[dormouse]

Hi, I bought 2 blueberry plants last autumn and potted them up. Have followed all the rules and they were looking great. It got lots of flowers and then the leaves starting falling off. Any idea what the problem is? Should I have nipped out some or all of the flower buds in its first year or something? If so, what should I do now?
Thanks a lot!

[tippben]

Leaves dropping normally indicate a problem with the roots. Have they dried out at any point, or been kept saturated with water? If they're in pots, there's always the possibility of vine weevil. Look for small white larvae with a brown head.

[dormouse]

Thanks. It could be watering alright. I've been collecting rain water for them and trying to keep them topped up. But find it difficult to gauge as they also get it naturally. I may have over-watered them. I think I'll tip one out and see what's going on.
Cheers

[Mayflower]

Hi I wonder did you find out what was wrong....the same thing happened with mine.

[dormouse]

I'm pretty sure I over-watered it. I probably should have nipped out the flowers for the first year. One died, the other one is just about hanging in there.

[michael brenock]

The biggest cause of death of blueberry bushes in my estimation is from overwatering or waterlogging. There is the mistaken notion that they like boggy soil and so they do but it is the pH or acidity of the boggy soil that they like, not the poor drainage quality. Improve the drainage and feed very dilute liquid feed. There is no need to pull off flowers as plant will regulate itself as to how much fruit it can bear.. All this is assuming the plants were alright when purchased
michael brenock horticultural advisor (retired)

[dormouse]

Thanks Michael. They were healthy, doing really well. I collected rain water but just got it totally wrong and gave them too much. I guess I rotted the roots. The surviving one still has a green stem so I'm hoping it will be ok.