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Blueberries: Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Blueberries at Home | The Old Farmer's Almanac

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Blueberries

Blueberries are one of the easiest fruits to grow.

Photo Credit
Pixabay
Botanical Name
Vaccinium
Plant Type
Fruit
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Soil pH
Acidic
Bloom Time
Spring
Summer
Flower Color
White
Hardiness Zone
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Planting, Growing, Pruning, and Harvesting Blueberries

Catherine Boeckmann
April 23, 2023
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Plump, juicy blueberries aren’t just delicious. They’re high in nutrients, antioxidants, fiber, and vitamins. Fortunately, for very little effort, blueberries are easy to grow—if you have the right soil conditions. See our Blueberry Growing Guide to learn how to plant, care for, prune, and harvest your blueberry bushes.

Did you know that the modern blueberry is a 20th-century invention? Before the 1900s, the only way to enjoy these North American natives was to find them in the wild. Then, scientists started to unlock the secrets of cultivating blueberries—and we’re glad they did! 

  • A relative of rhododendron and azalea, blueberry bushes aren’t just a great fruiting plant, they’re also an attractive addition to your overall landscape, offering scarlet fall foliage and creamy-white, bell-shaped spring flowers.
  • Plus, blueberries are one of nature’s superfoods, crammed with essential nutrients, minerals and health-boosting polyphenols.

Types of Blueberries

There are four types of blueberries: highbush, lowbush, hybrid half-high, and rabbiteye.

The most commonly planted blueberry is the highbush. Most blueberry breeding has focused on this species, so there are many varieties that range widely in cold hardiness and fruit season, size, and flavor. (Read more about blueberry varieties below.)

Blueberry bush

Read Next

Planting

When to Plant Blueberry Bushes

  • Blueberries can be planted in spring or also in late fall in all but coldest regions. In Zones 5 and below, it’s best to wait until early to mid-spring to plant. 
  • If available, 1- to 3-year-old plants are a good choice. These can be bought in containers or bare-root. In either case, be sure to buy from a reputable nursery or website. 

Choosing and Preparing a Planting Site

  • Select a sunny, sheltered spot. While blueberries are tolerant of shade, better crops are obtained in the sun. At the same time, they should not be exposed to harsh, drying winds.
  • Don’t plant blueberries too close to trees, as the trees will block out sunlight, and suck up any moisture in the soil.
  • If planting multiple bushes, it’s best to plant them in a group, rather than scattered throughout your garden. This will bolster berry production and quality.
  • The blueberry is a shallow-rooted plant. Therefore, it requires a soil that holds moisture, but also drains well and doesn’t stay wet. Don’t plant blueberries in sites with heavy, clayey soils that stay wet.
  • Blueberries thrive in soil that is acidic. The soil pH should ideally be between 4.0 and 5.0; soil that isn’t acidic enough will stunt growth. Soil can be acidified by mixing a small amount of granulated sulfur into the soil several months before planting. Peat moss, and pine bark or needles, are also good additions that will help acidify your soil.
  • Mix organic matter into the soil before you set your blueberry bushes. (See more about preparing soil for planting.)

Spacing for Blueberries

How to Plant Blueberry Bushes

  • Tip: Be careful not to plant them too deeply. The rootball should be just below the surface (one-quarter to one-half inch).
  • Dig holes about 20 inches deep and 18 inches wide (or about twice as wide and twice as deep as the roots of the plant).
  • Space bushes 4–5 feet apart in a row, with at least 8 feet between rows. Prepare a planting mixture of 2 parts loam and one part oak leaf mold, peat moss, aged sawdust, or compost, and place a layer of this mixture in the bottom of the hole.
  • Set the bush in the hole with the rootball just below the surface with its roots spread out. Pack the hole tightly with soil.
  • Apply fertilizer one month after planting, not at the time of planting. Apply ½ ounce of a 10-10-10 fertilizer in a band around the plant 6 to 12 inches from the crown.

Can You Grow Blueberries in a Container?

Yes! In fact, blueberries grown in containers are easier to protect from birds and other critters, more disease resistant, easy to harvest, and easy to move if needed. Plus, if you live in an area without acidic soil, growing blueberries in containers allows you to tailor the soil pH specifically for them.

