Submerged Blueberries - Ask Extension
My blueberries were totally under water overnight from the July flooding last July. I hosed the silt off them before it dried on. The berries were nea...
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Submerged Blueberries #857345
Asked January 13, 2024, 9:27 AM EST
My blueberries were totally under water overnight from the July flooding last July. I hosed the silt off them before it dried on. The berries were nearly ripe and fell off immediately,
which I think was a good thing. Later in the season I picked around 15 lbs. of my normal 90 lbs. They were mostly eaten by me and I am still living! This spring I will add my compost and Holy Tone then rototill it in. My concern is that a small brook overflowed it's bank and deposited lots of gravel and silt on my 3 acres. The gravel/silt had no place to go because the brook runs into the Winooski River which was
8ft.above flooding. I will have the soil tested this spring. Anything else I should know?
I have 25 bushes and surround them with 4x6 frames stood side by side and top covered. This happens each spring and fall. PS even had a 4in.trout and a 3in. minnow caught at 5ft in my gill net frames. Thanks for listening, Ron Brown
Washington County Vermont
Expert Response
Hello Ron, and thank you for contacting us at the UVM Extension Master Gardener program with your question.
You and your blueberries have had quite a season...even fish in your net frames!
Based on the research our teams did this year, you have been doing all the right things for your blueberries: washing the silt off right away, discarding that first crop, preparing to test and enrich the soils again. (Eating the later crop was probably fine, as those berries were neither submerged nor splashed with the actual flood waters. Glad you experienced no ill effects!)
Below are links to the two documents that the UVM EMG Team developed after the July floods. The other two discuss possible fruit bush and root diseases that might affect plants that have been flooded for a length of time.
https://go.uvm.edu/floodededibleplants
https://go.uvm.edu/lawngardenfloodrecovery
https://ipm.missouri.edu/meg/2019/6/flood/
https://agsci.oregonstate.edu/sites/agscid7/files/horticulture/berry/berry_crops_and_flooding_12-2021.pdf
All articles mention removing as much silt as possible, then rebuilding the soil as you propose to do, following your usual routine and not drastically changing the soil mix or texture.
They also speak to keeping an eye on your bushes as they leaf out next season, watching for any wilted or raggedy leaves or slow growth in general, both of which might indicate some root rot due to the extended wet periods last summer.
Given the length of time that your plants - and your 3 acres - were completely underwater, a soil test is recommended, possibly even the additional one for heavy metal contamination. (You have the best sense of how likely you are to be downstream of urban or industrial contamination.) Those options are described within the first link above.
Please let us know if you still have additional questions.
I'll be thinking of you as we ride out the winter snows and look forward to getting back out in our gardens once spring arrives. I hope you'll be closer to your typical 90 lbs of blueberry harvest next season!
Thanks again for sharing your adventures with us,
Michelle
You and your blueberries have had quite a season...even fish in your net frames!
Based on the research our teams did this year, you have been doing all the right things for your blueberries: washing the silt off right away, discarding that first crop, preparing to test and enrich the soils again. (Eating the later crop was probably fine, as those berries were neither submerged nor splashed with the actual flood waters. Glad you experienced no ill effects!)
Below are links to the two documents that the UVM EMG Team developed after the July floods. The other two discuss possible fruit bush and root diseases that might affect plants that have been flooded for a length of time.
https://go.uvm.edu/floodededibleplants
https://go.uvm.edu/lawngardenfloodrecovery
https://ipm.missouri.edu/meg/2019/6/flood/
https://agsci.oregonstate.edu/sites/agscid7/files/horticulture/berry/berry_crops_and_flooding_12-2021.pdf
All articles mention removing as much silt as possible, then rebuilding the soil as you propose to do, following your usual routine and not drastically changing the soil mix or texture.
They also speak to keeping an eye on your bushes as they leaf out next season, watching for any wilted or raggedy leaves or slow growth in general, both of which might indicate some root rot due to the extended wet periods last summer.
Given the length of time that your plants - and your 3 acres - were completely underwater, a soil test is recommended, possibly even the additional one for heavy metal contamination. (You have the best sense of how likely you are to be downstream of urban or industrial contamination.) Those options are described within the first link above.
Please let us know if you still have additional questions.
I'll be thinking of you as we ride out the winter snows and look forward to getting back out in our gardens once spring arrives. I hope you'll be closer to your typical 90 lbs of blueberry harvest next season!
Thanks again for sharing your adventures with us,
Michelle
