OK. I bought a blueberry bush and I need to pollinate it.

[katinmn]

I found this out when I brought it home and read the fine print.

I understand that plants of two different genders must cross pollinate.

I doubt my neighbors have blueberry shrubs so I'll probably need to buy another plant.

Question: how do you know what sex your plant is?
:silly:

(Yes, I know it's not a practical plant but I grew up around wild blueberries and I miss them.)

[notadmblnd]

1. I don't think it matters .. if it blooms and has flowers

the bees do it as long as you have two.

[katinmn]

3. oh, ok. that works.

[katinmn]

2. any gardners in the lounge today?

[mopinko]

4. post in the garden group

afaik, you just need a second plant of the same species. can be a different variety. lotsa luck blueberries are picky.

[katinmn]

5. We have a garden group, too?!?

Wow-- DU has everything. Thanks!

[phaseolus]

Ideally --

Ideally, you should have two different varieties of blueberries for best pollination. They're not one of those plants that's male & female.

...and if you don't keep the bunnies away the whole question will be moot, since they apparently find blueberry twigs especially delicious. They ruined my attempted foray into blueberry growing a couple years ago. And you'll want to make sure the soil pH is nice and low, amending with peat moss, pine needles, and adding sulfur as needed.

[katinmn]

7. Rats!! I've been seeing bunnies every day.

I wonder if you can grow blueberries in giant pots. I have a couple I've used for tomatos.

THanks for the tips on the soil.

[madmom]

11. to help keep bunnies away....

and not harm them put used kitty litter around them they will stay away

[katinmn]

14. I just talked to my mom and she offered some more deterents

Irish Spring soap, human hair (I guess you'd collect it from your brush), and dryer sheets.

Whoda thought to try those things?

[miss_kitty]

6. they are dioecious

meaning they carry both male and female parts. Not like cannabis, ginkgo, holly, or kiwis which are for the most part, monoecious (male or female-need one of each to make berries or seeds, which will only occur on the female plant).

Some plants don't recognise their own pollen. So go back to the nursery and ask them for a compatible variety. And don't get the same kind, unless it's from a different grower, since they might be clones, therefore genetically identical.

[katinmn]

8. I think I'll need to go to a different nursery, since these were all the s

Actually it was an annual plant sale put on by a local school.

[uppityperson]

9. Try these links, haven't heard of different sexes

Try your Coop extension as they have information too (agricultural cooperative extension, many if not most states have these, look under government, perhaps dept of agriculture, so on).
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1422.html
http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:YPdv-4q39s8J:www.ccenassau.org/hort/fact_sheets/b104_blueberry_growing_oct00.pdf+blueberry+growing&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
Second link is html since I didn't feel like waiting for pdf document, has info about types.

Some plants in the world are definetly different sexes, but most plants have both m/f on the same plant. Most blueberry bushes are self pollinating, but you get better results with 2. There are large and small types, if space is an issue, get a couple small ones. Besides, they're so cute when they play together in the back yard.

[katinmn]

10. Thanks for the links and advice.

:)

The Ohio ag extension site looks like just the thing I need.

We have a first-rate ag extension service here, too. I didn't even think about them.

[uppityperson]

12. I love ag extension for info on all sorts of things

We had a bluebery book when my son was young, not Blueberries for Sal, but another about a woman who lived in the midst of a blueberry patch and gathered and gathered and gathered and had sooooo many blueberries that when the bears broke in and ate them she was happy.

[katinmn]

13. that's cute

:)