Blueberries include several species of flowering, fruiting shrubs within the Vaccinium genus, all native to North America. Blueberry bushes have pointed, oblong leaves that are leathery to the touch, turning an excellent red within the fall. The flowers appear in clusters of small, white, bell-shaped blooms in late spring, resulting in deliciously edible berries that ripen from green to a deep purple-blue. Relatives within the Vaccinium genus include the bilberry, cranberry, huckleberry, and lingonberry.

Cultivated blueberries are continually being bred for higher yields, heat and cold tolerance, and better pest resistance. Still, some people prefer the blueberries that grow wild in forests and fields. Wild berries are smaller, and it’ll take you a short time to select enough for a pie, but many of us find them the sweetest to eat.

Blueberries are best planted in early spring. Be patient: Three-year-old plants may produce alittle harvest, but a meaningful harvest may take as long as six years.

How to Plant Blueberries

When selecting blueberry bushes, the simplest choice is bare-root plants that are 2 to three years old. Older plants suffer more transplant shock and can still take a couple of years to start producing large harvests. you’ll mix some sphagnum into your planting hole to stay the soil loose, acidic, and well-draining.

Blueberries are self-fertile, except for best pollination, plant quite one cultivar. Blueberry plants should be spaced during a row about 4 to five feet apart; adjacent rows should be spaced 9 to 10 feet apart, which can provide many room for harvesting. For bare-root plants, spread the roots out into a prepared hole, then cover them with soil amended with organic material. For container-grown bushes, plant them about 1 inch deeper than they were within the nursery pot.

Mulch after planting. Evergreen wood chips, like pine or cedar, sawdust, and pine needles will help keep the soil acidified.

Plant Care

Light

Blueberry plants need full sun to grow and fruit well, and to avoid common diseases.

Soil

Blueberries like very acidic soil, with a soil pH within the range of 4.0 to 5.2.1 They also like soil rich in organic matter. If your garden has heavy clay soil, blueberries will fare better in raised beds. Sandy soil is preferable to dense, clay soil.

To get the proper soil pH for growing blueberries, it’s best to amend the soil the season before you plan to plant. Garden sulfur or aluminum sulfur are often mixed into the highest 6 inches of soil to lower the pH as required . If you’ve got your soil tested at a garden center or your local extension office, they’re going to be ready to tell you ways much sulfur you’ll need. It’s knowing retest your soil before actually planting, to form sure you’ve achieved the results you were after. Continue amending and tweaking the soil periodically, since soil tends to revert to its original pH.

Water

Be sure the plants get deep watering a minimum of once per week. Blueberries are shallow-rooted and with a minimum of a few inches of water hebdomadally, more during dry spells.

Temperature and Humidity

The temperature needs of blueberry bushes vary consistent with the species. the normal highbush types prefer humid air and a chilly winter climate, but the kinds bred for southern gardens don’t tolerate freezing temps. Most types prefer a reasonably sheltered location, shielded from strong winds.

Fertilizer

Don’t fertilize your blueberries in their first year. The roots are sensitive to salt until the plants are established. Ammonium sulfate is typically used as a fertilizer for blueberries, as against the aluminum sulfur wont to lower the pH. But you’ll use any fertilizer for acid-loving plants, including blueberry food and azalea food.

It’s not uncommon for blueberry leaves to start to yellow or look chlorotic. Although this is often usually a symbol of iron deficiency, it’s probably not caused by a scarcity of iron within the soil. More likely, this symptom is telling you that the soil pH is just too high and therefore the blueberry plants cannot access the iron that’s already there. If you see yellowing progressing, have your soil pH tested, and make adjustments.

Blueberry Varieties

There are four main sorts of blueberries grown in home gardens. Plant breeders keep improving the vigor and disease resistance of fruit trees, so it’s hard to recommend varieties without updating them every season. The varieties mentioned here are old favorites. ask your local Cooperative Extension office for the foremost current recommendations for your area.

For colder northern climates, these are the most varieties:

• Highbush (Vaccinium corymbosum) may be a 6-foot shrub hardy from Zone 4 to Zone 7. this is often the foremost common and most efficient sort of blueberry. Varieties good for cold winters include ‘Bluecrop’, ‘Blueray’, ‘Herbert’, ‘Jersey’, and ‘Meader’. Types known for giant berries include ‘Berkeley’, ‘Bluecrop’, ‘Blueray’, ‘Coville’, ‘Darrow’, and ‘Herbert’. there’s also a spread that produces pink blueberries, ‘Pink Lemonade’.
• Lowbush (Vaccinium angustifolium) are bushes compatible for the coldest climates, as far north as zone 3. they need a way different growth habit, growing just one foot approximately and spreading during a creeping fashion. Native to the northeast U.S. and southern Canada, the berries have a waxy covering that creates the fruit to look grayish. These are sometimes considered “wild” blueberry, and there aren’t many named cultivars available.
• Half-high blueberries are recent breeding development, including varieties developed by crossing highbush and lowbush species. Most of those were developed in Minnesota and Michigan and grow 18 to 48 inches high. Popular cultivars include ‘North Country’, ‘Northblue’, and “Northland’. The berries are typically a touch less sweet than highbush blueberries, but they work well in pies, jams and jams, and preserves.

