berry help

[perseph]

I have a blueberry bush and a raspberry bush I need to get in the ground.  I'm in zone 3a, so winter is fast approaching.  I've been told by one person not to use any fertilizer because I don't want to encourage growth of any sort at this time and by someone else to use starter fertilizer to encourage root development before the ground freezes.

Comments

[bailey36]

raspberries prefer not much fertilizer, blueberries do fine without too much, heal them in and re-plant in Spring if you don't know their permanent home yet. Other wise put both in decent not muck soil.

[liminalia]

No fertilizer, and blueberries like acidic soil. If you fertilize now, you encourage a flush of soft growth that will just get damaged by the coming cold weather. Water daily for the first 2 weeks.

[armygeezer]

I agree. You don't want the plant putting out new growth that will be killed by the cold. It will drain the plant of its growth reserve. Bailey36 is right about putting them in good soil. It will let the roots get a jump start in spring. I have blueberry farms around me, so they like lots of sun, and the raspberry can take some shade, but more sun = more fruit.