HelpfulGardener.com

Hi,

I'm a very inexperienced gardener and need some help/comment with my blueberries. I'm disappointed with the lack of fruit on these 2-year old bushes. I have added coffee grounds to the soil to help get the alkaline soil they need.

Please check out these photos.

Thanks

Darren

Where you garden and how well you have acidified blueberry are both central to growing lowland blueberry.

Your photo, shows green berries earlier this summer (I think). Where did they go?

Additions of organic material will not in and of itself acidify your soil. Only side dressings like Mir-Acid, or sulpher will change PH. A-n-d knowing your starting PH will also help.

" I have added coffee grounds to the soil to help get the alkaline soil they need."

1) blueberries need acid soil, which is the opposite of alkaline
2) coffee is acid, but most of the acidity is in the coffee. If you are talking about used coffee grounds, they have very little acidity left in them

tom is right that you need to get a pH meter, so you will know how acid (or not ) your soil is when you start and after you treat it and you need to add something to your soil that is specifically made to acidify it. Fertilizer that is labelled for blueberries or labelled for azaleas (which are also acid lovers) will have the right pH. Or you can add sulfur compounds. Once you get your soil acidified, using acidic mulch ingredients like oak leaves, pine straw or pine bark in a 3- to 4-inch-thick layer will help maintain it that way.

Blueberries like a pH of about 3. You will need to acidify the soil with sulfur and use acidic fertilizers like citrus or miracle grow for acid loving plants (formerly miracid).
Your blueberry bushes are very dense. Bluberries, like a lot of fruits, will only bloom on new wood so you have to prune the bushes at the right time to open them up and let the light in as well as rejuvenate them so they put out strong young canes. It is best to not head off any plant as that will cause wild growth, if it doesn't kill the plant. It is better to prune regularly and remove a little at a time rather than do a chop job.

https://www.fruit.cornell.edu/berry/prod ... erejuv.pdf