Growing Blueberries
Hello! We have been using KNF for 2 years now, I have been using the sprays/maintenance formulas and soil work drenches. Everything but my blueberries are improving. I have amended the soil with pine needles, oak leaves, peat moss and straw. I have used the soil work drenches in the spring and tried to put some down (a putrefaction drench of comfrey with the KNF soil formula). Our pH tends to be close to 7 and the soil is calcareous clay. I didn't have any new growth on them this year despite using the KNF nitrogen on them with the usual maintenance sprays. Any suggestions as to how I can grow better plants? I did add a soil acidifier too because of the higher pH. I was going to try next to add some compost, gypsum and bio char. With adding a pH reducer if needed to keep the pH lower. They are just not responding at all. Thanks for any help you can give!
The answer
It sounds to me the big thing here is soil PH being that blueberry's like very acidic soil ....there's some things we can try ...the soil acidifier is a good addition, we could also use coffee water at the start of the season to lower PH and add some nitrogen to the soil, can also try adding a organic fertilizer blend made for acid loving plants at the end of the season (there's no rule we cant add whatever we want to the soil), the hard part here is that the soil life wants to always bring the PH to neutral so in a way we have to fight it each year but still maintain a balance in soil health ....to make the coffee water (which is my go to for blueberry's each year) we just add some cheep coffee grounds into our watering can (as if we where making weak coffee to drink) and let it sit for a wile to steep then water our berries with it, coffee is acidic about a 6 and lowers the PH of the soil really well to help the blueberries flower and fruit during the season, the coffee grounds also add a bit of nitrogen to the soil ...i'v been doing this coffee method to my berries for a couple years, mine are also in pots so i can control the soil PH and soil mix a lil better for them, doing this along with using KNF methods has had good results for me
Happy Experimenting
From the KNF library
From the KNF library
Drafted by Claude from Office Hours and the books
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Sep 2026
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2 sources
Start with the clay. The library says to search 'clay' in the office hour archive at knfsupport.com, where it has been covered many times. (Office Hours Ep. 108, 1:11:10)
The library also ties feeding to growth stage. Its fruit tree pattern starts with leaf and growth, then moves to root and structure. (Cho's Solutions, p. 12) It calls the crossover between growth and reproduction the hardest period on the plant. (Cho's Solutions, p. 12)
The library says nothing about blueberries, soil pH, acidifiers, gypsum or biochar. It does not explain why a plant gives no new growth. Someone would need to look at the planting to say more.
Sources
- 1:11:10 Office Hours Ep. 108 (Jan 2024) — GMO Soil Microbes, Dog Ear Infections, Jadam Origins · “Search 'clay' in the office hour archive at knfsupport.com, since it's been covered many times before.”
- p. 12 Cho's Solutions · “Typical Usage pattern for something like fruit trees Leaf & Growth Root & Structure”
