{"id":24847,"date":"2024-09-13T12:41:58","date_gmt":"2024-09-13T16:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?p=24847"},"modified":"2024-09-13T12:41:58","modified_gmt":"2024-09-13T16:41:58","slug":"are-my-older-high-bush-blueberry-plants-at-the-end-of-their-productive-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2024\/09\/13\/are-my-older-high-bush-blueberry-plants-at-the-end-of-their-productive-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Are my older high bush blueberry plants at the end of their productive years?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Question:<\/h3>\n<div class=\"field-section2 slds-card slds-theme_default\">\n<div class=\"slds-card__body slds-card__body_inner\">\n<div class=\"section-layout-container slds-section slds-is-open\">\n<div class=\"slds-col slds-p-horizontal_small slds-p-vertical_x-small\">\n<div class=\"slds-grid slds-size_1-of-1 label-stacked undefined\" data-target-selection-name=\"sfdc:RecordField.Case.Description\">\n<div class=\"slds-form-element slds-hint-parent test-id__output-root slds-form-element_edit slds-form-element_readonly slds-form-element_stacked\">\n<div class=\"slds-form-element__control\"><strong>I have 24 high bush blueberry bushes purchased about 20 yrs. ago (from a reputable garden store). This is the first year their production is considerably lower than in all past years. Should I be concerned that these plants are near the end of their productive years?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"slds-form-element__control\"><span style=\"color: #0c598e;font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif;font-size: 1.25rem\">Answer:<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000\"><em>Jonathan Foster, Home Horticulture Outreach Professional<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Unfortunately, there are numerous reasons why the bushes might be showing decreased productivity, and I can&#8217;t diagnose it from the information provided. If you aren&#8217;t seeing flowers on the bushes, it could be the result of a soil nutrition deficiency, cold damage on the flower buds from a late frost, irrigation problems (too much or too little), or other environmental stress on the plants. I will include a link below for best practices protocol for high bush blueberry, so you can make sure it&#8217;s growing in the proper conditions. We&#8217;ve had a lot of rain this year, so I&#8217;m less concerned about too much rain, but if the soil is compact or poorly drained, it could be keeping the root balls excessively wet. If you haven&#8217;t had the soil tested recently, it&#8217;s worth doing that, as well, as there may be an issue with soil nutrition or pH (as you no doubt know, blueberry likes acidic soil&#8230; and the pH can drift too high over time). If you are seeing flowers, but not fruit production, you&#8217;re probably looking at a decline in the pollinator population&#8211;there isn&#8217;t much you can do for that, other than\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/manual\/plants-pollinator-gardens\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">planting plenty of pollinator attracting plants<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/pollinator-garden-certification\/step-4\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">getting involved in the efforts to protect beneficial insects<\/a>. 20 years isn&#8217;t too old for well maintained high bush blueberries, so I&#8217;m hopeful you they can recover their former productivity.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few links you may find helpful:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/publications\/2253e\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UMaine Cooperative Extension Bulletin #2253, Growing Highbush Blueberries<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/soiltestinglab\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UMaine Analytical Soil Lab<\/a>\u00a0(you can pick up soil test kits in any Extension office, or request that the lab mail you one)<\/p>\n<p>Good luck and happy gardening.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: I have 24 high bush blueberry bushes purchased about 20 yrs. ago (from a reputable garden store). This is the first year their production is considerably lower than in all past years. Should I be concerned that these plants are near the end of their productive years? Answer: Jonathan Foster, Home Horticulture Outreach Professional [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"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":[199,200,204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask","category-fruit","category-pests"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Are my older high bush blueberry plants at the end of their productive years? - 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\/2024\/09\/13\/are-my-older-high-bush-blueberry-plants-at-the-end-of-their-productive-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are my older high bush blueberry plants at the end of their productive years? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Question: I have 24 high bush blueberry bushes purchased about 20 yrs. ago (from a reputable garden store). 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