Growing blueberries is not that easy and requires a sure instinct and regular care of the plants – not just shortly before harvest time. Planting blueberries requires loose soil, plenty of moisture, and careful planting. In addition, attention must be paid to the correct balance of certain nutrients. The choice of the location and the preparation of the substrate determine whether blueberry cultivation will be successful at all.
Table of Contents
One or more varieties
Although blueberries are self-fruiting, the yield is always richer when several species are next to each other. The recommendation here is clearly that at least two different varieties should be selected and planted in close proximity to one another.
The rest of the work is done by the insects that pollinate the flowers.
The right location
A sunny location that is protected from extreme weather and wind is necessary for growing blueberries. Even in winter, the planting site should not be too exposed.
Sufficient and even moisture is important for this. If there is constant wind at the location, the blueberry plants will dry out and will not bear any fruit.
The suitable substrate
The substrate required is loose soil that is permeable and does not tend to become compacted or silted up. A mixture of garden soil with leaves, compost and sand is ideal. The looser and more permeable the substrate is to oxygen, the better the plants can thrive.
In addition, the substrate must be very low in lime. Just a little too much lime and the roots lose the ability to absorb important nutrients. Yellow leaves indicate this imbalance.
If you don’t know for sure whether the selected floor is correspondingly low in lime, you should test it or have it tested. Suitable test strips for this, as well as the professional testing of soil samples, can usually be found in garden centers and hardware stores
Planting the blueberries
Bringing in the plants is also crucial and requires caution. The plants must be used very flat and superficially and may only be loosely coated with substrate.
If the blueberries are brought in just a few centimeters too deep, oxygen will no longer reach the roots. The result is a – at first glance unfounded – death of the entire plant.
Since the blueberries spread out rather flat and covering the ground, there should be a distance of at least half a meter between them. With some cultivated blueberries, even 1.5 meters may be necessary. The ideal time to plant is in spring, after the last frost.
In the first year the plant needs a lot of strength to grow roots. So one harvest would damage the long-term health of the blueberry.
Watering – especially important with blueberries
Watering plays a very important and decisive role in the care of blueberries. If the plants dry out even slightly, they react very sensitively and lose not only leaves but also flowers and berries.
So here you really have to water reliably and regularly. Even immediately after planting. The substrate must be kept moist at all times. But it still needs some way of running. Blueberries can tolerate occasional waterlogging, but this makes them more susceptible to rot and other diseases.
Persistent moisture can also ensure that the oxygen supply to the roots is restricted. So it is important to find a healthy mediocrity.
Which water is tolerated?
Since blueberries are very sensitive to lime, the irrigation water must of course be correspondingly soft – i.e. low in lime.
In some places the tap water may be sufficient for this. However, this is often too hard. If this is the case, only stale water that has rested in a jug or bucket for at least a week should be used. In this case, of course, not all of the water must be poured. The lower layers are rich in lime as a result of the protrusion and must therefore remain as motionless as possible.
Rainwater, on the other hand, is optimal, for example from the barrel or cistern. If these options are not available, filtered water can still be used. Due to the very high water requirement, this alternative can become expensive in the long run.
Fertilize
If you want to fertilize your own blueberries, you shouldn’t use any commercially available remedy. Because here, too, the plants are quite sensitive and demanding.
Compost and manure are only suitable as fertilizer to a very limited extent, as they often contain too much lime. It is better to use special blueberry fertilizers here.
Alternatively, rhododendron fertilizer can also be used, but here it is necessary to check whether it contains substances that are dangerous for consumption.
Spring is ideal as the first point in time for the additional supply of nutrients. The start fertilization should take place around April. Further gifts can be postponed until May.
How often and how much fertilizer is necessary for blueberries depends on the chosen remedy. It is advisable here to pay attention to the manufacturer’s instructions. In any case, it should be ensured that the plants are abundantly washed after fertilizing. As a result, the nutrients are distributed in the substrate and do not appear too concentrated. If this watering is omitted or is not given in sufficient quantity, the roots can be damaged.
