Wild Blueberry Newsletter September 2023

Wild Blueberry Newsletter header graphic, text and a photo of blueberries and leaves

September 2023

Hello Everyone,

Congratulations on the fruit of your labor! I hope you are all taking a much-needed break. Fall is a good time to continue weed management by spot spraying and applying sulfur. If you forgot to take foliar samples this year, better late than never in prune fields.

Field Meeting Next Week: Fine Leaf Sheep Fescue and Rakes!

Date: Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Time: 4:00-6:00 p.m.
Location: Hubbard Rake Company 1561 Mason Bay Road, Jonesport, Maine
Description: Join us to hear how farmers on Mason Bay Road and beyond are controlling Fine Leaf Sheep Fescue and for a tour of Ike Hubbard’s rake manufacturing shop. There will be pizza, seltzer, and good company!
Register

Foliar Testing

Did you forget to take leaf samples to inform your fertilizer applications for next season? Taking foliar samples from prune fields now is better than not having any data to inform next year’s fertilizer applications. Lily can help you interpret your foliar sample results.

We will be printing and distributing more foliar sample bags next season. For now, you can submit each sample in a brown paper bag with this form(pdf). Each sample, just leaves no stems, and costs $25.00. ($30 if stems included).

How to Take a Foliar Sample
Instructions Specific to Wild Blueberry:

  • One sample per bag. One sample per field unless you are curious about differences within a field.
  • Pick middle-aged leaves (not the oldest and not the youngest) from 3 stems from 15-30 different plants throughout the field for each sample.
  • Pick leaves from low sweet (Vaccinium angustifolium) only, not sour top (Vaccinium myrtilloides).
  • Avoid areas of severe disease or insect damage.
  • Do not include any stems.
  • Do not include any other plant material or soil.
  • If leaves have fertilizer or pesticide residue on them, rinse or delay the sample.
  • Transport samples in a dry location.

Mail or Deliver Samples To:
Analytical Lab, University of Maine
5722 Deering Hall, Orono Maine 04469
Telephone: 207.581.2917

Soil Testing

Have a weed problem? Fall is a good time to take a soil sample to determine the pH of your soil. Applying sulfur will reduce weed pressure and improves the efficacy of herbicide applications in that weeds are hit by more than one IPM tool. Each sample labeled for “wild blueberry pH only” costs $12.00.

How to Take a Soil Sample
Instructions Specific to Wild Blueberry:

  • Pick up or request a soil sample box and form(pdf) from an Extension office or the Orono soil lab.
  • One sample per box. One sample per field unless you are curious about differences within a field.
  • Zig-zag across the field taking at least 10 soil samples with a trowel or probe.
  • Soil submitted should be from the top 3-4 inches.
  • Include organic matter pad soil.
  • Do not include plant material.
  • Transport samples in a dry location.

Mail or Deliver Samples To:
Soil Analytical Lab, University of Maine
5722 Deering Hall, Orono Maine 04469
Telephone: 207.581.2917

Sincerely,

Lily