Growing Blueberries

Planting, Growing, Pruning, and Harvesting Blueberries

Blueberries are one of the easiest fruits to grow.

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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!

Plump, juicy berries are now easy to grow in your backyard on bushes that are resistant to most pests and diseases, and can produce for up to 20 years. A relative of rhododendron and azalea, blueberry bushes aren’t just a great edible plant but also an attractive addition to your overall landscape, offering scarlet fall foliage and creamy-white, bell-shaped spring flowers. Learn more about why you should grow blueberries in your home garden.

Note: Blueberries are a favorite snack of hungry birds, so it’s recommended that you protect blueberry bushes ahead of time with netting or other methods.

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.

Planting

How to Plant Blueberry Bushes

Select a sunny, sheltered spot. While blueberries are tolerant of shade, better crops are obtained in the sun.
Blueberries thrive in soil that is acidic. The soil pH should ideally be between 4 and 5. Soil can be acidified by mixing a small amount of granulated sulfur into the soil several months before planting. Peat moss, as well as pine bark or needles, are also good additions that will help acidify your soil.
The blueberry is a shallow-rooted plant. Therefore, it requires a soil that holds moisture, but also drains well and doesn’t stay wet.
Mix organic matter into the soil before you set your blueberry bushes. (See more about soil amendments and preparing soil for planting.)
Bushes should be planted as early in the spring as possible. If available, 1- to 3-year-old plants are a good choice. Be sure to go to a reputable nursery.
Dig holes about 20 inches deep and 18 inches wide (about twice as wide and twice as deep as the roots of the plant).
Space bushes about 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 its roots spread out. Don’t plant the bush any deeper than it grew in the pot. 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.

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.
Place the pot in a sunny spot.
Keep soil moist.
In northern regions, overwinter the blueberry container in a protected area or cover the container with straw or wrap it in burlap.

Varieties for Containers

‘Top Hat’: Bred by the University of Michigan 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

Care

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, saw dust, or pine needles around the bush after planting. Read more about mulching.
Blueberries need 1 to 2 inches of water per week.
Drape netting over ripening blueberries, so that the birds won’t make away with the entire crop.
One year after planting, apply 1 ounce of 10-10-10 fertilizer per bush in the spring at blooming time, 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.
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 after planting, there is no need to prune blueberry bushes. From then on, pruning is needed to stimulate 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).

Pests/Diseases

Birds
Blueberry Maggot
Powdery Mildew

Harvest/Storage

How to Harvest Blueberries

Blueberries will be ready for picking in late July to mid 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 reached after about 6 years.
Blueberries are one of the easiest fruits to freeze. Learn how to properly freeze blueberries so you can have them all winter long.

Blueberries

Recommended Varieties

Blueberries are partially self-fertile, so you will harvest more and larger berries by planting two or more varieties. 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.

Rabbiteye (Vaccinium ashei): 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 be planted together to ensure pollination.

Wit & Wisdom

In Ireland, baskets of blueberries are still offered to a sweetheart in commemoration of the original fertility festival of Lammas Day, celebrated on August 1.

Blueberries are one of the few truly 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.

Recipes

Cooking Notes

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

Reader Comments

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Jim: I want to transplant

Jim: I want to transplant four blueberry bushes...presently in my yard in town...want to move to my daughter's place in country...two high boys, two. Low...recommendations ?

Hello, When I transplant, I

Hello,

When I transplant, I make certain the location where they are going already has the holes dug. In our area we transplant in the fall NOVEMBER when all the leaves have dropped. Water the plant well so that transporting the root ball is moist. Dig up the plant and wrap the root ball in moist newspaper. Put plant in cardboard box. (Not sure how large the plant is you are transplanting). If your new transplanting location is someplace far away, don't let them set over night in a garage or car. I would get them there immediately after digging up and get them in the ground same day if possible. If that is not possible, you will need to keep them in a cool location - away from the sun and keep that newspaper moist. as you don't want the roots to dry out. Hope this helps...

5 years ago, I planted 4

5 years ago, I planted 4 blueberry bushes (1 each in row order: BlueCrop, Elizabeth, Duke and BlueJay). They are planted in a row about 2.5 feet apart. I know, they are slightly too close together, but on the plus side, they are single file with nothing to either side for about 6 ft.! 3 of the 4 bushes flower and fruit well, but the bushes are slightly small... 3.5 ft tall...

The fouth bush (BlueJay) is huge (well over 6 ft) compared to the others, but does not seem to want to flower or fruit. I found 2 blossoms this year, which was 2 more than last year! Also, compared to the other three bushes, the leaves on the BlueJay are less green... Not really yellow, just not as green, or as deep of green if that makes sense.

I've had gangbusters of fruit from the Duke. But nothing from the neighboring BlueJay.

Is this normal? Should I replace the BlueJay?

Bluejay blueberry bushes grow

Bluejay blueberry bushes grow almost twice as fast as other blueberry varieties so it is normal for it to be much bigger than the other bushes. Not blooming can be caused by being too close to the other bushes, not getting enough water or sun. Have you checked your soil to make sure that it is acid enough? Adding a bit of nitrogen and organic matter (compost or aged manure) to the soil may help the bushes to grow healthier.

