This can be an ongoing topic that we can use whenever we want. Jump in!
I'll start. I was talking with Coding Instructor Debby about this yesterday evening, but I still haven't done anything...proscrastinating...thinking...pondering what to do...changing my mind again...arguing with myself...
This Spring I planted 14 blueberry plants in pots and a couple of them out in the yard, even though Oklahoma doesn't have the right kind of soil and/or weather for blueberry plants.
These large pots are all on wheels, so I can wheel them into my glassed-in so-called greenhouse. I don't want to put them into it to early, because it gets really hot in there, but it's supposed to freeze this weekend, 30-32 or so degrees. What do you think? Should I just let them stay out there for this one and wait until a hard freeze before moving them in? Someone please make up my mind for me. Just tell me what to do. :)
These kinds of decisions make me crazy!
I am in SW Oregon and my blueberries are in the ground. They have survived snow and freezing weather. They grow them in the Willamette Valley here too and they seem to do fine. I think they recommend putting mulch around the base but I don't even do that.I think I would worry more about the pots getting too cold and then the root system freezing.
Good Luck
Debbie
It would depend on how well these plants take cold weather. What do the instructions say?
It's a bit of a Catch-22... as you know, the blueberries need a certain number of hours below freezing over winter to set blossoms, etc. next year ... but excess cold will kill the roots and they're more vulnerable in pots. Without knowing your particular plants' variety and hardiness zone, it's hard to say. See, no one wants to take responsibility. =) I don't, either, but heck-- If you've got a lot of leeway in your hardiness zone, they can probably stay outside all winter, but I'd still err on the side of caution and either semi-bury the pots, if you can--ack, there's 14 of them-- or at a minimum, leave them outside but in an area sheltered from wind, and mulch them up with hay or leaves or something.
Thaks for all the ideas and support! Blueberries require acidic soil, and ours is not even close to acceptable for them, although the 2 that I put in the ground last Spring are actually doing pretty well, without any soil supplements. In order to grow them in the ground here, you are supposed to have to add soil sulphur, wait months, maybe a year, before planting them, then add it occasionally. I've "interviewed" dozens of people over the last year and not one of them has been successful growing blueberries, except the man at the landscape shop. He can grow anything!
Oklahoma ALSO has heat and humidity in the summer that makes it hard to grow blueberries. I got 14 different varities, all chosen to be as close as heat-tolerant as I could find. That still doesn't fix the acidic soil requirement issue, thus the decision to put them in pots---very large pots--on wheels.
I believe I'll "shelter" those little pots a bit as you suggested by just rolling them into the greenhouse. If we have a normal Oklahoma winter, they will get the required number of hours below freezing even in there. Of course then I'll have to water them occasionally, right? I'm not good at that part. Maybe every 2-3 weeks?
Once they go dormant, once a week light watering should be okay, I would think. But I'm going to check with my friend the master gardener, (if I remember) and see what she thinks. I'd feel better if I did that. All those little guys need to make it through the winter. =)
It will be interesting to see how everyone's blueberries do. I have 2 blueberry bushes and 2 raspberry bushes and some fruit trees. i am in the learning process on the berry bushes and am learning by reading these posts. I had 13 big peaches on my tiny little dwarf peach tree and a deer came along and ate them all and left me the pits. I think the most fascinating thing to grow is asparagus. It does not seem to be bothered by any pest and they just come right out of the ground in the spring like magic. And you dont have to replant them. I am also trying to grow goji berries. My goji's are about 5 years old now and I might get 10 berries out of 2 bushes. There is not a lot on goji berries but got to read up on them before spring. Hope everyones plants winter well and we can all find out what happens next spring.