How to Keep Blueberry Plants in a Basement in Winter Time

Feed your blueberries through the growing season, as a bush that enters dormancy well-nourished comes out of it growing vigorously the following spring. Apply 2 cups of alfalfa pellets to the soil surface in March and May and cover the feed with mulch, such as shredded bark or wood chips. Water the shrub until he excess runs out of the pot's drainage holes. Known as top-dressing, this fertilizing technique prevents injury to the blueberry's shallow roots, since you don't work the food into the soil. Suspend fertilization after a final June or July application to prime the plant for dormancy.

Move the blueberry shrub to your basement in late fall after it enters dormancy or stops putting out flowers and berries. The wood of a dormant plant will be firm and inflexible, with no new tender growth at the canes' tips. Maintain the temperature at 32 to 34 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent both cold injury and premature growth.

Irrigate your blueberry bush when the soil dries up, since an indoor plant doesn't receive snow moisture. Apply water until the excess runs out of the drainage holes. Repeat this step when the soil dries again.

Provide light during the day. In the growing season, a blueberry bush requires at least six hours of sun to produce berries. Since the plant isn't productive in the winter, it thrives on about two to three hours of daily light, which it uses to make sugar and remain nourished. If your basement doesn't have a window, turn on the light. Fluorescent and halogen bulbs are more economical to use than phosphorescent.

Help your blueberry bush become adapted to outdoor conditions again in spring. Prevent shocking the plant by taking it outside on a mild day and placing it in the shade. Keep the plant out of the wind's path and sheltered from heavy rainstorms. Take the plant back into the basement three hours later. Follow this routine every day for one week. Start exposing the bush to more sunlight every day during the second week until the plant is spending at least six hours in the sun. At the end of the second week, leave the plant outside for the growing season.