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 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 but 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.
Read more about why you should grow blueberries in your home garden (as if you needed an excuse).
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.)
Reader Comments
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seed dormancy
Hi. I want to grow blueberry seeds in a container. Six months ago, I bought the blueberry seeds (highbush corymbosum) and kept them dry in fridge (50F to 45F temp.) and after 3 month I planted them in peat moss, I've kept them moist and have not seen any germinating. How do I break their dormancy? Please help. Special thanks.
Hello please grow herbage
Hello please grow herbage blueberry
Blueberry
Hi i'am from Serbia. I wish to know where to plant blueberry? Because, someone told me that you have to find acidic place which i did, and they told me also that blueberry has to be on sea level above 500m.
PLANTING BLUEBERRIES
CAN BLUEBERRIES BE GROWN IN TROPICAL COUNTRIES LIKE EASTERN NIGERIA WHERE I RESIDE?
I want to buy at least best
I want to buy at least best variety 24 blueberry plant to start a garden in my home town India. So can you please provide the plant.
Buy a jersey berry bush
I use miracle gro , seed starting potting mix. Do I had to change the soil? It rain a lot. I give it plant food by miracle gro every 7 days? Am I doing something wrong.
winter
I have 4 small blueberry plants that I purchased and planted this summer. They are growing, but I don't know what to do with them over the winter. They are in small pots that came with them.
giant blueberry plant
I have a similar question. I have 3 small plants I have bought for my granddaughter. We have them in pots on the patio. What should we do to winter them? Do we cover them? Or can we bring them indoors? Would really appreciate your help on this matter. Thank you.
Protecting Blueberries During Winter
Hi Laura,
The best thing to do is push the pots up against the side of the house for a bit of protection, add a nice thick layer of mulch around the crown of the shrubs, and lay burlap or some kind of tarp over them. Blueberries require a cold dormancy period to fruit. They are pretty tough; they should be fine come spring.
What happens when the plant makes seeds?
Once the plant start making flowers for seeds what do you with them? Do you leave them or cut them off after all the seeds have blown away?
Blueberry Flowers
When a blueberry bush starts to flower, you do not have to cut the flowers off. The flowers will drop off in a few weeks.
Zone 9...!
Hello,
I just love blueberries, I go to Finland in the summer every year but I live in Rome, which appears to be in zone 8-9...
Is there any chance I can grow them, and if so, which variety...?
Thanks
Shade blueberry bushes
I live in eastern MA (zone 6b) and have a small yard that is very shaded. While I realize that I will never get the amount of berries a sunny location would, I still want to replace my 2 quince bushes with blueberry bushes. What variety will have the best chance of survival with shady mornings and sunny afternoons?
Native Blueberry
Hi Bill,
Try your region’s native highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum, as it is a woodland garden shrub that can take part shade.
getting started in blueberries
I just moved to Hermosa SD, which seems to bee a zone 4.5. We have LOTS of pine trees. I'm assuming our soil is somewhat acidic, due to the pine needles.
We have lots of places to plant under trees, and also lots of full sun spaces... I'm wondering what variety to plant for flavor and harvest number.
What size plant should I start with?
What time of year?
Where to plant them?
When will here be fruit?
How many plants should I plant for two people who eat a few pounds of blueberries a week?
Planting Blueberry Shrubs
First, I would caution against digging under established evergreen trees; it is very difficult, as they have tremendous root zones that require very aggressive measures to get through, which is not good for the trees, and ultimately not good for your blueberries, as they will be competing for room to grow as well as nutrients and moisture. If you can plant them elsewhere, start with two-gallon pots. Plant them in the fall when the weather is cooler. If they are happy, they should fruit the next summer (in time they will likely produce more fruit than during their first season). You would have to plant a whole lot of shrubs to eat a few pounds weekly! Space depending, five to seven plants will give a reasonable yield.
Where to plant
Thanks for your response. Can blueberry shrubs get full sun? Is a "2 gallon pot" a typical size I can find at a nursery or is that an older plant? And would they do better if all in the same area?
Blueberries
They can take full sun, but do better with a bit of shade. Two-gallon pots are a common size; you will also find 5-gallon pots. You are looking for container plants that are 2 to 3 years old (you can also buy bare-root blueberry shrubs). They won’t necessarily do better planted together but by grouping them you are ensuring they have the same soil conditions, and it makes watering both easier and more uniform. When planting, space the shrubs 4 to 6 feet apart (If you go with bare roots, plant them in early spring while plants are still dormant.)
Blueberry bushes disease
My blueberry bushes have developed black dots on the leaves. What is this and what do I do about it?
Leaf Spot on Blueberry Foliage
It sounds like they might have Septoria leaf spot disease. Try to keep the foliage as dry as possible (avoid overhead watering) to limit the spread of spores; also remove the most disease-riddled leaves as well as any that have dropped into the soil. This is a difficult disease to manage once spores are in the soil. If the plants continue to succumb, consider replacing them next year with disease-resistant varieties (start with clean soil, i.e. remove what is there and replace with compost-rich, amended soil).
Blueberries
I live in northern Califirnia and I have 2 blueberry bushes that are doing pretty well except one has very sour fruit. I have waited until the berries are dark blue but still are bitter. Do you have any suggestions as to why one bush has very tasty berries and the other does not..
bitter blueberries
Are the two bushes the same variety? If not, it could be that the other variety has a different, more sour, taste. Flavor will vary between varieties. If your bushes are the same type, was the bitter plant producing an unusually abundant crop of berries? If so, those berries can be bitter. When your bush overproduces, you’ll want to be sure to thin the fruit so that the plant can focus on growing fewer berries, and that can help the sweetness. Perhaps another possibility is that the plant is under stress–mechanical injury, disease, environmental, pests, etc. – check to see if the plant looks healthy overall, including the base of the trunk (to check for any damage to bark by weed trimmers, etc).
Just a hint, add hard wood
Just a hint, add hard wood ash about 2 in deep in a circle about 4 in from bush. Water lightly. do this early June and you harvest in Aug will be so sweet your mouth will hurt lol.
blueberries
I have two blueberry bushes in large pots, Climax variety, I believe. I don't seem to have any growing problems, but I wonder why my berries have so many seeds. Is it the variety or is there something I can do?
Blueberry Seeds
All blueberry species have about 20 small seeds, but your blueberry variety’s seeds are more noticeable. The climax variety is a type of rabbiteye blueberry, and rabbiteye blueberries tend to have more noticeable seeds. You could try a non-rabbiteye variety if you would like the seeds to be less noticeable.
Care for Blueberry bush
I have a few blueberry bushes. I notice their leaves are more yellow than green and they do not look healthy to me. What should I do? I would really appreciate some advice.
Kind regards,
Verceles Laron
yellow leaves
It sounds like the plant is struggling in soil that is not the proper pH. Yellow leaves on blueberry plants are a sign of iron deficiency. Have your soil tested before doing anything hasty. Soil kits are available at garden and nursery stores. Or contact your local cooperative extension (usually at a public/state university).
useful website
useful website
Bluberry wheather
I live in iran ,The north name is mazandaran which have a 60 percent humanity by the bigest lake (caspian see)in the world also rains almost 2 days of the week or more but good sunny days as well in summer , rains more in spring than summer dear and no body try to grow bluberry and i have request some blueberry seeds to cultivate for testing and need to know some advice and wanna know rainy days effect my bluberry plant do u think?
wild alaskan blueberry
was looking for wild alaskan blueberry plants or seeds . Would they grow in western pa. if i can find some?
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