Blueberry lots of blooms little leaf out.

[mac1911]

So here in the northeast zone 6b its been on the colder side of temps for this time of year. My 3 blueberry bushes all have alot of blooms/buds but the leaves are small and sparse: Is it to early for the leaves? I did a garden revamp last year , soil test and amending the soil .
I can take pictures tomorrow if needed.

 

[YumYum]

Im in 6b but far from your area and my blueberry bushes already leafed out and blueberries set in. Sounds normal to me. Here is some info you might like to see:

Critical Spring Temperatures

Michigan blueberry growers produce about 100 million pounds of blueberries every year, making the state a leader in blueberry production.

www.canr.msu.edu

 

[mac1911]

Im in 6b but far from your area and my blueberry bushes already leafed out and blueberries set in. Sounds normal to me. Here is some info you might like to see:

Critical Spring Temperatures

Michigan blueberry growers produce about 100 million pounds of blueberries every year, making the state a leader in blueberry production.

www.canr.msu.edu

They have had a tough last few seasons. Between deer and deteriorating soil conditions. Soil has been improved per soil testing . Plants where 2 years old when planted and are now 6 years old
Year 3 they did very well, this season has the most flowers I have ever seen.
Did a complete garden over haul last year with soil test and amending.

 

[mac1911]

Here is my soil test results from my “berry field” which is 20’x3’
80 sqft

 

[YumYum]

I don't see any soil test results. They didn't post.

 

[mac1911]

 

[YumYum]

The PH is fine with blueberries but as you go to adding things it can get changed a bit.

Blueberries do not like nitrates as a source of nitrogen. It is toxic to them is what I've read. Look on the fertilizer and if it says nitrate/nitrates anywhere avoid that kind. Ammonium or urea is fine to use as a source of nitrogen.

It doesn't say if the results are in ppm or lbs/acre. It looks like ppm. Do you see where it states that anywhere?

 

[YumYum]

Looking here, the results are in ppm.

 

[YumYum]

So according to that you need about:

25 ppm N = 50 lb/acre N
30 ppm K = 60 lb/acre K
11 ppm S = 22 lb/acre S
0.3 ppm B = 0.6 lb/acre B

The fun part is trying to figure out what fertilizer to use without adding things you don't need.

 

[YumYum]

Can't use potassium nitrate because it contains nitrate so that is out of the question.

If you use the Expert Gardner Azalea, Camellia, & Rhododendron Plant Food 10-8-8 from walmart (miracle gro has the same version),
and use 1.5 cups of it and spread it out in 80 ft2 area evenly. That will provide equivalent of:

50 lb/acre N (25 ppm)
40 lb/acre P (20 ppm) Going to raise phosphorus to high.
40 lb/acre K (20 ppm)
25 lb/acre Sulfur (12.5 ppm)
0 lb/acre Boron (0 ppm)

 

[mac1911]

Can't use potassium nitrate because it contains nitrate so that is out of the question.

If you use the Expert Gardner Azalea, Camellia, & Rhododendron Plant Food 10-8-8 from walmart (miracle gro has the same version),
and use 1.5 cups of it and spread it out in 80 ft2 area evenly. That will provide equivalent of:

50 lb/acre N (25 ppm)
40 lb/acre P (20 ppm) Going to raise phosphorus to high.
40 lb/acre K (20 ppm)
25 lb/acre Sulfur (12.5 ppm)
0 lb/acre Boron (0 ppm)

I used espoma version of above , I will be doing another soil test end of season anf see who things look. Like I said last 2 season they where much worse so Im atleast happy to see new cane growth and lots of buds. So hopefully they are on the mend.

 

[YumYum]

How much did you put down on that 80 square feet?

 

[mac1911]

How much did you put down on that 80 square feet?

