As is often recommended, I've been fertilizing my blueberry bushes with coffee grounds. Twice yearly, in early Spring and Fall, for about seven years. Wow. I just realized I planted those bushes seven years ago! Time, whoosh!
Last year I noticed the berries seemed to be getting more and more tart each year, losing not only sweetness but any true blueberry flavor. I decided to experiment with stopping the coffee grounds.
So, I skipped the coffee in Fall 2012 and Spring 2013. And, interestingly, the berries do seem sweeter this year. It's hard to say though because we've also had odd weather -- an excessively wet spring, followed by a sudden shift to unusually hot (90+) weather.
Is it lack of coffee, or the extra water followed by extra heat that caused the sweetness?
Can't say, but I think will continue the no coffee rule at least through the next growing season.
same activities and results here: they ripened very fast this year and they are sweet.
ReplyDeletei can't actually remember when we stopped mulching with coffee grounds, but another friend said the add-coffee-grounds-to-make-the-soil-acid trick for blueberries was a myth. she argued that the grounds themselves aren't acidic; brewed coffee is.
i googled and found this: http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=793
i'd be curious how the ph in a soil sample from your blueberry bed compares to one elsewhere in your garden. not that i've ever sent a soil sample for testing before.