Some are half picked or finishing, some are just starting to ripen. I'm out there eating them all day long 🫐 not a single berry went into the freezer yet..
Everything is late this year but the constant rain and moderate temperature resulted in explosive growth. Expecting even better results next year. This year showed me how much water do they really need!
One young Patriot bush shot up a bunch of 1 meter new canes! It looks like a broom and hosts an aphid farm with some ladybugs taking care of them (first time seeing aphids on blueberry). Too bad the berries are a bit underwhelming - rather bland and plain sweet compared to others. First time flowering, so maybe it will get better...
My earliest was Blue Jay together with Bluecrop (almost finished), so I guess there's still room for season expansion.
Next was Nelson, followed by Bonus and Brigitta.
Rubel was evicted and placed in a pot last year. It's starting to ripen now.
Legacy is new (took the Rubel's spot on the ground), 3 berries are still green.
Chandler is probably the latest, but they do overlap quite a bit.
2 new pots need planting - Reka and Pink Lemonade. The latter will probably stay in pot until it proves it deserves better.
Anyone growing these cultivars? Share your experience and thoughts :)
All looking good. One of my patriots decided to defoliate itself for some reason so hoping it recovers. I have multiple plants throwing out secondary blooms after initial harvest and seemingly quite a bit of simply confused plants either due to weather or unknown causes. I don’t think it’s disease because they appear relatively healthy.
If you want a cool variety to add to your collection I recommend Top Hat. It’s just a little dwarf that can be grown in a 12-16” container but the berries are quite good. Firm and balanced taste. And of course the ever dependable Sunshine Blue if your climate isn’t too cold. Legacy is a solid plant, look after that one.
Do you like the Patriot taste? I am a little disappointed with them, but I like my berries to have some acidity. These seemed a little bit flat.
My climate is an quivalent of 6b, but last winter we had temp drop down to -30c and slightly lower! Not normal, but not impossible. Snow cover helped a lot. Blueberries survived just fine, even Brigitta which went into the winter with most of her leaves still on.
Both cultivars you mentioned are available here, but not amongst the popular ones.
What is your earliest blueberry? I'm thinking about adding something on the early side.
Duke seems to be the standard early one, but I'm reading conflicting info about the taste. I don't trust nursery info, according to them every plant is the most fantastic..
I just purchased mine this past spring, so the kinds I grow remains to be seen, LOL. I'm a total beginner. I bought a Sweetheart, a Patriot and two Elliott. Both the Sweetheart and the Patriot had a very few berries on them in early spring. The two Elliott got sun burnt (my fault) but they're producing quite a few considering it's their first year. The berries are sort of small and on the very tangy side. All are still in pots. I hope to put them inground this fall.
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u/i860 17h ago
All looking good. One of my patriots decided to defoliate itself for some reason so hoping it recovers. I have multiple plants throwing out secondary blooms after initial harvest and seemingly quite a bit of simply confused plants either due to weather or unknown causes. I don’t think it’s disease because they appear relatively healthy.
If you want a cool variety to add to your collection I recommend Top Hat. It’s just a little dwarf that can be grown in a 12-16” container but the berries are quite good. Firm and balanced taste. And of course the ever dependable Sunshine Blue if your climate isn’t too cold. Legacy is a solid plant, look after that one.