Blueberry tree?

wallynosocks

Hi
I had a small blueberry bush in a container for 2 years that produced a few berries. I transplanted into the ground 2 years ago. The plant suddenly exploded and is now 8ft high about 6 ft round, has several trunks about 2" dia with vigorous cane growth.
Trouble is no berries! No flowers appeared either except kind of catkin like white flower clusters but only from the main trunks not leaf ends.
I know this was a blueberry bush, but is it now?
I have att. leaf and dead catkin pictures

Attached Thumbnails

   

TreeSpecialist

patience....

Once it settles into its new environment, it should begin producing fruit again.

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Brent Ferris

How tall do blueberry bushes get in Texas. In Ontario 12 inches tall is enormous.

The pictures are a bit fuzzy. THe leaves look more like willow, and if it has catkins as wallynosocks suggests - that still sounds more like willow, than blueberry, No?

wallynosocks

I live in Surrey England and blueberry bushes grow about 2ft tall here. In fact I have another one that is about 1ft tall with berries on it.
The thing is I had the now biig tree in a container, looking like a small blueberry, with berries on for 2 yrs.
I actually transplanted it into the ground and it shot up to 8ft high about 3 ft dia in 2 years. It is now about 4 years old.
I know it was a blueberry but how could it change?
It was not grafted onto a rootstock as far as I know. So how do I treat it now? cut it right back or let it settle as it has vigorous small branches shooting up all over?
The few catkin like flowers did not look like willow catkins. They were jutting from the main branches/trunks only and were made up of about a hundred tiny 2 leaved white flowers, clustered together in a catkin like shape about 1/2" dia and 11/2" long.
Anybody know what's going on??

sharkey

Wally,
It looks like a blueberry but could there be a Mulberry in the ground now with it?

Reaon I ask is because we have blueberries which are 25 years old. They produce well but Im constantly cutting other bushes out of them. What I think happens is when the birds sit on the netting that I keep over the plants, their droppings go through the netting. These droppings carry seeds from other berries the birds eat. The only berry bush Ive ever seen grow as fast as what your saying is Mulberry. Mulberry also has a similar stem shade as Blueberry. Blueberry grows pretty slow because of the weight of the fruit.

wallynosocks

Thanks for that Sharkey,
Maybe that could be the answer. I wouldn't mind as I love mulberries but don't they grow into very big trees? I mean where I've got it I have other vegetables and gooseberries growing and won't a very big tree draw all the water and nutrients from the surrounding ground?

Brent Ferris

Not really. THe area may need more and longer waterings, and extra fertilizer.
Would you happen to have closeups of this tree's leaves and its flowers. Mulberry leaves are quite a bit larger than blueberry, and if it is mulberry, it won't stop at 8 ft. Cutting it shorter and keeping it short can "control" the height, flower buds are usually set the end of spring, and frantic pruning can mean all flower buds are cut off -- giving you a shade bush, and minimal fruit.

jmcg.insight.gardens

Hi Wallynosocks

Blueberries can grow quite tall, there are two forms, the Lowbush variety and the Highbush variety. The Highbush variety has many cultivars that grow up to 12 feet, these are commonly cultivated here in Australia in areas that get the right chill factor. I know blueberries well, having worked on a blueberry farm here for a while.

They do not develop "catkins" like in the picture shown, the leaves in the picture shown do not look quite right to me, although they are out of focus. I've added a link for you on Highbush blueberries, Google up Highbush blueberries and compare the leaves in the photos to your plant. Or post some clear pictures of the leaves and that "catkin" perhaps it is a fruiting spur that is deformed due to a mineral or pest problem.

I do not think that that is a Mulberry tree either, the leaves on Mulberry trees are quite large as Treeshaveneeds mentioned.

the only way to get to the bottom of this is to post more focused pics.

regards Julie

Attached Files

Highbush Blueberry.pdf (53.6 KB, 51 views)

wallynosocks

The more I look at[ATTACH][/ATTACH] this tree against my other blueberry it seems that blind Freddy could see they're not the same!
BUT I grew this a blueberry bush for 2 years so could the tree fairy have come down and changed it or what?

att hopefully clearer pictures (getting pictures down to accepted thingybobs for the website uploader seems to blur them).
These photo uploads are driving me nuts.

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sharkey

Hi Wally,
Well whatever they turn out to be I hope you get a good trunk full of fruit from them. Reason I mentioned Mulberries is I had never seen one of them around this part of the hood, and now I have three of them that are 15 feet high in less than 3 years. Nothing Ive seen grows this fast.

Brent Ferris

In Ontario, Mulberries reach 70-90 ft, with trunk diameters to 3 ft + . Make sure those trees are growing where you want them. If you decide to cut them down, they sucker well from the roots.

WAllynosocks - the plants are definitely not mulberry, wrong leaf shape, wrong flower cluster. Not familiar with Highbush blueberry plants.

jmcg.insight.gardens

Hi Wallynosocks,

well, firstly thank you for the excellent photos, just what it needed to help identify.

The first photos show what is definitely NOT a Blueberry, but something that I'm not familiar with here in Australia. My first impression was something from the Family Sapindaceae, whether I'm correct in the Family is moot as whatever it is it is a weed. It is not a Mulberry either, in fact I would eradicate that part of the "bush".

The last photo shows what looks to me to be two separate plants, so problem solved, you definitely have a weed growing through what was once a singular Blueberry bush. The top plant cutting does look like a Blueberry, the bottom plant cutting looks like the new interloper, whatever it is. Whilst the weed is smothering the Blueberry bush I doubt it will flower or thrive. Eradicate the new interloper and in time the blueberry bush should recover and set fruit once again.

Regards Julie

wallynosocks

Thank you so much Julie. I think that solves my problem although that weed is certainly a tough customer. But, nice as it looks-out it comes.
thanks again
wally