Blueberry Frustration
mainegard3
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (23)
Related Discussions
phomopsis in blueberry bushes
Comments (4)Sorry to hear about your blueberry issues. I have not heard of phomopsis on blueberries. They are usually quite disease resistant. I'm no expert in this disease, but if it was me, and take my advice for what it is, I'd prune all affected branches, even if it means cutting all to the ground. Blueberries will regrow, and cutting to the ground is often recommended for old overgrown blueberries. Downside of course is that harvest will be delayed for a couple of years when it has to regrow from scratch. Once you get rid of all the diseased branches, spray sulphur fungicide prior to rain to avoid reinfection. It may take awhile to recover from this. I'm glad it's not me. In my experience, it's usually not worth trying to save diseased branches of most plants. If there are experts around familiar with this fungi on blueberries, I'd like to hear from them. There may not be many....See MoreFrustrated finding large organic container dirt recipe
Comments (21)So the new questions are, with wick mode At what depth should the wicks run at X inches Wicking through the main drain for how many Y inches. I think I grok your tailpipe? The question here are how many inches would the tailpipe be? At what depth should the top of the tail pipe be in the box? Should wicks run through the tailpipe or is sand sufficient to lower the ground level? I am guessing that the pipe lowers the ground so the trick is to find where the perched water level is and make the pipe longer than that. So in this case with a 18 inch depth 6 - 9 inch tail would be sufficient. Only one flange/tailpipe would be required if you can isolate its position as the lowest point of the container by building in some taper to that point. Ideally, the top of the flange would be flush with the top of your membrane and fastened to the container bed. No wicks into the media proper would be required. I envision a flange as the lowest point in the box and a removable tailpiece about 8" long secured to the flange through the bed. The tailpiece would have a cap on the bottom with a hole in it and screen covering the hole. You will need to figure out a way to keep the fine sand or Turface screenings from escaping through the drain hole. If you want to do some further engineering with an elbow & some flex tubing to divert the water so it's not just dripping out of the tailpiece & blowing all over everything below, that's fine. As you know, you want the material in the tailpiece to have greater capillary attraction than the actual media for best efficiency. If you include Turface as a significant fraction of your soil, you'll enhance its ability to hold water w/o impacting aeration significantly, and reduce shrinkage due to gassing out proportionate to the volume of Turface and other stable aggregates used. If you screen some or all of the Turface over insect screen, you can use the fines as the wick material in the tailpiece. It looks like you understand everything well & just need to implement. Al...See Moresemi-shade frustrations, looking for suggestions
Comments (2)Ajuga reptans CARPET BUGLE Campanula portenschlagiana DALMATIAN BELLFLOWER Ophiopogon japonicus, planiscapus MONDO GRASS Persicaria (Polygonum) capitata PERSIAN CARPET Saxifraga stolonifera STRAWBERRY SAXIFRAGE Aristea ecklonii BLUE CORN LILY Astelia nervosa chathamica SILVER SWORD Bergenia BERGENIA, PIGSQUEAK Carex buchananii LEATHERLEAF SEDGE Carex flacca (glauca) BLUE SEDGE Ceratostigma plumbaginoides DWARF PLUMBAGO Dianella intermedia FLAX LILY, NEW ZEALAND BLUEBERRY Dianella tasmanica (esp. ÂVariegataÂ) TASMAN FLAX LILY Trachelium caeruleum BLUE THROATWORT Joe...See MoreOkay, I'm frustrated
Comments (9)ellen- I would also encourage you to wait it out until May to decide if things are dead. I had a passion flower that lasted a long time, many years, but winter of 2007 did it in. I was out looking at my fig that only ripens the small figs left from the previous year and for the first time in maybe 10 years it looks like all the little figs are dead. I don't remember really low temperatures either, I'll have to find a record of temps this winter and see if I missed some. If the plants didn't make it just look for some that are hardier to replace them. A few good sales are coming up, like the Hardy Plant Society April 11-12, and in Vancouver the Master Gardener's Sale Mother's Day weekend. Also the Clark County Home and Garden Idea Fair in Vancouver is free admission, April 24-26, http://www.clarkpublicutilities.com/community/hgif/index_html Or arrange a plant swap for the area with the Gardenweb folks. Like they say in the MLM field, "Some will, some won't, who's next?". BTW, blueberries do excellently here and some are very attractive, even evergreen- replace some of those "ornamentals" with something yummy.:-P Here is a link that might be useful: Hardy Plant Society sale...See Moremainegard3
5 years agoAlexUnder
5 years agomainegard3
5 years agomainegard3
5 years agoGeorge Davis
5 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
5 years agoGeorge Davis
5 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
5 years agoGeorge Davis
5 years agoGeorge Davis
5 years agomainegard3
5 years agoTim C (Z8b, So Cal)
5 years agoraee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
5 years agomainegard3
5 years agomainegard3
4 years agoAlexUnder
4 years ago
Related Stories
FARM YOUR YARDIf You Have Room for Only One Summer Crop ...
Get an edible that’s long on flavor even if you’re short on space, with a long-time gardener’s favorite picks
Full StoryCOFFEE WITH AN ARCHITECTHitting the Bars to Explain the Design Process
Simple bar charts and a little math by a seasoned architect give a helpful overview of renovation and new-build proceedings
Full StoryDECORATING GUIDESHow to Work With a Professional Organizer
An organizing pro can help you get your house together. Here's how to choose the right one and gain your own clutter-clearing skills
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESGarden-Friendly Native Alternatives to Overplanted Exotics
There are lots of gorgeous, wildlife-friendly native plants ready to make an appearance in your garden
Full StoryPETSSo You're Thinking About Getting a Dog
Prepare yourself for the realities of training, cost and the impact that lovable pooch might have on your house
Full StoryINSIDE HOUZZData Watch: How People Upgrade Their Yards and What They Spend
The 2017 U.S. Houzz Landscape Trends Study reveals what homeowners care about in their outdoor projects
Full StoryKITCHEN DESIGNA Designer Shares Her Kitchen-Remodel Wish List
As part of a whole-house renovation, she’s making her dream list of kitchen amenities. What are your must-have features?
Full StoryDECORATING GUIDESFrom Queasy Colors to Killer Tables: Your Worst Decorating Mistakes
Houzzers spill the beans about buying blunders, painting problems and DIY disasters
Full StoryHOMES AROUND THE WORLDAn American Chef Remodels in Paris (and Lives to Write About It)
Fixing up an apartment in a foreign land gives pastry chef David Lebovitz the ingredients for a new book
Full StoryGARDENING AND LANDSCAPINGWorld of Design: 10 Home Gardeners Show Us Their Sweet Summer Harvests
From New York to Tokyo, these gardeners have turned their yards, terraces and rooftops into places of bounty
Full Story
Kevin Reilly