How to Fertilize Highbush Blueberries

Being able to pick fresh blueberries right outside your door can be the delight of summer whether you prefer your blueberries raw or baked into pies and cobblers. After you plant your highbush blueberries in nutrient rich soil and apply a layer of mulch, the majority of care over the years will be pruning when necessary and fertilizing annually. To fertilize highbush blueberries you'll want to use the appropriate amount of fertilizer for the age of your blueberry plants.

10-10-10 complete fertilizer granules
Cultivator
Pine mulch

Instructions

- 1
  Allow three to four weeks to pass after you plant your blueberry bushes before fertilizing. If after four weeks you don't see new growth on your plant, then wait another two weeks before fertilizing.
- 2
  Spread 2 oz. of fertilizer around the base of your plant in a circle. Work with the fertilizer about 15 to 18 inches from the center of the plant to keep the feed from touching the stem directly.
- 3
  Work a cultivator in the upper inch of soil to mix the granules in enough that watering won't wash them away. Cover the fertilized area with mulch, if desired, and leave the plants to grow undisturbed for the rest of the year other than watering.
- 4
  Fertilize the plants again the following year in early spring when buds appear, using the same method. Use 1 oz. of fertilizer, as the plant is now 1 year old. Fertilize a second time four to six weeks later also with 1 oz. of feed.
- 5
  Continue to repeat Step 4 each year until your plant is 6 years old using an oz. of fertilizer per year in age of the plants. At 6 years and each year thereafter only use 6 oz. each time you feed for a total of 12 oz. per year, as the size of your plant shouldn't grow much larger.

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