Prepare for Productive Blueberries
I recently planted 30 blueberry bushes, 20 Concord grapes and 30 muscadine vines. All the plants appear to be healthy. What should I do to maximize fruit production next year?
Lots of sunshine, fertile and well-drained soil, and plenty of water ought to do it. I assume that the sun shines bright where you planted your fruit.
Drip irrigation would help tremendously too. Your fruit will be larger and more abundant.
Did you plant the blueberries in soil amended with peat moss? Blueberries love peat moss because it is acidic and also holds moisture well while improving aeration. If you did not, just wait and see if you are pleased with the results of the plants in a year or two. If not, you can always dig them up in the winter and prepare the soil again, this time with peat moss.
Be patient with blueberry plants. They are slow-growing at first. Also, many gardeners encourage the plants to put all their energy into leafy growth the first year. They do so by cutting off the flower buds when they appear so the plants don't berry the first year.
How you prune and train the grapes makes a big difference in how they produce. Methods vary from no pruning—where vines just grow how they will on a fence or arbor—to precise training on wire trellises.
I suggest you contact your regional Extension office for a brochure on how to train muscadines. I'm sure they have information about growing blueberries too. Materials from that office will offer other guidance specific to your area.
I've grown seedless watermelons and seedless cucumbers. Are there any seedless tomatoes?
I don't know of any that are completely seedless, but breeders are working on it. The idea is to produce a tomato that will either shrivel its seeds after the fruit begins to develop, or to develop a parthenocarpic tomato—meaning the flowers will produce fruit even if they are not fertilized. A pineapple is a parthenocarpic fruit.
Another scenario is breeding a hybrid whose offspring will be seedless; seedless watermelons are an example. These are called mules. Right now you'll have to settle for varieties such as Oregon Spring and German Pink that make only a few seeds.
Readers Respond
In response to the October 2007 item about Septoria leafspot on tomatoes, Patricia Lavery of Wichita Falls, Kan., suggests using a weed barrier mat and drip irrigation to help prevent problems with the leafspot. The mat keeps soil—which spreads the infection—from splashing on the leaves.
Also in October I suggested covering strawberries with hay for cold protection. One reader said he prefers a clean, small-grain straw such as wheat, oat or rye as a mulch for strawberries because hay often contains seeds that can cause a weed problem. Leave as much straw on as possible in the spring; removing it early can encourage early growth that is vulnerable to a late frost.