{"id":16978,"date":"2021-05-04T09:20:24","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T13:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?p=16978"},"modified":"2021-05-04T09:20:24","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T13:20:24","slug":"producing-blueberry-raspberry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2021\/05\/04\/producing-blueberry-raspberry\/","title":{"rendered":"Why aren&#8217;t my blueberry and raspberry bushes producing more fruit?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Question:<\/h3>\n<p><strong> I have three blueberry bushes that I planted three years ago. They only produced berries the first year and nothing since. I add pine needles around them every fall. I have one of each: Bluejay, Jersey and Late Blue. What do I need to feed them or do I need more than three plants?<br \/>\n<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>I also have three Latham Raspberry bushes planted three years ago. They are spreading well, but barely produce any fruit. They also have pine needles around them. We get maybe a handful from the three plants.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Answer:<\/h3>\n<p><em>Frank Wertheim, Extension Educator, Agriculture\/Horticulture<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I would highly recommend that you start with a University of Maine <a href=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/soiltestinglab\/home\/kit-request\/maine-soil-request\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">soil test<\/a>&nbsp;to make sure your soil pH and nutrient levels are adequate. Also you don&#8217;t mention how well drained the site is which is very important for berries nor how much sun they receive daily?&nbsp; Good soil drainage and full sun are both important for optimal growth and fruitset.<\/p>\n<p>Here is more information from UMaine Cooperative Extension, Bulletin #2253, <a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/publications\/2253e\/\">Growing Highbush Blueberries<\/a> and Bulletin #2066, <a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/publications\/2066e\/\">Growing Raspberries and Black berries<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: I have three blueberry bushes that I planted three years ago. They only produced berries the first year and nothing since. I add pine needles around them every fall. I have one of each: Bluejay, Jersey and Late Blue. What do I need to feed them or do I need more than three plants? [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199,200,202,207],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask","category-fruit","category-maintenance","category-soil"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why aren&#039;t my blueberry and raspberry bushes producing more fruit? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2021\/05\/04\/producing-blueberry-raspberry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why aren&#039;t my blueberry and raspberry bushes producing more fruit? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Question: I have three blueberry bushes that I planted three years ago. 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