Dont know if I did this right but I used about 3lbs per plant lightly worked in around the “drip line” very early spring.
Like 1st day of spring
I figured each area around my bushes are 9-10 sqft
Theres not much in those bags percent wise.
Im still unsure if I understand the soil sample instructions and fert application rates. My calculations came up much higher than the 3lbs I applied ?
Any how we will see. Garden got so out of whack I dont expect rapid change.
Seems for the past 5 years I have not been adding enough amendments and or the compost I have been getting is not very good either. Soul test before the ground freezes this season and work at again next year

 

[mac1911]

Test says 2.5lbs/100sqft
.025lb/1sqft

9sqft of plant space x .025= .225lbs

4lb bag 4-3-4 = .16lbs nitrogen .04lb per 1lb
.225 lbs needed /.04 = 5lbs per 10 sqft
I applied 3lbs was not sure I did this right.

When I do it this way
.04% / 2.5lbs N needed its 62lbs / 100sqft?

 

[mac1911]

Test says 2.5lbs/100sqft
.025lb/1sqft

9sqft of plant space x .025= .225lbs

4lb bag 4-3-4 = .16lbs nitrogen .04lb per 1lb
.225 lbs needed /.04 = 5lbs per 10 sqft
I applied 3lbs was not sure I did this right.

When I do it this way
.04% / 2.5lbs N needed its 62lbs / 100sqft?

Had a brain freeze for a moment.
I did not put down 3lbs per plant. I was on auto pilot I guess
I put down THREE CUPs …. Because nothing was making sense to me

 

[YumYum]

This info states for 6 year old plants and older get that much fertilizer per plant which I figured up is about 0.048 lbs of actual Nitrogen per plant in the spring and then repeated again after harvest.

Is this the stuff you used, 4% N?

Espoma | Espoma Organic Azalea-tone Organic Fertilizer | Espoma

Azalea-tone is an organic fertilizer from only natural and organic ingredients. It is fortified with Bio-tone microbes and is approved for organic gardening.

www.espoma.com

0.04 / 0.048 = 0.83 lbs of that fertilizer sprinkled around each plant. Don't know the volume because I don't know what the bulk density is of that product but if you can weigh 3 cups of it and tell me what that weighs, I can figure it up.

 

[YumYum]

As far as what the soil test is trying to tell you what to do, it is recommending 1 of 2 things based on what you want to use, organic or inorganic fertilizers.



You chose to go the organic route but that type of fertilizer you used is not described on how much to use of it. I think that is what is throwing you off. It is saying to add 2.5 lbs of 12-0-0 (which should be blood meal) and 2.5 lbs of 0-0-22 (which I'm guessing is Langbeinite) per 100 ft2. Since you didn't use the fertilizers they recommended, you have to recalculate how much to add to add the proper amount of nutrients.

So let me start over with this question: If you already added the Espoma Azalea Tone around the blueberries. Weigh what you think you put on each plant in that 10 square feet area that you described and I can tell you what you added to the soil.

 

[mac1911]

As far as what the soil test is trying to tell you what to do, it is recommending 1 of 2 things based on what you want to use, organic or inorganic fertilizers.

View attachment 89682

You chose to go the organic route but that type of fertilizer you used is not described on how much to use of it. I think that is what is throwing you off. It is saying to add 2.5 lbs of 12-0-0 (which should be blood meal) and 2.5 lbs of 0-0-22 (which I'm guessing is Langbeinite) per 100 ft2. Since you didn't use the fertilizers they recommended, you have to recalculate how much to add to add the proper amount of nutrients.

So let me start over with this question: If you already added the Espoma Azalea Tone around the blueberries. Weigh what you think you put on each plant in that 10 square feet area that you described and I can tell you what you added to the soil.

On the bag it says 3 cups is aprox 1 pound.
I was not understanding the test results recomendations which seemed very high by my calculations BUT I was using a method for lawn fertilizer , which still works out WHEN I know the correct way/numbers/info
It just was not registering in my head that the 2.5lbs was total product weight at 12-0-0 ratio

 

[YumYum]

If you put down 3 cups or 1 lb in a 10 square foot area around the plant, then add this to the soil test:

+ 87 ppm N
+ 66 ppm P
+ 87 ppm K
+ 109 ppm Ca
+ 22 ppm Mg
+ 109 ppm S

A little bit heavy on the fertilizer but luckly most of it is organic so it takes some time to break down.

 

[YumYum]

For the Boron, the poultry manure in that product should have trace amounts so I don't think I would do anything to adjust that.