What is going on with my new blueberry shrubs?

I planted a blueberry bush in May, and it seemed to be doing well until the past couple of weeks. Now it seems like it is struggling to maintain itself, let alone grow. But the other fruit shrubs (pomegranate, raspberry, blackberry) I planted at the same time are doing well. The leaves on the blueberry are starting to turn yellow and red (See photo). What does that mean? What should I do to help it?

Also, I transplanted a juneberry shrub last fall, and it seems stunted. It does not have much new growth and barely has any leaves. Is that normal in the first year? Do I need to do something for it? The other shrubs (goumi, currant, wineberry) I installed at the same time have grown a lot since the weather warmed.

One possibility: Among the fruits you mention, blueberry is an outlier in that it wants very acid soil to thrive. You might check your soil ph and see about amending. Or skip the test just go ahead and add some acidified like sulfur, because most places don’t have acid enough soil for blueberries to thrive, so unless you already know you’re very acid, good bet it’s not as low ph as the blueberries crave.

I don't know specifically what is wrong but I do know that my blueberries start looking like that when they are water stressed. Blueberries need a LOT of water the first couple of years and since you planted just this year I'm guessing it needs more consistent watering.

Thank you for the suggestions. My soil is acidic, and I don't think my watering has been inconsistent given that I have some other thirsty plants that are doing well.

I may have found the problem, though. My soil is clay, and I did not add any amendments when I transplanted the blueberry plant. Apparently they need a lot of organic matter in the soil. So I dug it up and added wet peat. We'll see how it goes. It's only been a week, but so far it seems like the downward trajectory of the plant has slowed.

My blueberry bushes are like that too. My soil is slightly acidic hard clay and blueberries prefer a much lower pH of 4-5. Is your soil pH low enough? Robert Pavlis recently added a youtube video on adding Ag sulfer to lower soil pH maybe you are interested in checking it out. He also said the effect of peat moss on pH doesn't last long. Still peat lightens the clay up and it sounds like your plant is recovering. This is very encouraging, I am thinking about repot my plants so I'll be able to control the soil conditions.

Update: the blueberry plant is not doing well at all. Most of the stems appear to be dead, and the one stem that still has life in it looks diseased, though its leaves look okay at the moment. Should I just get rid of it or could it be salvaged somehow? And if I get rid of it, how long before I can plant another blueberry plant there safely?

Sorry to hear that your blueberries are not doing well. As for my plants, I dug them up and grow them in the container so I can amend the soil more easily.

I notice there are quite a few Japanese honeysuckle vines growing by your blueberries. Maybe originating from the chain link fence in the background. Watch out because they will take over and eeven strangle your plants.

You could try trimming it back to a few inches from the ground and see if that stimulates new healthier growth from the roots.

May Lotito wrote:
I notice there are quite a few Japanese honeysuckle vines growing by your blueberries. Maybe originating from the chain link fence in the background. Watch out because they will take over and eeven strangle your plants.

It is a never-ending battle! That area had no grass when I first went to sheet mulch two years ago. It was just a mat of honeysuckle, English ivy, and Virginia creeper vines. I can't tell where the originating mother roots are to dig them up because the vines are everywhere. Every time I try to pull or dig them up, they break off before I can get the entire root.

Jenny Wright wrote:You could try trimming it back to a few inches from the ground and see if that stimulates new healthier growth from the roots.

Thanks! I'll try that. Not much to lose since the plant appears mostly dead already.

Hi. Have you tried testing the pH of the soil or at least adding an acidifier and soaking it in well? The leaves definitely do not look like they are uptaking the nutrients they need from the soil to me, which is what happens when the pH is off enough. The acidifier will take a while to work too. It may take a couple months.