Due to consumer demand blueberries are becoming more and more popular and therefore an attractive crop. Their cultural and nutritional requirements are a little unusual, so care is needed to optimise yields and quality. Solufeed Blueberry Special fertilizer was developed accordingly and is the ideal choice for today's progressive Blueberry grower.
Blueberries belong to the genus Vaccinium in the plant
family Ericaceae . There are about 450 other species
worldwide and those of commercial importance also include
bilberries and cranberries.
Ericaceous subjects are characteristically calcifuge
(lime-hating) and therefore naturally found growing in acidic soils
such as marshes and heath land. Calcifuges cannot cope with
alkaline soils, not as a direct result of the presence of hydroxyl
or carbonate ions, but rather the effect of pH on iron
availability. Under alkaline (pH>6.5) conditions iron
becomes increasingly unavailable causing the classic symptoms of
leaf chlorosis or yellowing which in turn leads to lost
productivity.
Calcifuges also have different nitrogen needs, preferring
the ammoniacal form 
to
nitrate.
All this give a clue about the best cultivation and
nutrition techniques for Blueberries.
Reflecting their origins, the optimum soil pH for
blueberries is 4.5 - 5.5, with 5.5 being too high for some
varieties. Consequently much commercial production of Blueberries
takes place in containers where pH can be more easily
controlled. Here and especially where coir-based growing
media is used, optimum pH is lower at 4.0 - 4.5. It is reported
that pH's as low as 3 can be
tolerated.
Special nitrogen requirements
Blueberries and other calcifuges have different nitrogen
preferences to other crops. They are not able to utilise the
nitrate (NO3) form effectively
but rather prefer the ammoniacal form
(NH4). This is because
Blueberries lack adequate nitrate reductase activity to metabolise
the NO3. Whilst both the
NH4 and
NO3 forms are taken up, the
latter remains unused; this usually does no harm but there have
been reports of leaf burn where high levels of
NO3 containing fertilizers
have been used. A practical consequence of course is that the
NO3 in fertilizers is
effectively wasted and it still contributes to EC but to no
purpose.
The best nitrogen sources for Blueberries are ammonium
sulphate (readily providing
NH4) and urea (which is
naturally broken down to
NH4).
Otherwise the fertilization of Blueberries is fairly
straightforward but they are particularly sensitive to iron
deficiency and care should be taken to avoid
shortages.
Development of Solufeed Blueberry Special
Recognising the special requirements of Blueberries,
Solufeed have designed and developed a
water soluble fertilizer optimized for Blueberries and
especially those grown in containers.
The essential features are as
follows:
- Nitrogen as ammoniacal and ureic; nitrate useless and
wasteful.
- Acidifying PK source to help control pH and neutralize
bicarbonates.
- Careful about effect of fertilizer on EC.
- Iron and other metal micronutrients as EDTA. FeEDTA
to prevent chlorosis.
- Dissolves rapidly and completely even in cold
water.
- Cost effective.
More information and full directions for use are available
on the Solufeed Blueberry Special Technical Data
Sheet.
The information on this page has been prepared
carefully and is provided in good faith.
The application, use and processing of any
material together with regulatory compliance is the absolute
responsibility of the Buyer. All technical information or
other advice provided by the Seller in any form is given without
warranty to the full extent provided by
law.
Please note that products may differ or be unavailable in
certain territories.
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Ltd.
Solufeed is a trade mark of Solufeed Ltd and registered in
relevant countries.