It may not be pretty but Homegrown Revolution has blueberries.
To grow blueberries in a warm climate such as Los Angeles you'll need to choose a heat tolerant southern highbush variety. Southern highbush blueberries are hybrids that don't require the winter chilling of their northern relatives. Blueberries also need cross pollination so they should be planted in pairs. We mail ordered two different varieties, "Oneal" and "Misty" in bare root form earlier this year from Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply.
Blueberries require an acidic soil, of the sort you'd find in a wet forest climate, so we planted them in a self watering container with a home made soil mix made up of 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 wood chips and 1/3 azalea mix.
Their special soil requirements and shallow roots make blueberries an ideal plant for self watering containers. And attention apartment homesteaders--blueberries will work nicely on that south facing balcony.
Thank you very much for this information. You guys are great.
ReplyDeleteDear Kelly and Erik,
ReplyDeleteI am wondering how your blueberries are holding up in the containers. I just bought Misty and Sharpblue plants, 2 each, and wanted to pot them in SWCs. I'm wondering if yours are happy 4 years later, or ? I'd love to know.
Thank you for your book and your blog. I love them both.
Tracy
@Tracy:
ReplyDeleteEr...uh...well...we sort of forgot to fill the water reservoirs on the blueberries for a few weeks one summer and killed them. Embarassing but true.
Before that they were doing well. It was my impression that they were a little constrained size-wise, and because of their small size, didn't produce many berries. Don't know if they would have filled in more if they'd lived longer. (We had them for maybe 3 years) They were fun to have around, and pretty, but not the most productive food source imaginable.
Thanks for your candidness. I fear the same fate would befall a perennial in my care. By the time the plants are established they should be a little drought tolerant if they are in the ground. Darn it! Now I just have to source some ground...
ReplyDeleteThanks, again.
@Tracy:
ReplyDeleteA correction--Erik reminded me that one plant died of a disease--we believe it was sharpshooter's--as it killed our grape at the same time. The other plant we killed on our own.
If you've got the ground, I think the blueberries would be happiest in it.