I have been growing 8high

I have been growing 8high bush blueberry bushes, 2half high bushes and a small bed of wild blueberry bushes. Last year I had a bumper crop of blueberries from all. This year I learned about pruning the high and half high bushes and pruned them.. Howeve, at this point of the spring the bushes should have lots of buds but I don't see any so far. I live in Maine and we have had a long cold winter. So far the weather is still cool. Any advice to increase bloom production? I plan to use Epsom salt but hope it's not too late.

Hi Michele, Sometimes pruning

Hi Michele,
Sometimes pruning will cause the bush not to bloom in the spring. You will have lots of blooms next spring. Adding ammonium sulfate to the soil will help the overall health of your blueberry bushes.

Will cross pollination occur

Will cross pollination occur better with two different varieties of the same production time (like two varieties that develop mid season, rather than two varities that develop at different parts of the season)?

For best cross pollination

For best cross pollination plant two varieties that bloom at about the same time. The chart at the link below may be helpful.
http://portlandnursery.com/doc...

We have had a dozen high bush

We have had a dozen high bush plants for a few years now, 4 or 5 and they are not bigger than knee high... I really hoped to have large bushes. I do get a hand full of berries off most of them but just enough to eat there not do any saving. I put hollytone on for acid what else??

Prune, prune, prune!

Also blossom spray. Used on

Also blossom spray. Used on tomatoes for years. Great stuff!

My husband and I are

My husband and I are considering buying our first home on 8 acres and it is known for it's perfect blueberry soil in Michigan. My question is how many bushes would we want to plant to get started with a small income? I would eventually like to sell at local farmers markets and to friends/family as a side job. Also, should I expect to put forth a lot of money into our bushes in the first couple years?

You can start small with just

You can start small with just a handful of bushes. If your soil is perfect the bushes don't need much care. Read our planting and growing advice above.
For more local advice we suggest that you go to Michigan State university's extension service at http://blueberries.msu.edu/gro...

I bought two blueberry bushes

I bought two blueberry bushes six years ago, after year two they got eaten down by the deer and I was worried I'd lose them, but four years later they have GREAT foliage, but no flowers. They're six and a half feet tall and again lots of leaves but no flowers. When can I expect flowers on them this year living in Indiana and suffering through a cold Spring? I see what I can only describe as a vanilla bean type of growth on them, that leaf's out and looks like it's creating more leaves. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi Tim, Are you sure these

Hi Tim,
Are you sure these are the blueberry bushes that you planted? Look at photos of blueberry bushes online and compare the leaves. If you do think that these ar blueberries then see our care instructions above. You may need to test the soil to make sure that it is acidic enough and also make sure the bushes get enough sun.

After reading all the posts

After reading all the posts about soil, PH and birds, I sure have my work ahead of me. What recommendations do you have about deer? I'll be starting different varieties in containers but eventually would like to plant them in the ground, where the deer eat everything.

I have two blueberry bushes

I have two blueberry bushes planted in clay pots. Both look very healthy with many flowers. But the flowers soon turn brown and die with few berries produced. This has happened in the past three years.

It sounds like a pollination

It sounds like a pollination issue. Or, it may be a blueberry variety that is not self-pollinating. All blueberries benefit from companions of different varieties--and planting more than one variety is essential for blueberry plants that are not self-pollinating.

Which variety of blueberries

Which variety of blueberries will you recommend for central Virginia climate, for the purpose of growing few bushes for tasty fruit.
Thank you

Here is a helpful guide from

Here is a helpful guide from your Virginia cooperative extension which includes a chart of varieties by region: http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/438/438...

I read here that you should

I read here that you should have more than one type of blueberry to increase fruit production, however I didn't see if you could have a highbush and a rabbiteye and have the same benefit. Does it matter?

A rabbiteye needs another

A rabbiteye needs another rabbiteye for pollination and a highbush needs another highbush.

Michigan guy. I want to grow

Michigan guy.

I want to grow blueberries do I have to have 2 plants in order for a good crop.

Blueberries cannot be

Blueberries cannot be fertilized by their own pollen. The best bet for blueberries is to have different varieties of blueberries within 100 feet, so bees can travel and cross pollinate.

We live in chicago - we have

We live in chicago - we have a duke and a jersey and are about to plant them. I've seen the recommended distance is 5 ft. How far apart can we plant them without risking that there won't be cross-pollination? Is 5 the max?

Your Jersey should actually

Your Jersey should actually benefit from having another variety such as the Duke for pollination. You will get more and larger berries if you have a pollinator.They should be planted about 5 to 6 feet apart.

Ok.. I just around 150

Ok.. I just around 150 blueberry bushes. They were growing fine with green leaves and all about 2 weeks ago. Then I put 10 10 10 fertilizer on them and leaves started to fall off. Is it an effect for growing or what? Plants are about 1 1/2 year old cuttings in ga

Blueberry leaves should not

Blueberry leaves should not fall off in the spring. When you fertilize it is recommended that you sprinkle 1 1/2 tablespoons of fertilizer (per bush) about 18 inches from the base of the plant. Fertilizer should not touch the stems or the crown. Water your bushes and see if they will bounce back.

Bad news, please update us...

Live on central TN/KY border.

Live on central TN/KY border. Which type is best for this area? We have clay-like soil