All About Growing
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Blueberry plants grow to an average height of 4-6 feet tall. They are shrub like and can be used in your lawn as an ornamental bush. You can also buy dwarf varieties that grow just 2 feet tall. Perfect for growing in containers or next to a patio.
Plants require full sun with moist acidic soil.
Soil Requirements
Blueberries need to be grown in soil with a pH of 4.8. A pH of 5.0 is too high. Berry suppliers reccomend you have your soil tested and amended prior to planting. To do this, you could contact your local Cooperative Extention office for information on how to test your soil. I have, in the past, sent in a sample of my soil to be tested by our state ag office. The analysis gave me more infomation than I needed. For this project I'm just going purchase an inexpensive pH kit from our local hardware store and then I will adjust the soil accordingly.
Planting
Space Blueberry plants 4-5 feet apart. Plant at least 2 different varieties for the best yeild of fruit. Put plants in 1' X 1' holes and cover the roots up to the natural soil line on the plant. Mulch heavily with bark or straw to keep the roots moist.
Be sure to remove all the flowers during the first year. Do not allow the berries to develop because they will restrict the shoot growth. You want all of the plants energy to go to the roots and branches. You will not need to prune branches for the first several years.
Harvest will begin in the 2nd or 3rd year and continue for at least a decade.
An added bonus - the shrub like plants leaves turn brilliant red in the fall. Wow, ornamental and tasty!
Ordering Blueberry Plants
I have ordered my blueberry plants from a catalog. They had several varieties for zone 3. I live in Minnesota, USA . (I could plant zone 4 plants but I want to be sure my blueberry plants survive through our coldest winters.) I ordered Patriot, Bluecrop, Healthy Rubel, and Semi-Dwarf Northland. I will keep you updated on my experience with these varieties.
UPDATE
I just received my blueberry order. Everything was nicely packed and looked very healthy! The blueberry plants have nice full roots and are approximately 20" or more tall. Each plant was clearly marked with an attached plastic nursery tag so there was no guessing. I planted them per the instructions. I had also ordered a bag of blueberry food that I applied during planting. I then encouraged them to grow by chanting "grow babies!, grow!". So, hopefully they will do well. I will continue to update you on their progress.
UPDATE
The blueberry plants are all doing well! No berries yet, but I don't expect any for two years. In the past couple of months, I have seen several types of blueberry plants available at local garden centers. They are in 1 and 2 gallon containers and already have berries! Definitely worth looking at verses ordering bare root like I did.
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