Blueberry leaves "burning" from the edges in

Hi -- I planted three blueberry bushes last fall (three different varieties, but I didn't label which was which). They made it through the spring just fine, with some leaf yellowing during their time of fastest growth, but they recovered from that. Now, almost overnight, all the leaf edges have turned brown on one plant and the brown is creeping toward the middle of the leaves. The same problem is starting on a few branches on the other two plants.

Someone asked this same question on another garden forum last week, and got answers ranging from "too wet", "too dry", "too hot", to "too much nitrate fertilizer". Is there any more consensus here? I can't believe it's "too wet" -- the weather has been hot and dry here for several weeks. I haven't fertilized them with anything other than the occasional spritz of Spray-n-Grow.

If the problem is "too dry" or "too hot" and the leaves are toast, will the bush just hang out in a dormant state till next year? Or is it probably done for?

(And why is fruit-growing so &*#% difficult? The closest I've found to an unkillable plant-it-and-forget-it fruit bush is goumi -- but alas, my kids don't like goumi, so that takes away half the fun of growing it.)

I grow my blueberries in pots. As such, they are often get stressed from lack of water if I misjudge when they need to be watered. I have seen what you describe as what happens when they don't get enough water. BB's are strong plants and don't give much sign of needing water before you have a problem. I really don't notice mine wilting at all, but when not enough water, the leaves will start to brown like you describe. If it goes too long, you can lose all of the leaves. The plants can and do recover at this point, but only if they do not go through another period of drought. The statet of the stems will tell the tale. If they lose their "green" you may lose the plant. however, you could still get some growth from the roots next year if you maintain the watering.

the bush will not remain dormant until next year but will start new leaves this season if it is caught in time and does not die.

Regarding goumi, the weather here seems to kill mine on a regular basis. Even though hardy enough for this area, we seem to get an early thaw every couple of years that causes them to leaf out, then the inevitible hard frosts kills the leaves and the plants do not leaf out again.

Have you tried gooseberries or ground cherries? GB's are sturdy and stodgy plants, but need an occasional fungicidal spray for black spot. Ground cherries self seed (they are an annual), but will drop fruit if not enough water. Even the dropped, unripe fruit will produce plants next year, so you have minimal investment and won't lose an expensive plant that you've coddled for years. You would need to dedicate a space and pull the weeds. Kids like them because the ripe fruit is contained in a paper bag.

Small fruits really are not that difficult. However, the most fun comes from trying to protect your harvest from fruit eating birds, such as robins(which ignore ground cherries here). So keep trying, it gets easier or we get smarter, not sure which.

And water those blueberries regularly during hot, dry spells.