For warmer southern climates, consider these more popular choices:

• Rabbiteye (Vaccinium virgatum), was previously categorized as rabbiteye blueberry. It is grown mostly within the southeastern US. Growing the maximum amount as 15 feet tall requires two or more varieties so as to pollinate correctly. Recommended varieties include ‘Powderblue’, ‘Woodard’, and ‘Brightwell’. ‘Delite’ is another good late-bearing variety. Rabbiteye blueberries are good choices for gardens in zones 7 to 9.
• Southern highbush (hybrids of V. virgatum, V. corymbosum, or V. arrow ii) is taken into account somewhat hard to grow, but several cultivars are popular for southern gardens, including ‘Emerald’, ‘Windsor’, and ‘Springhigh’. These are shorter, 3- to 6-foot-tall bushes with a 4- to 5-foot spread. they’re grown in zones 7 to 10.

Harvesting

Most blueberry plants will start to supply alittle harvest by their third year, but won’t begin to supply fully until about their sixth year. Mature blueberry bushes produce about eight quarts of berries per bush. It’s possible to increase your blueberry harvest by planting early, mid-and late-season varieties, rather than all one variety.

The only reliable thanks to knowing if blueberries are able to pick is to taste one or two. Blueberries are their sweetest if allowed to remain on the plant a minimum of every week after turning blue.

Pruning

As with all berries and fruits, blueberries will continue producing their best if they’re maintenance-pruned. within the first two years, remove any flowers that appear. Your plants will get bigger and more vigorous due to this. Berries are produced on branches in their second year of growth, so it’s important to be constantly renewing the blueberry.

You can leave the flowers on for the third year. You won’t get many berries, but no pruning is important until the fourth year.

Beginning within the fourth year, prune your blueberry bushes in early spring, while they’re still dormant. Prune out any dead or injured branches, any crossing branches, and any weak, spindly branches. The goal is to open up the bush in order that light can reach the berries within the middle of the bush.

Maintenance pruning in subsequent years aims at cutting down the older branches to encourage new growth. crop the oldest, thickest branches to close ground level and prune back branches that have gotten too long or that are growing too thin. Older branches will look gray; newer branches will have more of a reddish tinge.

Berries form on the fruiting spurs of side branches. The flower buds are going to be larger, plumper, and rounder than the pointed leaf buds.

Propagating Blueberries

Like many woody shrubs, blueberries are often propagated by taking softwood cuttings and rooting them. In early spring, choose a healthy shoot and stop the last 5 inches of growth from the tip of the stem. Remove about the highest two or three leaves, and plant the cutting immediately during a moist growing medium. Grow it during a sheltered location until the cutting develops an honest network of roots.

It is also possible to propagate blueberries by planting seeds found inside the berries, or by transplanting suckers that appear at the bottom of the bush.

Common Pests and Diseases

By far the most important problem growing blueberries is keeping away birds. Netting are often successful if you’ve got only a couple of bushes, but if you’ve got an outsized blueberry garden, think about using a bird deterrent that sends out a bird-in-distress call, which can repel birds.

Insects to get on the lookout for include: blueberry tip borer, cherry fruit worm, cranberry fruit worm, and plum curculio. If these are common pests in your area, ask your local extension for the prescribed deterrents and coverings .

There are some fungal diseases which will affect blueberries, including mildew and leaf spot diseases.2 Your best defense is to plant genetically resistant varieties. It also helps to offer your plants many space permanently air circulation, plant fully sun, pack up any fallen debris, and replace the mulch annually, therefore the spores cannot over-winter within the area. If you ought to experience problems, you’ll got to use a fungicide labeled to be used on edible plants.

Some other common blueberry diseases to stay an eye fixed out for include:2

• Anthracnose: This fungal disease spreads rapidly in damp weather. Symptoms are bright pink clusters of spores on the developing berries.
• Botrytis: Another fungus that thrives in damp conditions, botrytis will cause the fruit to shrivel and decay.
• Canker: Fusicoccom (Godronia): This disease begins within the lower parts of the canes. You’ll notice small reddish spots which will enlarge into a bullseye. If left untreated, they’re going to eventually circle and girdle the cane, causing it to die back.
• Mummy berry: this is often one of the more serious diseases to affect blueberries. Mummy berry is caused by a fungus. the primary signs of infestation are the blackening of the flower clusters, which eventually die. Because it’s a fungus, the spores can linger and infect the remaining blossoms. The resulting fruit turns tan and hard, looking like mummified berries.
• Twig blights (Phomopsis): blight can begin looking very almost like a canker. As blight progresses, it also can affect the crown, smaller branches, and twigs also causing leaf spotting.

How to Grow Blueberries in Pots

Blueberries are popular in home gardens because they will grow during a small space, even in containers. In fact, they’re one among the simplest berries to grow in containers. Some good varieties for containers include:

• ‘Dwarf Northblue’, a mid-season bush that grows 20 to 24 inches
• ‘Dwarf Tophat‘, an 18- to 20-inch late-bearing bush that needs no pollinator
• Bushel and Berry series, including the cultivars ‘Jelly Bean’ and ‘Pink Icing’