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Propagating blueberries
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Bugs



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

PostPosted: Sun Apr 03, 05 7:07 am    Post subject: Propagating blueberries Reply with quote
    

Seeing Nettie's lament that she couldn't find decent priced blueberry plants anywhere, and the fact that we couldn't either, and fell for the expensive ones (from Ken Muir...although we did add one from Homebase which was about 1/4 the price and grew within one season to rival the others )...

I wondered if anyone's had much success with propagating their own blueberries? Since they seem to need pruning a fair bit I thought cuttings would be ideal but Treacodactyl thinks layering is better. Anyone got very far with either, or any other method?

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 05 6:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Anyone? I think I'll have a go at layering one of our plants in the next few days to see if they will root.

cab



Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 05 7:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Also watching this closely... Got two plants, would love more.

roiphil



Joined: 14 Jun 2005
Posts: 19
Location: now in southern ireland
PostPosted: Wed Jun 29, 05 7:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

not sure but i think hardwood cuttings is the way to go, trying to think back to college days all those moons ago theres this but no mention of propagation https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0801/blueberry_care.asp

Finally found domething of interest https://berrygrape.oregonstate.edu/fruitgrowing/berrycrops/blueberry/propagat.htm

cab



Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

PostPosted: Thu Jul 14, 05 3:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Just spotted this bit of advice in another place:

https://forum.rivercottage.net/about10579.html

tahir



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45389
Location: Essex
PostPosted: Thu Jul 14, 05 3:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Might try that meself, what about gooseberries?

Treacodactyl
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
PostPosted: Thu Jul 14, 05 3:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

tahir wrote:
Might try that meself, what about gooseberries?


We'll be trying that this weekend. I've got a couple of gooseberry cuttings growing. They would have been some pruning stuck into a pot but I cannot remember if they were taken in the spring or summer.

cab



Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

PostPosted: Thu Jul 14, 05 3:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

tahir wrote:
Might try that meself, what about gooseberries?


Gooseberries I've done in Spring, with cuttings from soft growth. They also seem to throw up the occasional root sucker, which will do, and wild ones seem to layer readily (the weight of fruit sometimes pushes the branches down, and they root), so I guess that would work. I can't imagine something as weed like as a gooseberry can be hard to propagate.

Bugs



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744

PostPosted: Thu Jul 14, 05 8:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

cab wrote:
I can't imagine something as weed like as a gooseberry can be hard to propagate.


Weedlike? Take that back, you Cad* you I had some of TD's gooseberry jam on Victora sponge today and if that was the result of a weed...I'm a...a...a...(insert Downsizer-relevant equivalent of monkey's uncle...would have to be native...damselfly's mother-in-law?)

*how many times to the nearest ten have you had this so-called pun made?

mochyn



Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 24585
Location: mid-Wales
PostPosted: Thu Jul 14, 05 8:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

When our new gooseberry & blackcurrant plants arrived last winter I cut them back as I planted and just jammed the trimmed trimmings in as I went. They've all taken, so I now have about 5 times more plants than I paid for.

As for the blueberries, I think I'd try layering too: definately wound the underside of the stem and weight or peg.it down. We have wild bilberries here (in fruit now) so I haven't got any blueberries, all though I think I may this winter.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism
PostPosted: Thu Jul 14, 05 9:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

mochyn wrote:
I cut them back as I planted and just jammed the trimmed trimmings in as I went. They've all taken, so I now have about 5 times more plants than I paid for.


I do that for currants and grape vines and find they all take very easily. The gooseberry cuttings were harder to root for me.

When we get somewhere larger one of the first things we'll do is but a wide range of decent plants and promptly take cuttings from them all.

cab



Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 06 10:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Bit of thread resurrection here... I just got a copy of 'successful propagation' from Oxfam yesterday, and the advice therein is to take nodal cuttings in June. 10-20cm cuttings of soft growth, remove all but the top three leaves, root in a sandy compost either in a polythene covered pot or a propagator at 20C. After rooting (3-6 weeks), harden off and pot up into lime free compost.

Also says that its worth a bash but be prepared for failure, and it'll crop in 3 years, but maybe take longer to reach full potential.

tahir



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45389
Location: Essex
PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 06 10:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Can you check on bay and rosemary in there cab?

cab



Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 06 10:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

For Bay, it says:

Take 15cm (6in) basal cuttings of ripened wood in September or October and root in the cold frame. The cuttings should be ready for potting on in early summer. Keep them in pots for the first 2 years and overwinter them under glass.

For rosemary:

Cuttings can be rooted in the cold frame or in pots covered with a plastic bag throughout the summer, but its easier to take cuttings in September or October. Take 13cm (5in) basal or heeled cuttings and root in the cold frame. No rooting hormone is necessary. Pot on or plant out in Spring.


Can't be anything to lose in having a bash at this time of year, though.

tahir



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45389
Location: Essex
PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 06 11:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

cab wrote:
Keep them in pots for the first 2 years and overwinter them under glass.


Blimey, I was thinking of planting out next summer, might still give it a bash, thanks Cab

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