Dormant Blueberries

Question

Is it common for blueberry bushes to go dormant. . . meaning that they have produced fruit every year for four years, but one of the bushes has little or no fruit this year, just some dried looking berries where the fruit should be. The plant still looks healthy and it hasn’t been damaged. The other plants in the row seem to have a normal amount of berries. The plant has about six canes growing actively.

Answer 1

Any fruiting plant can “take a year off” from producing, especially after they have been stressed. If this bush is on the end, it is very likely that it is exposed to elements the others are not, such as winds, direct sun and frost. All of these at the wrong time or too much can stress the plant and affect its ability to fruit.

Pests and disease can also stress a plant and make it difficult for it to fruit. A plant will sacrifice their fruit in order to refocus its energy on fighting off these problems. Because of this, I would recommend that you treat the plant with a pesticide and a fungicide, just as a precaution. I personally like neem oil as it is both a fungicide and a pesticide and is safe for people, pets and bees.