Fertilizer question, please

[DonnaMarieNJ]

Hi, just a quick question, I hope.

I have fruits growing in containers and would like to know if I need INDIVIDUAL fertilizers for the following:

Fig tree
Dwarf key lime tree
raspberry plant
blueberry plant
blackberry plant

Is there ONE fertilizer I can use for all of the berry plants, or must I purchase different ones as stated in google?

What would I use for the key lime?

Thank you! (be gentle with me )

[VirginiaClay]

I don't know the answer, but I'm curious why Google thinks the various berries would need different fertilizers. I'd probably just go with Espoma Berry Tone (or any of their products that have the same approximate ingredients; there's some overlap). Or you could just use a balanced fertilizer and add an acidifier, especially for the blueberries.

Blackberries and raspberries will grow wild just about anywhere in the right climate, so I doubt they're too picky about fertilizer. Blueberries are a little more difficult but the issue is mainly soil acidity.

For my in-ground blueberry bush, I mainly use ammonium sulfate, and then occasionally (once every few years, maybe) put some Hollytone or 10-10-10 on it just because. It's a huge bush, so the Espoma products are too expensive for me to justify.

[DonnaMarieNJ]

I found this on google and I didn't want to have to buy something special for the blueberry plants, and another for the rasperry and blackberry plants, and yet something for the citrus and fig:

"Blackberries respond well to any nitrogen-rich fertilizer, but blueberries require fertilizers with an ammonium form of nitrogen such as urea, sulfur-coated urea, ammonium sulfate, or cottonseed meal. Any fertilizer sold for azaleas or rhododendrons also works well for blueberries."

I don't know if this is true, but I'm just trying to make my life easier and not spend as much money.

[VirginiaClay]

To keep it simple and cheap, I think you could use a balanced fertilizer like 10-10-10 (or any other fertilizer where the three numbers are the same) for everything except the blueberries. I'd use ammonium sulfate for the blueberries. You can get a 4-lb bag of ammonium sulfate from Ace Hardware for about $10, and it will last you years. Plus it's small, stores easily and doesn't smell bad.

We use ammonium sulfate on our blueberry bush and sometimes add elemental sulfur to acidify the soil. For our black raspberries, all we do is throw a handful or two of 10-10-10 into the patch each spring. (All of these are in-ground, not in containers.)

Blueberries will get iron chlorosis (yellowing leaves with green veins) if the soil isn't acid enough. If it happens, you'll see it -- it's obvious. Adding sulfur is the best solution but it takes awhile to be absorbed. Some people water with vinegar water; I haven't tried that.

If you haven't already planted your blueberries in their containers, choose a planting mix that isn't pH-adjusted with lime. A mix with a lot of peat will be naturally acidic, which will be good for the blueberries, so you don't want to adjust that advantage away with lime.