Fruits | The Blueberry | Planting and Site Selection |
The Care for Blueberry Bushes is minimal yet some maintenance is required.
Blueberry bushes need at least one inch of water per week. However, tap
water can raise the pH of soil and may also contain trace minerals that
damage blueberry roots. When rainfall isn’t plentiful, the solution to
watering blueberries is to use saved rainwater whenever possible and only
use tap water when absolutely necessary.
A two to three inch mulch of wood chips, sawdust, oak leaves, or shredded
bark also helps maintain soil acidity and conserve moisture.
Avoid fertilizers that make soil alkaline. Also, avoid using concentrated
fertilizers, since they may burn the roots of your plants. Soybean or
cottonseed meal, at 2 pounds per 100 square feet, is ideal. Alternatively,
small plantings benefit from fertilization with an organic azalea fertilizer
or one specially formulated for acid-loving plants.
Your new planting will likely not blossom until the second year. During the
first blossoming year, you need to remove all blossoms. This allows your
bushes to become firmly established and develop healthier root systems that
result in stronger plants overall.
In addition, blossom removal from tall types of blueberries encourages vegetative growth that develops the canopy needed to support heavy harvests in later years.
Diseases and Pests
Possibly the biggest pests to blueberries are the birds we work so hard
to attract to our gardens. Birds love blueberries and can quickly eat an
entire crop of an unprotected planting. Protect blueberries from birds with
bird proof netting.
Draping a net over each bush offers some protection, but birds still may fly
under the nets. Since blueberries ripen over a period of three weeks, the
ideal protection for your bushes is a walk-in blueberry cage, which is a
light frame built around your bushes.
The frame serves as a support for the net and also lets you secure the net to
block off all entrances to birds, still allowing room to enter and harvest your
blueberries. Completely remove the net after harvest.
Young branches of blueberry bushes are also a wintertime delicacy for
rabbits and other small rodents. A simple fence of chicken wire can curtail
their activity. However, be sure the fence is tall enough to keep small animals
out when snow is deep.
Insects are generally not a problem and most diseases can be easily
prevented with careful pruning.
--> Pruning Blueberry Bushes