wild blueberries

[kdg]

I am wanting to transplant several wild blueberrie bushes from the woods into my beds so I can harvest them easier.* They are rhizones and I have had trouble digging them up since their roots are entangled with big pine tree roots.* Will they survive with only a small amount of root?

Also wondering if they will cross breed with my tame blueberries?* I hope so for bigger berries!

[Newt]

I'm a bit confused when you say they are rhizones.* Maybe that's a typo and you mean rhizome?* Even so, I've never heard of the roots of blueberries as a rhizome.* Maybe they are just a mass of roots?*** If they are nearby your blueberries they are probably already crossing with yours if they bloom at the same time.* Any that have entangled roots won't survive the transplant with what you describe, and digging them up will only destroy them.* Besides, unless you own the woods and the plants in it, digging them up is not a good idea.* If it's public land, that is against the law and is considered morally wrong by most folks.* Most plants dug from the wild don't survive the transplant anyway.

You don't say what varieties you have, but having more then one in your garden is best for a better harvest.* For larger berries you would need a varitey that has been selected for larger berries.

Newt

[kdg]

Yes, we own the land, but that isn't the law everywhere either!* They even grow wild along rural roads here.* My tame ones I just planted, they are about 12" tall.* When I looked up blueberries on the net it said they were rhizomes.* The blueberrie roots are tangled with big pine tree roots and hard to dig & get any amount of root.* They also break easier than I thought they would.* Main root that I found is larger around than my thumb (female).* If I leave them where they are they will eventually get cut down as we continue to clear our land into a managable 'woods' and I have to fight with the wild blackberries to pick them.* Guess I will find out as I have already moved 3 pieces & plan to move 3 more tomorrow!* I was hoping they would cross breed so I could get larger berries as these wild ones are pretty small.* They could also be small due to soil conditions and may be larger where I am moving them to as they will get care, water & mulch.

[Newt]

If you are going to cut the pines down, then go ahead and hack at the roots of the pines to dig out as much of the roots of the blueberries as possible.* When they crosspollinate it could make for larger berries on your already existing shrubs, but you should get more berries.*
http://berrygrape.oregonstate.edu/th...ueberry-plant/

Some of this you probably already know, but here goes anyway.* From this Florida site with more valuable info even if you are in the north:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MG359

"Blueberries should be pruned at the time of planting. If plants have a well-developed root system and irrigation is used, pruning should not be severe. Select the tallest, strongest cane and leave it unpruned. Remove the weak, "twiggy" growth at the base of the plant. If the plant has a large top compared with the root system, remove all the stems and canes except for the strong, dominant, cane and prune it back to half of its original height. During the first growing season, remove all flowers before fruit set occurs. This will prevent fruiting during the first year and promote strong vegetative growth and good plant establishment. This is especially important with some southern highbush cultivars that flower heavily as young plants."

I wonder if your wild blueberries could actually be huckleberries - I'm an easterner.* I know that sounds confusing.* From this site on page 6:
http://www.nwplants.com/information/emag/vol1-1.pdf

"First let's clear up the two names, "huckleberry" and "blueberry".* Technically, any plant with the genus Vaccinium, and there are some 400 species worldwide, is a huckleberry.* Many species grow in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.* The United States has a total of about 26 species.* The cultivated highbush blueberry is an eastern species developed by intensive cross-breeding of superior plants of Vaccinium corymbosum and V. corymbosum f. ashei (rabbiteye).* But easterners like to call the blue version a "blueberry" even though the plants still belong to the genus Vaccinium.* To an easterner a "huckleberry" is an entirely different species.* "Blueberry" and "huckleberry" are two names that have been used interchangeably for many years and this misusage has created considerable misunderstanding."

Page 7 talks about how 'some' grow from rhizomes.* There are rhozomatus types and some that are not.* So I learned something new today!* Thank you.* :)* Do read page 7 as it talks about rooting habits.* There's loads of great info on these delightful berries at this site.

Hope that helped.
Newt