More Blueberries

We inherited the blueberry bush with the house. It hadn't been taken care of in years, it was easily 7' tall when we moved in. We've been hacking off a couple old branches a year and for the most part the bush has been responding well, putting out a lot of new growth and loads of blueberries. It's funny, I didn't like blueberries until I ate these. I guess home grown really does change you.


We attempted last year to root some branches with some rooting cups which you attach directly to the branch, fill with peat moss/dirt/whatever and like magic roots are supposed to grow. Well, they didn't, and those branches didn't survive the winter.





Plan B started this weekend: adventures with rooting hormone! I've never used rooting hormone before, but if Martha Stewart can do it so can I!




I found a small branch that had lots of leaves, but only about 3-4 flowers on it. I broke it into 8 pieces, and took the leaves off the bottom so there was about 1-2" of stem with little nubs. The directions are very specific about nubs, that is where the eventual roots will grow from.



I dipped the stems in the rooting hormone, which is a white powder.


I stuck two in each pot.


Done.






It will take a few weeks to see if anything is happening. Until then, I am to keep the potting medium moist but not soggy.

I'm hoping to get 3 usable new plants out of this. If I get more, great, we'll keep them going and either plant them or give them away.