How can I water blueberries without losing a flower?

Question

Whenever I water my new blueberry bushes they seem to lose some flowers for some reason.

How can I water them without losing the flowers?

Answer 1

Blueberry bushes need consistently moist soil. To avoid breaking the flowers, and to keep them healthy, they should be watered at the root level. According to this site about growing blueberries, the best choice is a soaker hose. Although I don't grow blueberries, I use soakers on various annuals, perennials and bushes, and absolutely love them! They're easy to use, very efficient and comparable in price to good quality regular hoses. Most are made of a mesh-type material. When turned on, the water seeps through the pores of the hose, distributing a constant supply directly to the roots. There's no flower or fruit breakage, and you can be assured that the water is being delivered where it's needed. That doesn't always happen when watering from above, or even from the sides, as runoff from the plant can go in different directions, not always landing on the part of the roots that need it most.

Soaker hoses are very versatile. They're round, pliable and can easily be formed into various shapes. You can lay them along rows of plants, bend them to curve in numerous directions, and wrap them around roots. For plants that need mulch, including blueberries, just bury the hose under the mulch. As the circumference is the same, they can be cut and attached by couplings to regular hoses. I love that feature, because I don't always need water everywhere. The regular hose carries the water to the soaker, so there's no water waste. An excellent product choice is this Snip-n-Drip System, although with a few tools, you can make the same system yourself.

Further information and instructions for use can be found here, and here.