I planted 10 blueberries last year, but they are making slow progress and two seem to have dried out. I would apreciate any Suggestions.
I tried with spreading pine wood sawdust but it didnt help.

Mulching with wood products won't have much, if any, effect on the soil pH where the roots are. You mentioned the pH there is 8 or over on another thread? That's very high for bluberries and it will be difficult to lower it enough. What kind of soil is it, clay, loam, sandy?

I planted it on a border of my fathers orchard , alongside concrete posts. Soil there is very fertile, it is mold(I do not know which class).
Altitude is low 43meters above sea level and I read the conditions that blueberries prefer, but I thought why not try because everything that is planted there lives.

Adding peat moss or aluminum sulphate to the soil will make it more acidic.

If the concrete posts are fairly new, they may be leaching alkaline stuff into the soil, too. Painting or sealing them with a clear deck sealant might help.

You will have an ongoing battle to keep enough acidifying material around your blueberries. Compost and peat moss are excellent amendments, and fairly inexpensive. If you mulch them with a top dressing of a good amount each spring, and pile leaves around them as mulch in the fall you may keep up with them. The fall mulch might help to keep them from dessicating during the winter, too.

But the problem later becomes when the bushes get larger, and their roots go deeper and wider, they will eventually reach the native soil. Then you will be seeing the unhealthy results of growing an acid-loving plant in soil with a too high pH.

I am not sure I would be able to obtain peat moss here. Aluminium sulphate in wich form? Liquid and sprayed?
I am not sure I would want to eat anything that had aluminium treated on it.

Regarding compost, I have been told to avoid that because it has been known to introduce california worm...

From previous threads I know your location is Belgrade, Serbia.
Two questions please:

You mentioned mold...where is this "mold(I do not know which class)" located? Is it on the soil or on the plants? Do you have photos?

Do you know the scientific name of this "California worm" that you mentioned?

Please understand that I am just trying to get into gardening and fruit and herb growing and I may not know all the right terms.
Mold has many meanings, one of them is for type of soil that is very black and very fertile as well as easily crushed something like humus.

Lumbicus of oligochaeta class(more than 3000 of them).
This one was one of results from experiments at California state university in 1965, therefore Californian red worm.
It has great capacity of turning manure into humus

....and Blueberries are planted on the border with Hungary.

Ah, I understand. When you say 'mold' it is like when the British say 'leaf mould'. Yes, that is good soil.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/...
And the earthworms are a good thing. They will aerate the soil and their castings will enrich the soil.

Well regarding worms... I mentioned that b-berries are planted on an orchard and although they add some quality to the soil, they are not good for young fruit trees.

But real compost that has been well composted at high enough temperature should not introduce any worms, although it will attract earthworms, which is a good thing.

Have you had your soil tested to determine the pH (acidity) factor? It's really good to know exactly what you're dealing with, and also after you take steps to improve the soil, you can test again to see your progress.

If you have a good nursery (plant grower/seller) near you, they should have some fertilizer formulated for acid-loving plants. They might even have some acidic soil amendments available too.

dyzzypyxxy said:
Have you had your soil tested to determine the pH (acidity) factor? .

Elaine, in the other thread Makanudo said: "I just checked and they said PH there in the soil is above 8 and the soil is rich in phosphor"

The thread "Wych Elm (Ulmus glabra); Pannonian Basin, central Europe" in Plant ID forum

Makanudo, does this pH also apply to where the blueberries are planted? If so, you're going to be trying to drop the soil pH by around 3 points on the pH scale. That's a lot when you consider that the scale is logarithmic and each point is ten times different from the next one. Two points apart would be a hundred times more alkaline or acidic depending which way you are going on the scale, and three points is a thousand times different. So a pH of 5 (blueberries prefer a pH of 4.5 to 5.5) is a thousand times more acidic than a pH of 8.

