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Ericaceous Compost Recommendations
Mummy Muddy Paws
Posts: 671
Hi All
I have recently acquired three pink blueberries and a cranberry plant (for the princely sum of 97p thanks to Tesco clubcard vouchers and free postage offers), now I've recieved the cranberry and the blueberries are due in the next 4 weeks, I need to pot them on into bigger pots, so has anyone got any recommendations for a decent ericaceous compost to use, being as most of the stuff sold these days is made of bark, nails and polyethene?
Also, this is the first time I'm growing cranberries and blueberries, has anyone got any top tips? Know they didn't cost much, but I'm a Yorkshirewoman with very short arms and deep pockets. Be nice to be able to make my own cranberry sauce this xmas.
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i've got 3 blueberries in 12 inch terracotta pots. Now 3 year old. Enough blueberries to use as garnish but not enough for blueberry muffins. Still they get bigger each year. I don't do much at them. Blackbirds like them so they need netting.
Erin composts usualy alright 3 for £10 paying a decent price ,you should get a decent compost . I find B&Q verb I think it is called is absolute rubbish . When I joined the Forums a few years back there was a big discussion about B&Qs compost
a few of the companies seemed to go down hill round about that time I seem to remember .
Sorry , 4 for £10.
Because they will be in their pots for many years, choose big pots and mix the ericaceous compost with John Innes No 3, which is intended for permanent plantings. I mixed mine 50-50 and the acid loving berries I grow (including blueberries) seem to be doing well in that mix. Remember to only water them with rainwater as tap water often contains lime (which they hate) and will neutralise the acid effect of the ericaceous compost over time.
I'm trying Humax, ericaceous compost this year, now I'm no expert on plants which like ericaceous compost as an azalea I've had for years, has never really grown much and neither have the two blueberry plants I have but I'm hopeful with Humax.
It's texture is just like any other 'good' compost, black and crumbly, previous ericaceous compost I've used has been very gritty and the plants haven't thrived, not knowing what ericaceous compost should look like I thought this the norm but this year the azalea has loads of buds on as does the 'top hat' blueberry bush.
I'm hoping for blueberry muffins if I can get to them before the birds .
J Arthur Bowers with 'eye closed' but later I got a cheap ph reader giving a ph of 7 which is alkaline... I got 2 days online trying to understand this issue with no good rational explanation. So plz somebody put us out of our misery!
Therefore you can't not worry about the pH, but feed with an organic ericaceous feed.
An organic ericaceous feed, by definition, must be acidic.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
he also showed me how to use a hoe properly and edge a lawn. I hope he is in a beautiful garden up there.
A A Milne