Why aren't my blueberries turning blue?

[OwlandBear]

I'm new to blueberrying, and I'm sure I missed a step somewhere, but my blueberry plants (I have two, of two different varietals) have had scads of berries on them for a month or more, but they aren't ripening. What do I need to know?

 

[emma p]

My blueberries take a long time to ripen... Maybe if to much time passes you should check the soil to see if they are getting the right minerals?

 

[Arielle]

I grew up in blueberry country-- Maine!! Blueberries take a long time to ripen, usually in mid summer in Maine. Earlier here in Massachusetts. THe start as tiny hard green berries with a flower end that still looks like tiny green petals. OVer time they will get larger and larger, eventuallly, turn redder, then darker as they start turning dark blue. May or may not have the silvery coating that rubs off. ( THe silvery coating is fine to eat-- just tha some varietals have it and some dont) SO some berrries finish with a dark blue berry covered in a thin silvery sheen.

Blueberries like acidic soils. Can be amended to be acidic, think peat.

Oh, the birds will steal them?? Plan on covering them if you can with netting-- the birds know when they are ripe and will eat every one before you can pick it. lol Ask me how I know, lol, we have many wild buches here and I get only about 10 berries each year. lol