Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Your gift keeps resources like this database thriving!

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Search Smarty Plants
See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

 
rate this answer
Not Yet Rated

Thursday - June 28, 2007

From: Morgantown, WV
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Diseases and Disorders, Transplants, Shrubs
Title: Transplant shock in Vacccinum corymbosum (highbush blueberry)
Answered by: Barbara Medford and Joe Marcus

QUESTION:

Blueberry plants - We planted Northland and Blue Crop, 2 of each. All 4 plants have some leaves that are turning brown. This starts at the tip of the leaf, eventually encompasses the entire leaf, and the leaf falls off. The soil pH is from 4.5 to 5. The plants get full sun. We make sure we water them regularly. What is happening to these beautiful shrubs?

ANSWER:

Vaccinium corymbosum (highbush blueberry) is indeed a beautiful native plant and the cultivars you selected are among the best. Two possibilities occur to me regarding the leaf fall you are experiencing. The first is, it sounds like you just recently planted your bushes. Any plant, no matter how tough the plant nor how delicate the handling, will suffer some leaf fall from being transplanted. Many of the tiny little rootlets that bring moisture into the plant are damaged or lost, and the plant is expressing its displeasure by dropping some leaves. Transplant shock is exacerbated by full sun conditions. While your blueberry needs to be in full sun for maximum fruitset, it is a tough location for newly transplanted plants. A good mulch for the plant, some judicious pruning to reduce the plants' water demand and continued good irrigation should help your plants get over the transplant hump. Once established your blueberry bushes should bear fruit for decades. You and your neighborhood birds will enjoy them for years to come.

West Virginia University and Ohio State University have each published nice articles on growing blueberries. There are numerous other webpages online with similar information.

 

From the Image Gallery



More Diseases and Disorders Questions

Repairing the split trunk of a TX mountain laurel
February 28, 2015 - I have a fairly large mountain laurel that I just realized has a split down the trunk. Is there anything I can do to save it?
view the full question and answer

Oaks at Wildflower Center from Wimberley TX
September 05, 2012 - I know you have numerous Quercus fusiformis examples at the ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center. My question is, do you also have Quercus virginiana growing there? Also, is Oak Wilt a disease that ...
view the full question and answer

Oak leaf fall causing ivy damage
August 28, 2007 - I read the A/Q in the Austin American-Statesman Saturday, August 25, regarding the leaves falling now from the live oaks. I am experiencing the same thing, but it is the leaves of my post oaks that a...
view the full question and answer

Problems with non-native citrus trees from Mesa AZ
January 13, 2014 - We have one valencia orange tree and one naval orange tree in our Mesa, AZ yard. Just noticed some oranges on both trees have a 1/4 inch diameter hole through the skin and the orange fruit and skin a...
view the full question and answer

Problems with Strawberry Hedgehog cactus from Temple TX
June 03, 2012 - I had purchased a Strawberry hedgehog Cactus (echinocereus stramineus) a few years ago from the Wildflower Center's annual plant sale and planted it then. It has now started to brown from bottom to t...
view the full question and answer

Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.