Here’s how to do it:

  • Use a large container with drainage holes.
  • Use a potting mix designed for acid-loving plants such as azaleas or rhododendrons, or mix sandy soil with peat moss and compost.
  • Plant the bush in the container and water well.
  • Add mulch on top of the soil to keep in moisture.
  • Place the pot in a sunny spot.
  • Keep soil moist.
  • In northern regions, overwinter the blueberry container in a protected area, cover it with straw or wrap it in burlap.

Varieties for Containers

  • ‘Top Hat’: Bred by the Michigan State University for small spaces and containers.
  • ‘Pink Lemonade’: Pink blueberries contain genetics from rabbiteye blueberries (a standard in the hot South). These pink berries can be planted in nearly every climate.
  • ‘Pink Champagne’: Another pink variety full of antioxidants and sweeter than blue blueberries.
'Pink Lemonade' blueberries
‘Pink Lemonade’ blueberries
Growing

How to Care for Blueberry Bushes

  • Mulch to keep shallow blueberry root systems moist, which is essential. Apply a 2- to 4-inch layer of woodchips, sawdust, or pine needles around the bush after planting, but leave a gap around the trunk of the bush to allow for proper airflow.
  • Blueberries need 1 to 2 inches of water per week.
  • Warning: Blueberries are a favorite snack of hungry birds, so it’s recommended that you protect blueberry bushes ahead of time by draping bird netting over your plants.
  • One year after planting, apply 1 ounce of 10-10-10 fertilizer per bush in the spring when they bloom, and increase the rate by 1 ounce each year thereafter to a maximum of 8 ounces for mature bushes. 
  • Do not allow the bush to produce fruit for the first year or two after planting. This lets the plant use its energy to become well established in its new home instead.
  • Pinch back any blossoms developing on newly set plants to allow the energy to go to growth.

How to Prune Blueberry Bushes

  • For the first 4 years or so after planting, there is no need to prune blueberry bushes. From then on, pruning is needed to stimulate the growth of the new shoots that will bear fruit the following season.
  • Prune plants in late winter or early spring before new growth begins. 
  • Cut out dead, broken, short, weak, and spindly shoots.
  • On highbush varieties, begin with large cuts, removing wood that is more than 6 years old, drooping to the ground, or crowding the center of the bush. Also remove low-growing branches whose fruit will touch the ground, as well as spindly twigs.
  • Prune lowbush blueberries by cutting all stems to ground level. Pruned plants will not bear the season following pruning, so prune a different half of a blueberry patch every two years (or a different third of a patch every three years).

Video: How to Grow and Prune Blueberry Bushes

Recommended Varieties

Blueberries are partially self-fertile, so you will harvest more and larger berries by planting two or more varieties together. Planting more than one variety can also extend the harvest season.

Highbush (Vaccinium corymbosum): A six-foot shrub hardy from Zone 4 to Zone 7.

  • For withstanding cold winters, choose ‘Bluecrop’, ‘Blueray’, ‘Herbert’, ‘Jersey’, or ‘Meader’.
  • For big berries, choose ‘Berkeley’, ‘Bluecrop’, ‘Blueray’, ‘Coville’, ‘Darrow’, or ‘Herbert’.
  • For flavor, usually the main reason for growing your own fruit, choose ‘Blueray’, ‘Darrow’, ‘Herbert’, ‘Ivanhoe’, ‘Pioneer’, ‘Stanley’, or ‘Wareham’.
  • For something different, try ‘Pink Lemonade’, which produces bright pink blueberries!

Lowbush (Vaccinium angustifolium): For the coldest climates, lowbush varieties are your best bet, hardy from Zone 3 to Zone 7.

  • These are the blueberries you find in cans on supermarket shelves. When fresh, the fruits are sweet and covered with a waxy bloom so thick that the berries appear sky blue or gray.
  • The creeping plants, a foot or so high, are spread by underground stems, or rhizomes. They blanket the rocky upland soils of the Northeast and adjacent portions of Canada. Lowbush blueberries make a nice ornamental fruiting ground cover.
  • Plants sold by nurseries are usually seedlings or unnamed wild plants, rather than named varieties.

Half-High: Breeders have combined qualities of highbush and lowbush blueberries into hybrids known as half-high blueberries.

