subject: Growing Blueberries [print this page] Growing Blueberries Growing Blueberries
So you want information on planting blueberries, huh? Blueberries are very tasty and nutritious. They can be grown in the garden in an area that is well worked and open to the sun. However they are a little different from other garden plants in that they require more acidic conditions. Hence they should be grown in a garden in an area that is specially prepared for them.
Since blueberries need an acidic soil environment, you want to do a test about a year ahead of time. This will give you a recommendation on what you need to do to acidify your soil. Usually this is done using sulphur pellets found in garden centres. You want to sprinkle it in the area, at the rate recommended by your soil test report.
These plants also require a good size planting hole as well as a lot of organic matter. Replace the soil in your planting hole with a mixture of half soil and half wet peat. Sometimes blueberry plants come from the nursery as bare rooted plants, in which case you need to soak them in a bucket of water for about half an hour.
When you put the plant into the hole, make sure that it is the same depth as it was in the nursery. Fill in the hole with your prepared mixture of soil and peat moss. After you get it settled in, make sure that it is firm and covered in properly.
After planting, water it well. You also want to prune some of the branches off so that you only have fifty to sixty percent of the original growth that the plant came with. This is done to keep the roots in balance with the growth on the top, therefore reducing stress on the plant.
It is important that you remove any flower blossoms that the flower produces in the first two years. When it comes to mulching, use a three to four inch deep layer of organic mulch such as bark chips or saw dust. This will help to conserve moisture around the plant as the roots tend to occur close to the soil surface.
A well taken care of blueberry plant will live for fifty years or more. This will give you a lot of years of pancakes, muffins and other desserts.
