Blueberry is a low and strongly branched berry shrub from the heather family. It easily and unpretentiously tolerates winter frosts, blueberries can be found in the Arctic Circle. In the wild, it grows in mixed or coniferous forests, most often in the latter. In general, this neighborhood is not accidental. Like pine, blueberries thrive best on acidic soils with close ground water. It is also a shade-loving shrub, so it should be planted under the canopy of trees that can provide permanent partial shade under them.
Planting Blueberries
Before planting blueberries, you should prepare in advance the area where it will grow in the future. Usually the garden soil is not acidic enough, so premature planting of blueberry bushes in unprepared soil can lead to yellowing of the leaves, stopping the development and even to the death of the plant. For successful cultivation, pits with a size of 150×150 cm (4.9×4.9 feet) and a depth of 60 cm (2 feet) are prepared for each bush. The excavated soil from the pits is mixed with peat crumbs (the ratio is 2: 1), for further acidification of the soil, we add powdered sulfur. However, if possible, you can add kitchen cleaners and oak leaves, as well as river sand on heavy soils. Such preparation is carried out in advance, the main thing is that before planting the prepared soil settles in the pits. For example, if you planned to plant blueberry bushes in October, the soil should be prepared no later than September.
Blueberries are planted in spring or autumn, the bushes are planted best in autumn, from October to early November, take root. The best option for planting will be two-or three-year-old bushes with a clod of earth on the roots. The root ball before planting should be moist: bushes planted with dry roots, in most cases, do not survive and die. Before planting in pre-prepared soil, we dig a recess the size of a root ball, where we plant a bush. During planting, loosen the soil on the root ball and carefully straighten the roots. Then we fill the hole, seal the feet around the planted bush with our feet and water it abundantly. If possible, mulch the ground at the landing site, as mulch you can take fallen leaves, sawdust or peat. If you are replanting old bushes (older than 3 years), then after planting, you need to cut the branches to a height of 20 cm (7.9 inches) – this will help the bush to better take root in a new place.
Bilberry reproduction
Blueberries are propagated by seeds or by dividing the bush.
Reproduction of bilberry seeds
First you need to get the blueberry seeds. To do this, knead the ripe berries and mix the resulting gruel with a large amount of water. After mixing, empty seeds and berries remain, which merge together with the water. Do this until the water is clear. As a result, we will have seeds suitable for planting at the bottom of the vessel. They are then (before drying) planted in pots or boxes filled with peat. Shoot the shoots after a few weeks. In winter, containers with seedlings should be moved to a bright room, where the temperature is maintained at 5-10 ° C (41-50°F). In the spring, blueberry seedlings dive, and then plant. Seedlings are planted only for the next year.
Bilberry propagation by dividing the bush
When propagating by dividing the bush in the fall, the mother plant is dug up and divided into partial bushes, it is desirable that up to 5 intact buds remain on each of them. Planting in the ground is the same as for 2 – or 3-year-old bushes.
Blueberry care
Pruning
Regular pruning of blueberries is necessary from the age of 3-4 years. First, the damaged, dried or diseased branches are removed. Ideally, each bush should consist of 6-8 healthy branches, which will be the skeleton of the bush.
In order for the plant to give healthy and strong shoots, we cut off the old branches (older than 4 years) to a height of 20 cm (7.9 inches). If the bush gave a lot of side shoots with buds, they must be completely cut off. The berries on them are small and ripen late.
Shrubs older than 15 years are also subject to complete pruning to a height of 20 cm (7.9 inches) above the ground. This will rejuvenate the bush and help maintain its yield.
The best time to prune blueberry bushes is the beginning of spring, as long as there is no frost. Although pruning can be done during the entire growing season of blueberries, late pruning (especially when blueberries are in bloom) will result in lower yields.
Watering
Watering blueberries requires regularity, but not abundance. The main thing is that the soil under the bushes is moist. Excess moisture can lead to diseases of the bushes (for example, root rot).
Top dressing
To get the best harvest, blueberry bushes need to be fed with both organic and mineral fertilizers. Organic fertilizers, such as compost, manure or peat, are applied to the bushes every 3 years at 3-4 kg per sq. m (6.6-8.8 lb). As mineral fertilizers, superphosphate, superphosphate of potassium, magnesium and ammonium are used. If the acidity of the soil is low, again, it is advisable to add powdered sulfur (50-60 g/1.8-2.1 oz for each bush annually). But with high-quality mulching with sawdust of the soil under the bushes, this can be done without it-such mulch itself well regulates the reaction of the soil.
Harvesting
You can pick blueberries from mid-June to early September. The fruits ripen unevenly, so they are collected several times, every 5-10 days. For the collection, choose blue-purple, black berries. They will ripen in 7-8 days after they change color. These berries are the most juicy, sweet and fragrant. In order not to damage the berries when they are collected, they are not cut off, but slightly twisted, gripping at the same time with your thumb and index finger. The crop can be stored at zero temperature for up to 6 weeks.
To keep blueberries as long as possible, there is another proven storage method. To do this, take a glass container that is calcined in the oven for several hours. These bottles are filled with blueberries, carefully cleaned of various debris and leaves. Then we seal the bottles and fill them with wax. In cool and dark rooms, berries in such bottles will remain fresh for a very long time.