  • University of Minnesota introductions include ‘Northcountry’, a variety that grows 18 to 24 inches high and has excellent, mild-flavored, slightly aromatic sky-blue fruits; and ‘Northblue’, which grows 20 to 30 inches high and produces an abundance of dark-blue, nickel-size, somewhat tart fruits-just right for pies.
  • ‘Northland’ is a half-high that grows 3 to 4 feet tall. From Michigan, it has relatively bland, average-quality fruit.

Blueberries for Southern Gardens (Zones 7–9):

  • Rabbiteye (Vaccinium virgatum): Grown in the southeastern United States, rabbiteye varieties are extremely adaptable, productive, and pest-tolerant. They do, however, have a high degree of self-incompatibility and require two or more varieties to be planted together to ensure pollination. Recommended varieties include ‘Powderblue’, ‘Woodard’, ‘Brightwell’.
  • Southern Highbush (hybrids of V. virgatum, V. corymbosum, or V. darrowii): Southern highbush varieties tend to be pickier and harder to grow than rabbiteyes, but there are a few high-quality varieties that do well. Among these are ‘Emerald’, ‘Windsor’, and ‘Springhigh’.
  • Read more about blueberries for southern gardens from the University of Florida: Blueberry Gardener’s Guide.
Harvesting

How to Harvest Blueberries

  • Blueberries are typically ready for picking between June and August.
  • Don’t rush to pick the berries as soon as they turn blue. Wait a couple days. When they are ready, they should fall off right into your hand.
  • If you plant 2-year-old blueberry bushes, they should start to bear within a year or two. (Pick off any flowers that form the first year or two after planting, to allow the bush to become established.) Be aware that full production is only reached after about 6 years (depending on variety).

How to Store Blueberries

  • Blueberries are one of the easiest fruits to freeze. Learn how to freeze blueberries so you can have them all winter long.

Blueberries

Gardening Products

Wit and Wisdom
  • In Ireland, baskets of blueberries are still offered to a sweetheart to commemorate of the original fertility festival of Lammas Day, celebrated on August 1.
  • Blueberries are one of the few naturally blue foods on earth.
  • For centuries, Native Americans gathered “star berries” (the blossom end of each berry forms the shape of a perfect five-pointed star) from forests and fields and ate them fresh or dried them for later use.
    • Dried blueberries were added to stews, soups, and meats.  
    • Dried berries were also crushed into a powder and rubbed into meat for flavor.
    • Blueberry juice was used to cure coughs.
    • Blueberry juice was also used as a purple dye for cloth and baskets.
    • A tea made from the leaves of the blueberry plant was believed to be good for the blood.
  • Tired of blueberries? Try growing another berry in your garden, such as strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries!
Pests/Diseases
Recipes
Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Blueberry Jelly Roll
Blueberry Crumble
Blueberry Jam
Créme Fraîche-Blueberry Ice Cream
Cooking Notes

Visit our recipe archives to find delicious blueberry recipes ranging from salads to desserts!

More Like This

Comments

Amar Choudhary (not verified)

1 year 2 months ago

I have seen your post. It is very helpful for me. I came to know the benefits of Blueberry. Keep Posting these types of Posts. Thank you.

camilo salazar (not verified)

1 year 2 months ago

? were can I buy or get abluberry plants

They should be available at local garden centers—or there are a number of online retailers which may ship to you.

Heather (not verified)

1 year 4 months ago

Hi, I planted 3 blueberry plants, one survived its first year pretty well. The other 2 the upper plant seemed to die, but i have growth coming from the roots. Is this still a live blueberry plant or is the root from some other type of plant? I have been letting them grow and they are getting bigger, however the leaves are definitely a different shape than the plant that lived.

Hi, Heather, If the leaf does not look like blueberry foliage, it doesn’t sound promising. You could let it grow for a while to confirm and/or bring the leaves to a local nursery and see if an expert there can identify it. As for the plants in general, we’ve found that improper soil, and in particular the soil’s pH, are often the problem. If you have not yet, you might want to do a soil test. Wishing you better luck next time!

Annealice (not verified)

1 year 5 months ago

Start with high-quality plants. This is the most important step in ensuring a successful crop of blueberries. Look for disease-resistant varieties that are well-suited to your climate zone.