I don't wish to be pessimistic but that may be difficult and not practical to do. Compost pH can range from around pH 6 to 8 which isn't going to get the soil down to the pH you need. Not all peat products are equally low in pH so here we always use Canadian sphagnum peat moss (3.5 to 4.5) for plants that like acidic soil. Check for the analysis on the bag if you're going that route.

Elemental sulfur is the usual way to lower soil pH but the amount to use depends on whether your soil is sand, loam or clay. Aluminum sulfate also lowers pH but I've also read that in high amounts it maybe be toxic to blueberries. Iron sulfate also decreases soil pH but I expect it to be more expensive than sulfur, you'd need to use more. These are not quick fixes.

Was your soil test done by a laboratory? If you have access to agricultural advice and testing your best bet would be to ask them what you can do because they will be familiar with your soil type and how likely it is that you would be able to adjust the soil for blueberries.

Sue,

I appreciate the effort. You follow me correctly, this is the same soil in question because there is 500 meters distance between elm position and the blueberries. I got informed before planting b-berries and I am aware of soil being inapropriate, but I want to go organic or fail. I do not want to produce it commercially. I want to be confident in consuming my eventual produce. I am however ready to go great lengths in providing my plants any natural support.

Sorry I didnt say tank you sooooo much

sooby said: ... Elemental sulfur is the usual way to lower soil pH but the amount to use depends on whether your soil is sand, loam or clay. ...

Was your soil test done by a laboratory? If you have access to agricultural advice and testing your best bet would be to ask them what you can do because they will be familiar with your soil type and how likely it is that you would be able to adjust the soil for blueberries.

I agree with both: acidify soil with pure sulfur, but expect it to take some years to change the pH that much, especially down deep. You need a BIG pH change, so you probably want a strong and cheap acidifier: elemental sulfur.

Pure sulfur ("elemental sulfur", "flowers of sulfur", "agricultural sulfur") is gradually consumed by aerobic soil microbes whose names I forget. They use the sulfur as FOOD (at least, as an energy source and electron acceptor).

Unless there are impurities in the ag sulfur, it doesn't release anything toxic, just acidity and sulfate ions. I assume it is approved by "green" and "organic" certifying authorities.

http://blueberries.msu.edu/upl...

http://ohioline.osu.edu/agf-fa...

http://ohioline.osu.edu/agf-fa...
"To convert the recommended rates from pounds per acre to pounds per 1000 ft2 divide the values in Table 1 by 43.56. "

I seem to see people suggesting sulfur or iron sulphate or other things based on what OTHER deficiencies your soil might have. Thus getting a good soil analysis, especially of the deep soil near your berry bushes, could help you pick the best acidifier.

The soil microbes oxidase sulfer the same way we oxidize sugar to CO2. They oxidize Sulfur to the acid form of sulfate (technically, sulfuric acid, but it never exists as pure sulfuric acid (H2SO4)). As each molecule is oxidized, inside the bacteria, it combines with water and ions near it to release its acidity and become simple sulfate ions: HSO4- or SO4--. And sulfate is a required plant nutrient.

Also, this article claims, cleaner air and purer fertilizers are making sulfur deficiencies more common in many soils:
http://www.agweb.com/article/t...

Makanudo, I understand completely what you are experiencing!! I planted 5 blueberry plants a couple of years ago, and gave them a good dose of "blueberry food" (?? what was in that, it was sold by one of the seed companies here), thinking nothing could possibly go wrong because blueberries grow wild not all that far from where I live. Last year when the plants leafed out, they had bright-yellow leaves... not really the color one expects to see on a healthy plant. At that point I dug the plants up and replanted them after amending the soil with peat, soil sulfur and greensand.

This year I've decided to move the plants into large pots, with a mixture of peat, potting soil, coir and perlite, plus soil sulfur, and acid-lover fertilizer. If this doesn't work for me, I will admit defeat ...

I hear you...
I may not suceed but I shall be left with important conclusions and insight.