It's hard to tell in the above photo, but we have blueberry bushes in front of the house. Dan transplanted them there several years ago, after he finished our first keyhole garden. It looks pretty when the butterfly weeds and 4 o'clocks are blooming. It looks messy when they aren't.
July being blueberry month for us, we've been keeping an eye on those blueberry bushes. But we've been disappointed that the berries are small and hard. That something was wrong, was evident by the leaves.
But what? I got out my copy of The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control (an excellent resource and highly recommended), and quickly discovered the cause.
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The link will take you to its page on Amazon, where only used copies are now available. It would be a shame if this is out of print. It's an excellent book for identifying problems. |
In the section of leaf symptoms for diseases, I found a picture and description that matched, with a diagnosis of iron deficiency or overly high pH. From page 377 . . .
Plants affected: acid loving plants including blueberries . . .
Prevention and Control: Symptoms of iron deficiency appear when the soil is not sufficiently acidic. Symptoms commonly occur on susceptible plants growing near buildings because lime that leaches out of the concrete foundations raises soil pH. In most cases, iron is present in the soil in adequate amounts, but plant roots cannot absorb it if the pH is not in the appropriate range for that plant.
I wouldn't have thought of this because we have fairly acidic soil here. But these bushes are indeed fairly close to the foundation of the house, so it all fits. The quick fix is to spray the leaves with a chelated iron solution, which I don't have. But I could water with with diluted whey, which I do have. The long term solution is to increase acidity in the soil by adding peat moss or sulfur. Or mulching with evergreen needles, which we have handily.
So, I couldn't save the fig trees, but hopefully, we'll see the blueberries recovery and have a better blueberry harvest next year. Hopefully, everything will be better next year!
12 comments:
Yes, those leaves look cholorotic. I only know this because ours looked like that when they were in another spot in the garden. Our harvest this year was better than in years past, but nowhere near what I'd hoped for. I am experimenting with adding coffee grounds this year in the hopes that it will make a difference for next season. I have also heard pine bark, pine needles and sawdust (from non-treated wood) are possible additions that may help.
Maybe next year we'll both have a bumper crop!
I have tried several times over the years to raise blueberries and I've never been successful at it. In fact, my efforts to grow berries of any kind have largely been a disaster. I keep thinking that one day, I'll figure it all out.
Yep, I'm a great proponent of peat moss for our blueberries. In all previous years (this year we didn't have any peat moss -- long story), I've mulched the whole patch with a covering of peat moss. This year I had sawdust from a local sawmill which I used. Although our patch isn't near a building, it makes sense what you found about the leaching problem from a building's concrete foundation. Darn.
Daisy, coffee grounds is a good idea. I'll have to save some just for that. I think the pine bark and needles really do help; I'm going to mulch the bushes with those soon. I'll be glad for us both to have a bumper crop!
Ed, it's odd how some things just aren't happy in some places. I've about given up on anything in the cabbage family, which is a shame because we love sauerkraut. I'm guessing it's all over-comable, if the right solution can be found.
Mama Pea, I'm thinking I could find peat moss at any of the nursery centers. I think it would make a great soil amendment. I had no idea about lime leaching from buildings. But you're right, it makes sense!
(Thinks for a second...Hey, I have that book on my bookshelf too!).
I have used coffee grounds in the past, mostly because we have a ready supply of them. But pine needles sound like a very readily available resource for you as well.
TB, it's an excellent book!
I think you summarized it perfectly in "readily available resource." That's always the thing to look for. :)
Michael Dirr is a horticulturist in Georgia who is primarily interested in ornamentals. One campus he worked with wanted mass plantings of azaleas in a soil that was higher pH than azaleas thrived in.
The solution that made everybody happy was to plant the rootball half in the clay and to mound bark-chip mulch around the exposed portion of the rootball.
The roots mined moisture from the soil and extracted iron and other nutrients from the decaying chipped bark.
Part of what made this an easy-sell was this mimicked how the wild azalea plants survived in the forest. It was natural. It was relatively inexpensive (although it uses many yards of chipped bark for a large planting) and it looked decent.
ERJ, welcome! And thank you for taking the time to comment. Much appreciated. Blueberries have similar needs to azaleas and this is an excellent idea for long term plant health. It's got me wondering if I could dig a small trench between the bushes and foundation of the house, and bury wood chip mulch in it. Definitely something to think about.
Isn't it satisfying to identify a problem and find a solution that makes sense? I wish I could do more of that ;)
Quinn, yes! Especially after our problem with our figs.
Hopefully the blueberries come back.
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Regine, I hope so too!
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