Blueberries Plants
Do Not Let Them Fruit The First Year!
Blueberries plants need to be established before you allow them to bear fruit. In the spring, promote root and vegetative maturity by taking out all flower clusters. On the second year, allow a few flower clusters to remain so that you can have some fruit in the third year. In their fourth or fifth year, your blueberries plants may have a full crop.
Propagation
Hardwood Cuttings
- Select a well-hardened, vigorous one-year stem with healthy leaf buds. The stem should be approximately a fourth of an inch in diameter
- Cut with a clean sharp knife, at a 45° angle, barely above the node of a mature stem. A node is where a new leaf grows. Your cuttings should have somewhere between two to five nodes.
- Remove from the lower half of the stem any branches, needles, and leaves
- With the knife, remove the outer bark on the first half inch of the cutting
- Squirt some water into a clear plastic bag. Place the cutting inside the bag and store in the refrigerator
- Wash your propagation containers in warm soapy water. Rinse very well.
- Stick the cut end into the pot but leave one or two nodes above the soil.
Planting the Blueberries Plants
- The best time to plant blueberries plants is in the early spring.
- Choose a location that has well-drained sandy loam soil with plenty of organic matter, full sunlight and protection from strong winds. If necessary, build a windbreak. Avoid a place subject to early frost.
- Blueberries plants need acidic soil with pH of 4.5 to 5.2. It is best to have your soil tested at your local extension office. Follow the recommendations in the report.
- Prepare garden beds eight to ten feet in between. The planting hole should be about two times the size of the plant root ball. Set aside the removed soil.
- Raised beds are better if you have poor soil drainage. Make the beds at least one foot high and about four feet wide.
- Mix one part of the removed dirt with one part of premoistened (not wet) peat moss and well-rotted compost. Peat moss is a very important ingredient for your soil to grow blueberries plants. Always incorporate peat moss into the soil.
- Remove all broken, weak, or dead branches. Place the blueberries plant a little deeper than they were planted in the container and fill the cavity with the soil mixture.
- Do not fertilize at the time of planting, but do irrigate the plants quite well right after planting.
- Space the blueberries plant about two-and-one-half feet apart if you want a hedgerow, or six feet apart if you want them as individual plants. If in rows, eight to ten feet depending on the equipment you are using.
- Place about four inches of mulch to cover the roots and preserve moisture and prevent weeds.
- You will need to keep the root zone moist throughout the growing season. Irrigate regularly. Blueberries plants require about two inches of water per week during the growing period.
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