To cut
Apart from the maintenance measures already mentioned, blending the blueberries is quite easy. And also requires very little effort. However, a good calendar management is necessary here, because blueberries cannot tolerate an annual cut.
Old shoots may only be cut every fourth or fifth year after planting. This is best done close to the ground. However, young shoots must be spared this intervention, otherwise it is not only the harvest that falls. The plant could also die very quickly if the cut was too radical.
Free or in the bucket?
The cultivation of blueberries can be done either freely in the garden or in the tub. In colder areas or areas with very harsh winters, the bucket culture has proven to be the better choice. Because even supposedly hardy plants can only withstand frost to a limited extent.
In the late autumn, however, they can be safely brought indoors in pots or tubs. In this way, they do not lose any strength in the winter months and are more productive in the following year.
If they are nevertheless planted freely in the garden, several protective measures are necessary. An alternative to this is to dig in the pot. This way, the blueberries can be left outside during the warmer seasons, but dug up in winter and moved to a frost-free room. Since this procedure becomes necessary every autumn and a new planting every spring, it is not particularly recommended.
Overwinter
If the blueberries are to overwinter outside, they must be covered accordingly. For example with straw, grass clippings and bark mulch. Fir pruning is also suitable. In addition, the upper parts of the blueberries must be wrapped with mat and fleece to prevent frost damage.
Wintering in the bucket, on the other hand, is very easy and hardly requires any effort. The vessels only have to be brought into a frost-free but not too warm room. With this variant, sufficient watering must also be ensured during the winter months. The pouring amount can, however, be reduced significantly.
Especially now waterlogging must be avoided urgently.
Tip for planting
If you want to start your own blueberry cultivation, you have to wait a long time for the first real yield with very young plants. The plants only show their full potential – depending on the species – after five to seven years.
It is better to use older plants. These are more expensive to buy, but well worth the investment. Depending on the age, these already bear plenty of fruit in the first year. When fully grown and fully grown, each shrub can even contain several kilograms of berries.
Multiply
The reproduction of blueberries can take place via seeds and shoots. Propagation using cuttings is quicker and easier.
For this purpose, 10cm to 15cm long tips of a healthy plant are cut off and placed directly in moist, lime-poor soil. The same substrate mixture that is used for the adult plants is ideal.
Covered with transparent film, the cuttings are placed in a warm and bright place. For example in a winter garden, a greenhouse or on sunny window sills that are free from drafts. Just like the blueberries that are already freely planted, the cuttings must be watered regularly and kept evenly moist.
The formation of roots takes a comparatively long time. The first new roots only appear after two months. However, it is also not uncommon for the training to take three or more months to complete.
The young plants are only allowed to go outside when they have several new leaves. This relocation should be done carefully and with caution.
Moving and repotting
Blueberries can bear fruit for up to 30 years, but even during that long time they do not necessarily have to be turned. At least not if they are fertilized regularly and thrive without problems.
A change of location only makes sense if the space is unsuitable or the plants are becoming narrower due to their increasing size.
A bale that is as wide as possible has to be dug out, but not particularly deep.
It may be necessary to repot in the bucket, but only if the size is no longer sufficient. The only thing that needs to be done is to protect the superficial roots.
Diseases and pests
Pests and diseases can make growing difficult. Just like birds. However, well-cared for blueberries are not particularly susceptible. Only the frost tension and rot are more common problems.
Adequate watering and a permeable substrate are required to prevent rot. The frost winder can be found on and plants during spring. Here he spans the buds and completely empties them, leaving only a shell. Affected areas must be removed and destroyed immediately. Commercially available plant protection prevents the remaining buds from being destroyed as well.
Birds like to eat the fruit directly from the plant; stretched nets help here.
Conclusion Growing
blueberries is not exactly easy and requires not only a lot of effort but also patience, if the right conditions are given, the plants reward this commitment with a rich harvest. Even if it doesn’t work without any problems straight away, the cultivation should not be given up again immediately.
