Results: Watering my blueberry bush less when it was beginning to turn red

BEFORE

Almost a month ago I was concerned about my baby blueberry bush which was, I noticed< turning red in color.  After much research I found out that the red leaves were not normal for Summer although common for blueberry plants during Winter.  On a very helpful blueberry site, Backyard Berry Plants, the question was posed:

Q: Why are my blueberries leaves turning red?

A: They do this for different reasons.  They turn red in the fall of course (and orange/yellow), and that is expected.  It if is spring or summer and this is happening, your pH could be too high and /or they are not getting enough nitrogen.  I usually put a couple full shovels of peat moss around each plant in the spring, along with its annual spring fertilizer treatment, and I have never had this problem in my production bushes.  I am more likely to see it in potted nursery plants, as pH and nitrogen can rapidly change given increased watering (leaching nitrogen and raising pH) and temperatures (increased plant growth with not enough nitrogen).

After reading this interesting information and realizing this might very well be the case for me (I was watering my blueberry bush every other day if not everyday) I decided to water my blueberry plant less.... way less, let's say roughly twice a week.

Now, over three weeks later my blueberry plant is looking more green and less red!

AFTER

Read the previous post, Backyard Berry Plants, Specializing in Organically grown blueberry, blackberry, and red raspberry plants

Backyard Berry Plants, specializing in Organically grown blueberry, blackberry, and red raspberry plants

As you well know I planted a young blueberry bush from Wholefoods in my backyard, some of the leaves are turning a weary red, some leaves worse than others and some just beginning to around the edges, yes I am quite distraught, what do I do?!

I went on the web to seek out some answers and came across this fantastic site called Backyard Berry Plants, the pros of organic backyard berry bushes!  Just what I need! This is what I found in regards to the redness on my blueberry leaves,

Q: Why are my blueberries leaves turning red?

A: They do this for different reasons.  They turn red in the fall of course (and orange/yellow), and that is expected.  It if is spring or summer and this is happening, your pH could be too high and /or they are not getting enough nitrogen.  I usually put a couple full shovels of peat moss around each plant in the spring, along with its annual spring fertilizer treatment, and I have never had this problem in my production bushes.  I am more likely to see it in potted nursery plants, as pH and nitrogen can rapidly change given increased watering (leaching nitrogen and raising pH) and temperatures (increased plant growth with not enough nitrogen).

From what I gather, and of course I can't be sure, I may be watering my blueberry bush too much.  So I must take action!  Less watering {which I have been doing daily, daily too much apparently} and more nitrogen.  I have been dressing the blueberry bush every now and again with coffee ground {for nitrogen purposes} but I did not take into consideration that watering sucks the nitrogen out of the soil thus making it unusable for the plant.

Stay tuned for results!

Read the results, Results: Watering my blueberry bush less when it was beginning to turn red

Planting A Blueberry Bush From Wholefoods

One of my worse faults (and my husband could probably confirm this) is that I can be a bit impulsive, I don't make snap decisions but I don't give it much thought either,  I often just go with how I feel and then think of reasons to justify decisions I have made, of course I could do the same for not opting going a certain way.  My husband on the other hand is very good at taking the time to weighing the good and the bad and then taking the route he thinks best based upon his results.

My impulsive behavior (or perhaps it was my lack of patience) led me to purchase from Wholefoods one day a little blueberry bush.  I can think of numerous reasons why I planted a store-bought blueberry bush while I cannot think of even one reason why I would have rather planted from seed.  

It seemed to me more advantageous to plant a pre-grown baby blueberry bush so that it would stand a chance from slugs and pests.  I don't know for sure how slow or fast blueberry bushes grow but it also seemed the fastest way to grow one (hence my lack of patience).  I also read in a book somewhere that blueberry bushes don't really grow in southern California but more so in northern California where weather is cooler and mistier and usually around plants and trees that give off nitrogen as blueberries are acid-loving plants, because of this I believed it would be difficult for a blueberry bush to survive in my yard- I suppose I thought if it was pre-grown it would have a much better chance of surviving.  Whether any of this reasoning is true I haven't a clue, but I guess we soon shall see.

But even with all the information regarding blueberries not grown in southern California I decided to face the road-blocks (for I do love blueberries!) and decided to give it a try.  You win some, you lose some, right?  So I brought the blueberry bush home with me and planted it right into the ground with a mixture of sandy soil, watered it down and sprinkled a bit of coffee ground around it to keep the slugs away but also because coffee ground (acid) gives off nitrogen (hoping this would make the new blueberry plant feel right at home).