Rabbiteye Blueberries

Figsee

Figsee

Well-known member
Anyone growing Rabbiteye variety blueberries? I’ve been growing them for the last five years and they are much more hardy ( then they are labeled for) , less finicky, and produce way more blueberries than the northern highbush cultivars. Plus the deer have left them go which is an additional benefit. Something to consider for sure
 
I got my blueberries free from an old guy that has a small nursery, though he forgot the variety. lol
They do well here in Ga. and that's all that matters to me.
Quite tasty and produce a lot.
 
Figsee said:
Anyone growing Rabbiteye variety blueberries? I’ve been growing them for the last five years and they are much more hardy ( then they are labeled for) , less finicky, and produce way more blueberries than the northern highbush cultivars. Plus the deer have left them go which is an additional benefit. Something to consider for sure
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We currently grow:

Late - De Soto, Baldwin, Ochlockonee, Florida Rose, Centurion.

Mid - Pink Lemonade, Powderblue, Tifblue.

Early - Alapaha, Austin, Climax, Premier.

Probably will add a Brightwell soon…

Also, have some Southern Highbush varieties. We love blueberries!
 
ktrain said:
I got my blueberries free from an old guy that has a small nursery, though he forgot the variety. lol
They do well here in Ga. and that's all that matters to me.
Quite tasty and produce a lot.
Click to expand...
For sure. Blueberries are just a finicky plant with a shallow fibrous root system. In the northeast most people grow highbush varieties and I decided to grow both. I’m finding the Rabbiteye are much more forgiving when it comes to soil and moisture needs. The issue was that they were always zoned for warmer grow zones, although I’m finding out that they are hardier then mentioned.
 
S251 said:
We currently grow:

Late - De Soto, Baldwin, Ochlockonee, Florida Rose, Centurion.

Mid - Pink Lemonade, Powderblue, Tifblue.

Early - Alapaha, Austin, Climax, Premier.

Probably will add a Brightwell soon…

Also, have some Southern Highbush varieties. We love blueberries!
Click to expand...
I have brightwell, pink lemonade, tifblue, and brightwell.

Freshly picked blueberries are hard to beat.
 
I grow Powderblue, Pink Lemonade, and Brightwell. So far Powderblue is producing the most berries but the Brightwell is new and still small. I have noticed that birds do not eat the blueberries. I had some wild blackberries and the other day I saw cat birds feasting on them. I don't mind them eating the blackberries but as soon as I saw one of those birds land in a fig tree, I went out and ripped up all the blackberries. They were attracting the cat birds. Then I realized that the blackberries were right next to the blueberries and the birds didn't touch the blueberries. Then I thought about it, and last year we never had a problem with birds eating the blueberries.
 
Random question but can you use tomato juice as fertilizer for blueberry plants? Last year we harvested and juiced about 50 qts of tomato juice I was planning on turning into sauce. Well we got lazy in the fall and never did it. Now we have a deep freeze worth of tomato juice im curious if it can be used for anything.
 
Figsee said:
Random question but can you use tomato juice as fertilizer for blueberry plants? Last year we harvested and juiced about 50 qts of tomato juice I was planning on turning into sauce. Well we got lazy in the fall and never did it. Now we have a deep freeze worth of tomato juice im curious if it can be used for anything.
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I got a BIG IDEA what you can do with it. All you need is Vodka, celery, and some hot sauce and a few friends. That 50 qts will disappear in no time. 😉
 
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Figsee said:
Random question but can you use tomato juice as fertilizer for blueberry plants? Last year we harvested and juiced about 50 qts of tomato juice I was planning on turning into sauce. Well we got lazy in the fall and never did it. Now we have a deep freeze worth of tomato juice im curious if it can be used for anything.
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Blueberry’s love acidic soil / fertilizer so I would assume so. Tomato’s are naturally acidic so they might do more good than bad? 🤷🏽‍♂️ I’ve never used it but I remember a neighbor tell me 100% tomato paste is a good weed killer so maybe try diluting it? Haha
 
Figsee said:
Random question but can you use tomato juice as fertilizer for blueberry plants? Last year we harvested and juiced about 50 qts of tomato juice I was planning on turning into sauce. Well we got lazy in the fall and never did it. Now we have a deep freeze worth of tomato juice im curious if it can be used for anything.
Click to expand...
I would make a ferment out of it and feed it back to the tomato plants.
 
Def growing a few rabbiteye blueberry varieties. They did poorly last few season & testing showed ph was too high. Added ammonium sulfate to acidify & this year its loaded! Yay :)
 
Uncle Jessup said:
Def growing a few rabbiteye blueberry varieties. They did poorly last few season & testing showed ph was too high. Added ammonium sulfate to acidify & this year its loaded! Yay :)
Click to expand...
Berry tone and peat moss also work pretty well in acidifying soil! May have to try ammonium sulfate next time as a trial
 
I have a Bountiful Blue Blueberry plant which produced a whole lot last year, but hardly nothing this year. Probably my caretaking.

Got another kind not sure what they are from Lowe’s and it grew long and tall but again no berries.

Got a pink lemonade one, and it seems to be hanging on for dear life. So idk. lol
 
@t_corey89 Your Pink Lemonade is a Rabbit Eye. The Bountiful is not a Rabbit Eye. If you only have one Rabbit Eye it won't produce a lot of blueberries because you need another Rabbit Eye to cross pollinate it. I don't know about Bountiful but it would probably do better with another of its type. If you can find a Powderblue to go with your Pink Lemonade that would be good.
 
BNaula1 said:
Blueberry’s love acidic soil / fertilizer so I would assume so. Tomato’s are naturally acidic so they might do more good than bad? 🤷🏽‍♂️ I’ve never used it but I remember a neighbor tell me 100% tomato paste is a good weed killer so maybe try diluting it? Haha
Click to expand...
BNaula1 said:
Berry tone and peat moss also work pretty well in acidifying soil! May have to try ammonium sulfate next time as a trial
Click to expand...
I use ammonium sulfate and you can see a noticeable difference then some in treated plants. The other thing to stay on top of it irrigation.
 
ETXfigs said:
@t_corey89 Your Pink Lemonade is a Rabbit Eye. The Bountiful is not a Rabbit Eye. If you only have one Rabbit Eye it won't produce a lot of blueberries because you need another Rabbit Eye to cross pollinate it. I don't know about Bountiful but it would probably do better with another of its type. If you can find a Powderblue to go with your Pink Lemonade that would be good.
Click to expand...
If it stays alive this year I’ll look into getting powderblue lol.
 
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