Blueberries are among my favorite foods, not only for their delicious taste, but also for their tremendous antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Similar to other berries, blueberries are outstanding dietary sources of bioactive compounds, such as anthocyanins, ellagic acid, flavonols and resveratrol.
Blueberries are an excellent source of vitamins C and K, manganese and fiber. They are highly regarded for their role in helping reduce your risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and vision loss. Blueberries are a delicious treat particularly when plucked from a bush in your own backyard. While organic, store-bought varieties are expensive, you can easily plant a few bushes and harvest your own blueberries.
To ensure your blueberries will thrive, you’ll need to invest some time ahead of planting to prepare your soil and select varieties well-suited for your climate. Given these extra steps, if you have blueberries in mind for a spring crop, you’ll want to begin your preparations in the fall. Here’s everything you need to know about growing blueberries.
Choose a Planting Location Where Your Blueberries Will Thrive
In the video above, David Handley, small fruit and vegetable expert with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, explains how to choose a suitable location for your blueberry bushes. To thrive, your blueberries will need:
•Full sun: While blueberries can tolerate shade, you can maximize berry production by planting your bushes in an open area in full sun
•Soil drainage: Although blueberry bushes can tolerate very wet soil during periods of dormancy, be sure to choose a site with good drainage to ensure water runoff during the growing season; blueberries will not grow well in water-soaked soil
•Water source: Choose a location you can get water to easily and regularly; consider using a soaker hose or trickle-irrigation system
•Wind protection: If the offseason months are cold in your area, your blueberry bushes will benefit from a hedge for wind protection, which could be a building, fence or line of shrubs or trees.
If you are considering planting blueberries near an evergreen hedge, avoid (or plant at least 1,200 feet away from) balsam firs because they can exchange a disease called witches’ broom1 with blueberries. Since this disease is nearly impossible to eradicate apart from using a toxic herbicide, which I discourage, prevention is your best strategy.
Prepare Your Soil Well Ahead of Time for Optimal Blueberry Growth
Because blueberries demand soil conditions quite different from traditional garden plants, you will need to take action well ahead of time to ensure optimal growing conditions. For your blueberries to thrive, garden experts suggest you will need soil that is:2,3
• Acidic: A soil pH around or slightly below 5.0 is recommended
• Compost rich: The best planting environment for blueberries is a 1-to-1 mix of soil from the planting bed (only after you’ve properly acidified it) and compost or peat moss
• Loose: Blueberries will thrive in sandy or sandy loam, but will suffer in compacted soil, such as clay
• Well-drained: As mentioned above, blueberries need well-drained soil to thrive, so choose a location with good water runoff and avoid swampy areas
If your current situation falls short in one or more areas, do not despair. For starters, review these soil restoration techniques. Specific to blueberries, there are steps you can take to create the necessary conditions.4 The key is to start well ahead of time. For example, if you want to plant blueberry bushes in the spring, you must begin preparing your soil the previous fall.
The most important first step is to complete a soil test. Contact your local cooperative extension office or order a test kit off the internet. You need to know if your existing soil can support blueberries, especially given their need for very acidic conditions.
If the area where you want to plant blueberries is currently covered by grass, you will most definitely need to lower the pH. Most lawns have a pH of 6.0 to 7.0. Before you can alter the pH, you will need to kill off the grass first. This can be accomplished by covering it with heavy plastic or a tarp for several months.
After the grass is dead, you can add sulfur, a natural mineral, according to the needs of your soil. The amount of sulfur to use depends on the results of the soil test, and will range from about 1 to 7 pounds per hundred square feet. It’s best to indicate on your soil test paperwork your intention to plant blueberries (versus a generic reference to fruit trees or a garden).
When blueberries are indicated, the testing service should be able to tell you the proper amount of sulfur to use. You can buy sulfur from your local garden store or nursery in pellets or powdered form. Mix it into the top 6 inches of soil across the entire planting area.