Blueberry Growing Tips
Growing Blueberry's is not an only enjoyable experience, that have some incredible health benefits. Blueberry's are full of antioxidants, high in potassium and vitamin C.
Preparation + Planting
Soil medium recommended to be in the acidic range of pH 4.5 - 5.5, well drained, and have high organic matter. To check your soil PH, you can buy a PH soil tester from "Blueberry Love" to check from time to time on how your PH level is. To amend your PH in the soil, using a elemental sulphur will do the trick. "Blueberry Love" has stock of this.
Allow approximately 6 weeks after applying elemental sulphur, check the PH again and add more if needed. Add the product at least 10cm away from the crown of the plant. Remember the rule of thumb, less is more. Meaning that its always safer to add small amounts, wait, then to add large amounts in and potentially burn the roots of the blueberry bush and worse case, kill the plant if too much is added at once.
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Best times to add sulphur is during the spring, summer and autumn months as the Sulphur breaks down easier when there is soil biological activity. When adding elemental sulphur, try to dig it in the first 1cm of the soil medium. You can either purchase soil recommended for Azaleas, rhododendrons (acid loving plants) or enquire with Blueberry Love about pre-mixed bags of soil medium to use. If planting a plant fresh into a pot, it is best to mix the elemental sulphur into the soil medium for even distribution of the product through out the pot. The mix comes with a slow release fertiliser in it, so your ready to go!
I recommend planting the blueberry plants in full sun, but if its over 35 degrees, i would recommend moving the plants into a shady location till the afternoon sun has passed. Setting up a shade cloth over the plants will be beneficial during the high, hot points of summer heat.
Planting distances recommended would be approx 2 - 2½ feet apart (0.6 Meters at a minimum). Larger varieties plants, plant 3 to 4 meters between rows. I recommend when planting blueberry bushes to tease out roots and plant no deeper than the crown of the plant. Keep the crown of the plant open and free from plant material to allow it to breath and reduce disease. Mulch with Pine Bark to hold moisture. Blueberry plants like moist, not soggy / wet medium. If you were to grab a handful of the soil medium and squeeze it hard, you want to see a little drip of water come out in your fist. That is moist. DO NOT use fresh manure on blueberry plants.
Blueberries are great for growing in pots. Ensure the pots have drainage holes at the bottom to allow excess water to escape.
Culture
Recommend to remove flowers in the first 2 years of blueberry plants life to encourage growth, as disheartening that sounds. But your plants will love you for it in the future. Irrigation is essential, particularly in summer, with plenty of high quality water. Fertlising is a tricky topic as everyone has different ideas, methods, and desires as to how they want to feed their plants. After all, what we put into them is what we eat later on. So its very much a personal choice.
The key tips are to feed blueberry plants as if you were going to fertlize for Azaleas, rhododendrons (acid loving plants). Blueberry plants love ammonium sulphate, this acts as a nitrogen and helps to acidify the soil. Phosphorous is recommended during the growing season. Watch out for shortages of magnesium, copper and iron deficiencies as blueberry plants use these key ingredients during their grow season. Again, Never ever use any kind of fresh manure on blueberry plants. Any fertliser designed for acid loving plants will be great, as long as it is not fast acting! Blueberries like slow release fertlizers. Anything too fast or too strong will burn the plants shallow root system. Here at Blueberry Love, we use osmocote which is slow release.
A big question we get asked is, "is Osmocote organic or inorganic? No, Osmocote is an inorganic fertilizer, BUT it has all the major benefits of an organic fertilizer. Let us explain; many people don't realise it, but a plant can only use nutrients that are in an inorganic form. - Food for thought!
Winter Time
(Use copper sprays / fungicide, eco-fungicide) at 50% leaf fall, mid-winter and bud burst for fungal diseases. Apply Nets to the Blueberry plants to exclude birds from enjoying your yummy blueberries coming, but ensure the holes in the nets are big enough to allow bees to get in and out to pollinate the flowers. Prune out weak diseased wood ensuring that you disinfect your cutters either with each cut if you want to be extra careful or at the very least between each plant. Plant diseases, caused by pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi, can easily be spread from one plant or tree to another if pruning tools are not disinfected before use. You can disinfect your cutters with (ethanol methylated spirits), isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) with a concentration of at least 70% alcohol. Keep the centres of Blueberry Plants open to allow airflow.
There is 3 stages to picking Blueberries. Delay picking blueberries until they are deep blue colour, sweet in taste and when picking blueberries, they should just roll off into your hand. This will indicate they are ready. Ripening can be uneven through the cluster. A adult Blueberry bush should provide between 4kg and 10kg depending on culture and variety.
Health Benefits
Blueberries have been classified as one of the Antioxidant Superfoods. They have many health benefits as they are full of antioxidants and phytoflavinoids. Blueberries are high in potassium and vitamin C and contain iron, phosphorous, calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, and vitamin K, making them a great choice to eat by everyone.
Some of the benefits of Blueberries are: May be protective for many diseases, may help prevent heart disease, may help regulate blood sugar, may help maintain eye health, may alleviate gastrointestinal issues and UTI's, may by maintaining healthy bones, may improve skin health, may lower blood pressure, may assist in managing diabetes, may reduce DNA damage, which may help protect against aging and cancer, may improve mental health and memory, may assist with healthy digestion, weight loss and feeling full.
