How to Grow Blueberries

When you go to the garden centre to buy your plants, look for healthy plants with goo branching from the bottom. They should have healthy leaves and the soil should be damp, not soaking and not dry as a bone.

To choose the variety right for you, the garden centre should be able to tell you which are good for your growing climate. To get more blueberries per plant, get more than one variety. The cross pollination increases the number of berries you will get.

Our garden centre is in Powell River, BC which is zone 8. I have also grown blueberreis when we lived in Quebec which was a zone 4. In either place Blue Crop is an excellent hardy blueberry plant and one of the most popular in North America. Tophat and Lemonade are new varieties that I have also had success with. They are specifically menat for the small garden or a planter as the plants are quite small and compact. Production is excellent for their size.

Blueberries really need acidic soil for best production. You can use litmus paper or a soil PH tester to find out if your soil is acidic or not. Blueberries enjoy soil with a PH between 4.5 and 5, which is even lower that other berries which are fine around 5.5 to 6.

To lower your PH you can add some natural amendments to your soil - elemental sulfer, and coffee grounds are both slow release and work well. Adding peat moss, shredded oak leaves and green sand also work well. Elemental sulfer and green sand are both natural products you can get at your garden centre.

When you are ready with your plants, water them well before you prepare the hole.

Dig down twice as wide as the pot your plant is in and a little deeper. You want to plant your blueberry bush slightly lower than it is in the pot. Put a mix of compost and your other amendments in the bottom of the hole. Place your plant in the middle and fill in around it with a mix of the old soil from the hole and compost with amendments. Don't go too heavy on the amendments - you can add more later. It is hard to add too much compost though and it really is a great natural food for your plants.

If your soil is very heavy (clay) then dig around deeper working in peat and compost. This will loosen it up and the plant will grow better.

Water well and water every other day for a couple of weeks unless the soil is wet.

Blueberries, once established do well on their own. If your soil is not naturally acidic, adding some coffee ground now and again will be quite sufficient. You can tell if it not acidic enough as the leaves will be a bit on the yellow side.

Top dress with compost each fall or early spring and you are set to enjoy wonderful fresh blueberries from your own yard.

Starting the fourth year you have your plants, prune them in March. You want to take out any really old (very thick) stems and any that look damaged or week. Aim for about 16 stems per plant.