Blueberry advice

[MrsSnaplegs]

Looking for a bit of advice - I have a blueberry plant given to me by my mum a couple of years ago. Year 1 we had 2 blueberries on it - I gave it the benefit of the doubt and thought it just needed to mature a little! This year again only 2 berries no signs of real life other than leaves etc.

So what do I do?

Should I repot in spring?
Should I cut it back at all? How much - where to?
Is there anything I can do to boost fruit production?

This will be it's last chance! One of my neighbours has a similar sized plant which produced bucket loads of fruit this year and last

I am a bit harsh on plants - if they don't produce something edible they don't get planted/ survive apart from a couple of roses we have moved with us. We move frequently (2 yrly ) because of my job, always in a rental property where gardens take me 2 years to "sort out" then we move again so have a policy if I am spending money on a plant for garden it needs to give something back i.e. food. Once I retire and we get our own house then I will do the flowers for aesthetics bit as well

Thanks in advance for any advice

They live in bogs in the wild, so they need to be kept moist, and they need acid soil (i.e. ericaceous compost). Those are the two most common things that go wrong. I'd guess that your neighbour either waters more, or had better soil conditions, or both.

I think you can prune it back to promote new growth which will fruit more heavily (heard something about this on GQT recently), but it may not be well enough for that at the moment.

Thank you, the watering more makes sense. DH has been responsible for watering this summer as I have been working away in week and I think he may forget sometimes!! I will repot and prune in spring I think and then make sure it is kept wet!

Mine have only had a few the last couple of years & this year did really well with the constant rain all summer. They are all
In pots as they are supposed to be better if growth is restricted

Ideally you need 2 plants for cross-pollination. So this may be part of the problem.

Also, I'd give it a trim, add some ericaceous compost now and next spring, give it a liquid ericaceous feed. And yes, keep it moist.

Finally, bear in mind that blueberry production declines after 8-10 years so if she gave you an older plant, this might also explain it.

That's interesting, Doozle. Do you think the neighbour's is fruiting well because of the presence of the OP's bush?

They definately like VERY wet feet

Thanks Doozle and everyone - I will add some compost and keep a bit wetter next year, we had a really dry summer here. I think my neighbour lives a bit too far up the road for the plants to have affected each other - maybe I'll take mine round for a "date" next year