Growing Blueberries

 

• Ideal Soil pH: 4.5

• Ideal Climate: Can do well in many climates, but prefers rainy regions

• Daily sunlight for mature bushes: 5 to 8 (more sunlight usually means more berries)

• Watering mature bushes: 2 - 3 times a week (about 1 inch per week)

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**Note that starting from seed can take 2 to 4 years before bushes provide substantial amounts of berries. 

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Step 1: Plant Blueberries in Pots or in Garden?

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Blueberries need soils that drain well, so silty sand or sandy sandy soils are ideal. If your native soils have a high clay content then you should plant in containers or raised beds.

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Pros of Pots: 

• Easier to protect your bushes from birds and harmful insect given that pot are easy to move 

• Blueberries grown in pots are also less prone to disease and root rot

• Easier to manage soil moisture

Cons of Pots

• May need to transfer bushes to larger pots as they get bigger

• Pots can restrict the overall size of the bush

• Have to purchase pots (extra cost)

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Pros of planting in the ground:

• Less money (don't need to purchase pots)

• More room for bushes to mature to larger sizes that produce more berries

• Can take advantage of your native soils if they are already meet the criteria for growing blueberries

Cons of planting in the ground:

• Harder to move to a protected area of problems with birds and insects arise

• More difficult to control moisture levels in the surrounding soil

• Could have more exposure to diseases and weeds

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Step 2: Where to get your Blueberry Seeds

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**If you are starting with a bush from a nursery skip to Step 5.

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Seeds of your desired blueberry variety can be bought at nurseries, home improvement stores, or online. You can also crush store bought blueberries and separate the  seeds from the fruit, but I advise against this and I'll explain why. When taking seeds out of store bought blueberries there is a good chance that the resulting bush will have berries different from and often inferior to the parent berry. Blueberry bushes take quite a bit of invested time and once mature they will produce lots of berries for years to come. So if you are going to put in the time to cultivate a blueberry bush that you are hoping to take berries from for many year, BUY THE SEEDS OF THE VARIETY YOU WANT to ensure you get good berries! Like I said earlier there are lots of places to get seeds and they are actually very cheap.

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Step 3: How to germinate Blueberry Seeds

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Start the germination process inside around late winter/early spring. Plant seeds in a tray or small containers that are at least 3 inches deep and filled with sphagnum peat moss or a seed starter mix. Place the seeds on top of the 3 inches (minimum) of peat moss/starter mix and lightly cover with only 1/8th to 1/4th inch of peat moss/starter mix. Keep the trays or containers in a warm location with lots of direct sunlight and keep them moist. It can take anywhere from 1 to 3 months for the germination process to be completed so be patient, this is why we recommend starting your seed early on before growing season. 

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Step 4: Transfer Blueberry Seedlings to pots

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Once the seedlings are about 4 inches tall, transfer them out of the peat moss/start mix and into 1-gallon pots filled with a mixture of potting soil and an acid plant food (weak solution). Feed the plants once every week with this weak solution of acid plant food until the plants are around 8 inches tall. Be careful not to damage the root system when making this transfer. Keep the plants in their 1-gallon pots, maintaining moist soil and applying a monthly acid plant food application, until they are 1 to 2 years old. Bring the pots inside or to a warmer spot over winter and cover the top of the soil with pine needles or another acidic mulch.

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Step 5: Preparing Soil for new Blueberry Bush Location

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If planting in the ground: 

Blueberries need good drainage so ideally you want to plant in silty sand or sandy soils. If you have high clay content then plant in raised beds or containers. Test your native soil's pH in the location you plan to plant. If the soil pH is between 5.0 - 7.0, mix 5 inches of acidic peat and 1 inch of pine needles into the top 8 inches of your soil. It is best to do this the fall before the growing season (spring) that you plan to transplant your blueberry plants into the ground. This gives your soil 6 to 8 months to break down organic matter and stabilize itself. If your native soil is above a pH of 7.0 then plan on constructing raised beds where you can import low pH soil and more easily maintain/adjust pH levels over the years.

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If planting in pots:

If planting in pots I would recommend buying the acidic potting soil (this is easiest). If you are cheap like me, you can just buy enough to fill up all your pots halfway and then buy cheap regular potting soil (or take soil from your backyard if it is a good loam) and mix the two together with some pine needles if you can get your hands on some. If you are really cheap and want to take soil out of your backyard and slowly raise it with organic matter and mulches in your pots then give it a shot! It can certainly be done but may take more time, check out our tips on lowering soil pH  on our Soils in the Garden page.

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Step 6: Planting Blueberry Bushes

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If planting in the ground:

Dig a hole that is the size of your root ball and carefully place your blueberry plant in it without damaging the roots. Replace the soil that was dug up, filling in around the roots gently. Give the plant a thorough initial watering. If planting multiple bushes make sure they are 5 to 6 feet apart and if planting multiple rows, make sure the rows are 8 to 10 feet apart.

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If planting in pots:

Dig a hole that is the size of your root ball and carefully place your blueberry plant in it without damaging the roots. Replace the soil that was dug up, filling in around the roots gently. Give the plant a thorough initial watering.

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Step 7: Watering Blueberry Bushes

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For the first year you want to water your blueberry plants regularly, keeping the soil rather moist. In general blueberry bushes need about 1.5 inches of water a week for the first year. After the first year they need will need around 1 inch of water during the growing season, which is a light watering about 2 - 3 times a week (water, let the soil get mostly dried out, then water again).

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Step 8: Harvesting your Blueberries

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Your bushes should start producing large enough berries to harvest once it is 2 or 3 years old. You will know the berries are ready to harvest because when you go to pick them they will practically fall into your hand with a gentle shake or tug.

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Step 9: Blueberries Yearly Maintenance

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At the end of every growing season (fall) measure the pH of the soil around your blueberry bushes, if it is starting to slip above 5.0 to 5.2 then lay down some acidic peat, pine needles, or both, and let is sit over the winter. If you are still struggling to keep you pH down or notice that the leaves are yellowing during the growing season, you can always add acidic plant food for a couple weeks until the plants start to look healthy again. You can always reference all our methods for lowering soil pH (or raising soil pH if for some reason you soil drops below 4.0) on our Soils in the Garden page.