Kimberly Rinehardt (not verified)

1 year 6 months ago

I have small webbing on blue berry bush eats leAf then branch and kills it also on grant grey beard bush or smoke bush they cut top out of it

Randall (not verified)

2 years 2 months ago

I received a nice looking plant today, Blueberry 'Pink Icing'. I am now wondering if I should wait until fall to set it in a place, or even a container to have it for next spring. I live in zone 5 western part of Nebraska.

Maria (not verified)

3 years ago

I watched your video "how to plant blueberries" what get me lots of info. Thank you, but I would like to know how to plant them and get them ready here in Ottawa, Canada where the winters can be really cold. Do I need them to cover for winter and with what?
Please let me know as much info as you can to protect " my gift" (I've got them from my kids) and we even have some blueberries for our grand kids when the blueberries were still in original pots what they were both in. I never had experience how to take care of blueberries, but I'm writing you this because some people told me that here in Ottawa (cold winters) they will not survive and we would not have any blueberries next year.
Thanks for help and I'm still positive and optimistic that I can still next year let my grandkids pick up some blueberries, because we were enjoying their happiness when they pick them up and enjoyed eating them. Thank you again :)

Guidance on planting is above as follows

HOW TO PLANT BLUEBERRY BUSHES

  • Tip: Be careful not to plant them too deeply. The rootball should be just below the surface (one-quarter to one-half inch).
  • Dig holes about 20 inches deep and 18 inches wide (or about twice as wide and twice as deep as the roots of the plant).
  • Space bushes 4–5 feet apart in a row, with at least 8 feet between rows. Prepare a planting mixture of 2 parts loam and one part oak leaf mold, peat moss, aged sawdust, or compost, and place a layer of this mixture in the bottom of the hole.
  • Set the bush in the hole with the rootball just below the surface and its roots spread out. Pack the hole tightly with soil.
  • Apply fertilizer one month after planting, not at the time of planting. Apply ½ ounce of a 10-10-10 fertilizer in a band around the plant 6 to 12 inches from the crown.

more from this page https://www.almanac.com/news/gardening/garden-journal/growing-blueberries-plant-all-seasons 

Bare-root shrubs are best planted in the spring but container-grown ones can be planted at any time. Space them 4-6 feet apart and don’t plant them any deeper than they grew in the pot.

Grow at least two different varieties for better pollination and higher yield.

Blueberries should be fertilized sparingly in the spring, once the leaf buds begin to swell and again when the fruit starts to form.

from that page in the comments at the bottom (like this) 

Soil is the key to success with any plant. Have yours tested and see what nutrients it lacks and what the pH is. Blueberries need acidic soil to grow and produce well. If the pH is too high the leaves will be yellow and the plants will struggle to grow. A site with full sun is best. They are very sensitive to drying out so they need plenty of water, especially in the early years. Mulching with wood chips or pine needles will help protect the roots and conserve moisture. It takes a few years for the plants to become established and begin to pump out the berries so after you have made any necessary soil corrections be patient. Eventually you should start to get the berries you are eagerly looking forward to!

If you think it’s too late to plant, and it might be, our friends at the Wisconsin coop extension (https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/growing-blueberries-containers/) have this advice re overwintering potted blueberries:

How do I overwinter my blueberry plants? Because containers do not provide adequate insulation from the cold, be sure to protect container-grown blueberries during the winter to prevent root damage. In mid- to late October, bury containers in the ground at a site where snow is likely to accumulate and where plants will be protected from cold winter winds. Mulch the soil surface with four to eight inches of straw in mid-November or cover the bushes with burlap. Prevent rabbit damage by placing chicken wire fencing or hardware cloth around the bushes. During early to mid-spring, remove containers from the ground and place them in full sun. Alternatively, containers can be left buried in the soil as long as the containers have proper drainage holes and the site where the containers are buried is well drained and exposed to full sun.

Finally, from a master gardener in Toronto: https://www.torontomastergardeners.ca/askagardener/blue-berry-bushes/ 

Did I say “finally…”? One more https://globalnews.ca/news/1602975/over-wintering-your-perennials-in-pots-some-tips/

You will notice some redundancy amidst the info; the bottom line–we think–is to protect the plants in a garage or basement until spring. Please take the time to read and note the advice these sources offer. And good luck!