Blueberry Bushes Thrive in Coast of Maine Acid-Loving Plant Soil

Sherri Harrah:

I’m Sherri Harrah with HomeShow Garden Pros. And today we’re going to talk blueberries. Blueberries are amazing in the Gulf Coast region, and they need to be planted with an acid-loving plant soil, so I have Bob here with Coast of Maine.

Bob:

Yeah.

Sherri Harrah:

And he just happens to make the best acid-loving plant soil. So, Bob, what makes this different?

Bob:

Yeah, it’s really important for blueberries as your example here or any other acid-loving plant, for example, azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias. They require a slightly different soil, so we need to make sure that pH is low enough to allow the plant to thrive. So there’s a formulation in here that we put together that allows for that pH to be at that lower level than neutral would normally be.

Sherri Harrah:

Right.

Bob:

So mix that in with your native soil to help, over time, bring that pH down. Or you could plant an acid-loving plant directly into the mix and it will be perfectly fine, but that’s really important because it’s a special plant, so we’ve got a special soil that’s going to help work for them.

Sherri Harrah:

Right. And here in the Gulf Coast region, neutral, 7, right?

Bob:

Mm-hmm.

Sherri Harrah:

I’m seeing 8.2, 8.4-

Bob:

Yep.

Sherri Harrah:

… 8.7, so that’s super high and not hospitable for things like blueberries and azaleas and our acid lovers. So what is an approximate pH on a bag of this?

Bob:

So, this, we’re going to start to get down into the lower 5s to mid-5s. For this particular mix, again, really important to be able to do that even over season, give it some time, so being a patient gardener is going to be important as well.

Sherri Harrah:

Right. So digging our hole, mixing this in with the native soil is going to help create that acidic soil condition.

Bob:

Yep.

Sherri Harrah:

And then maintenance over time would be top dressing with something like this and-

Bob:

Absolutely.

Sherri Harrah:

… with the lobster compost to kind of maintain that pH.

Bob:

Anytime we can mix in lobster compost with any soil, whether you’re doing it with a native soil or even a container gardening with the soil itself, giving it that extra nutrient boost from the compost blend just gives plants that better oomph. And they absolutely love it. You can see the plants respond from it. That’s what’s so incredible.

Sherri Harrah:

Absolutely. That is awesome. Well, get ready for some amazing blueberries.