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Old 07-23-2008, 03:33 PM
 
Location: Rocket City, U.S.A.
1,806 posts, read 5,685,865 times
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They were doing fine - great as a matter of fact. I have three varieties in the butterfly garden and another two over next to the woods...

Well - I don't know if it's the time-released fertilizer that is supposed to be 'non-burning for shrubs...' or a water issue, but suddenly the leaves are turning light brown around the edges with a russet/red halo separating that from what remains green. But all the leaves have discoloration. The one plant that already produced a few berries (I removed them) is the worst off.

Bummer, indeed.

Anybody have any experience with blueberries?
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Old 07-23-2008, 03:45 PM
 
Location: Out there somewhere...a traveling man.
44,548 posts, read 61,249,428 times
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What you're describing sounds like a fertilizer burn caused by too much fertilizer and/or not watering thoroughly enough to disperse the water/fertilizer evenly in the soil.

Commercial fertilizers are salts and salts burn the foilage under these conditions.

It doesn't matter what type of plant you have if you overfertilize and don't water down deep enough you'll experience burning of roots and foilage.
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Old 07-23-2008, 03:49 PM
 
Location: Rocket City, U.S.A.
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Any saving the plants? Will neutralizing be effective? Or is this the lesson learned?

(Reading online, too.)
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Old 07-23-2008, 03:53 PM
 
Location: Happy wherever I am - Florida now
3,360 posts, read 12,228,657 times
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I'm having the same problem with some of my plants and I haven't used fertilizer. It's rained here almost every day this summer so it can't be that either.

You do have a male and female plant of each? I was told blueberries need that cross polllination in order to produce.
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Old 07-23-2008, 03:56 PM
 
Location: Out there somewhere...a traveling man.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 33458 View Post
Any saving the plants? Will neutralizing be effective? Or is this the lesson learned?

(Reading online, too.)
You should be able to save your plants by leaching out the fertilizer, if overfertilizing is the case. Water so the water penetrates at least 6 inches down in the soil. You can use a probe to determine the depth. Your plants may shock out and lose all their leaves, but rebound shortly after.
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Old 07-23-2008, 03:59 PM
 
Location: Rocket City, U.S.A.
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I've got 5 different Blueberry plants on 1/2 acre , but unspecified when purchased as to gender. Seems out of that, should do alright (have already seen flowers and fruit on two).

But if I killed two of them...sigh.
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Old 07-23-2008, 03:59 PM
 
Location: Out there somewhere...a traveling man.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sgoldie View Post
I'm having the same problem with some of my plants and I haven't used fertilizer. It's rained here almost every day this summer so it can't be that either.
Too much water in hard clay type soils can cause the feeder roots to rot off and a similiar situation would arise. Or the rains washed some chemical into your root zone and caused burning off. It's sometimes difficult to determine without seeing the plant and it's growing source.
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Old 07-23-2008, 04:02 PM
 
Location: Rocket City, U.S.A.
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The fertilizer was a slow-release tablet form (provided by one of the nurseries I bought these from :I), so if it doesn't rain tomorrow (storm rolling in right now in Huntsville, AL.) I'll see if I can find and remove it. Yep - ammended topsoil, but clay underneath.

Fingers crossed.

Thank you for your help!
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Old 07-23-2008, 04:05 PM
 
Location: Pacific Northwest
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I'm just wondering, because I don't know ..

.. but is it good to use fertilizer when the fruit crop is near?

I thought I read on Miracle Gro or something awhile back not to use for a couple of wks prior to eating the 'crop'.
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Old 07-23-2008, 04:10 PM
 
Location: Out there somewhere...a traveling man.
44,548 posts, read 61,249,428 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stone-ground View Post
I'm just wondering, because I don't know ..

.. but is it good to use fertilizer when the fruit crop is near?

I thought I read on Miracle Gro or something awhile back not to use for a couple of wks prior to eating the 'crop'.
True. The reason is that you may shock the fruit sets off with the sudden jolt of fertilizer.
Though in the case of Miracle-gro, a little secret, if you 'did need' to fertilize at that time, dilute it down by at least 1/2 to 1/3 it's recommended strength.
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