How to Care for a Bluecrop Blueberry

Prepare a garden bed in a sunny, well-drained spot during the spring for your bluecrop blueberry plants. Deeply work the soil with a tiller. Use a soil-testing kit to determine the pH of the dirt. Lower the pH to a range of 4.2 to 5.2 by adding sulphur, pine needles, shavings or bark to the soil. Mix in 1 cubic foot of peat moss per plant to acidify and add organic material to the soil.

Grow Bluecrop blueberries in USDA hardiness zones 4 to 9. Dig holes four to eight feet apart with a shovel. Remove the bushes from their containers, set the plants in the holes and tamp down the soil over the root zone to remove gaps and air bubbles. Plant one or two other midseason blueberry varieties 10 to 15 feet from the Bluecrops for cross-pollination to increase the yield.

Give the growing bushes an inch of water per week during the growing season. Keep them well-watered during the first season to help establish the root system. Adjust your watering schedule according to the rainfall patterns. Deep water the plants two to three times a week during dry spells. Spread pine tree mulch over the root zones to prevent weed growth.

Prune young blueberry bushes with pruning shears to remove dead or damaged branches. Cut out the center cane allowing 8 to 10 canes to grow from the crown. Keep the bush open in the center for optimal air circulation and sunlight distribution. Trim long canes in the fall to prevent winter damage from snow weight and wind. Prune the bushes to about 6 feet tall for easy picking.

Fertilize the shrubs when buds appear in the spring and again as they start to set fruit. Protect the ripening blueberries with netting or string aluminum pie pans over the bushes to scare off birds. Pick the berries when they turn dark blue in mid to late July.