap to each gallon. Then after the leaves have fallen on a dry warm day when there is plenty of time for it to dry before night fall, soak the plant with the spray. This contains some sulfur in the tea so it is a mild treatment for both fungal as well as other disease issues. I still think that the blueberry is probably just turning color early in part because it is so new and partly because of the weather patterns this year. Either way, always remove the leaves after they fall from blueberries and fruit trees, and with blues it is best to mulch in early spring as that will slow or stop several diseases that take root in the soil.

[Safroniabee]

Thanks again for all the help.. I will try the newspaper trick. We do have a blue ridge planted next to this one, and our neighbor has a blueberry bush as well. To answer questions, on the other side of our fence is several feet of weeds and then a ditch. Yikes, I had no idea they spread so far!

I'm starting to believe you on maybe they're just turning fall color early.. I would like to believe that! But it doesn't explain the spots. The leaves are covered in spots, and you can see them on the underside as well.