North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>]

On Jul 18, 2009, at 9:44 AM, Jim Fruth wrote:

>    Alan Haigh commented on my blueberry growing article and seems to  
> have
> taken statements out of context.
>
> Alan,
>    My reason for waiting a year before planting blueberries is to  
> make sure
> that the soil is acidified sufficiently.  If we plant our  
> blueberries before
> the proper pH is attained, it is difficult to continue acidification  
> because
> we can't till the soil.  It is far easier to acidify soil that has  
> no plants
> in it yet.

I took his post to argue that it isn't necessary to till the soil to  
spread the acid around, it's good enough to acidify a layer at the top  
that the blueberry roots can reach.  So there's no need to wait a  
year.  That matches my experience - I planted blueberries, they were a  
little sad, and I added stuff to the top of the soil and they perked  
right up, except for one that turned out to have a large rock where it  
wanted its roots to be.  That was years ago, and they are still doing  
well.  My experience may not apply to other soil types, though, as I  
live on a granite ledge in MAssachusetts, and the natural pH of the  
soil is on the acid side.

Ginda
eastern MA, zone 6