How to Make Your Blueberry Plant Strong & Healthy

Dig an 8-inch-deep hole where you intend to grow your blueberry bush. The site should be in full sun all day. Fill the hole with water. If the water disappears into the ground within 24 hours, the site has good drainage and is suitable for blueberries.

Acidify your soil if its pH is higher than 5.0 but lower than 7.0. Break up the ground to a depth of 6 inches and incorporate 4 inches of sphagnum peat moss into the topsoil. Perform this step before planting your blueberry bush. It's not feasible to amend soil for growing blueberries if the pH is higher than 7.0. Test your soil's acidity with a store-bought test kit or submit a soil sample to your cooperative extension office for analysis.

Add organic matter that doesn't raise the pH -- such as peat moss, bark, and rotted pine sawdust -- to the soil. Incorporate 3 inches of the amendment 6 inches into the topsoil to provide nutrition to the roots and to facilitate water and air circulation underground.

Give your blueberry bush enough water once a week to get the soil moist to a depth of 12 to 16 inches. One inch of water (5 gallons) applied to well-drained soil usually reaches 1 foot deep.

Build a 2-inch-deep mulch ring at the base of the plant to insulate its shallow roots from extreme and fluctuating temperatures. Use an organic material, such as pine bark or pine sawdust, that doesn't raise soil pH.

Fertilize your blueberries for the first time after the plant has completely leafed out. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of an azalea plant food 1 foot away from the shrub's base. Broadcast the fertilizer evenly around it. Irrigate the area with 1 inch of water to release the nutrients into the ground.

Feed the blueberry bush 2 tablespoons of an azalea plant food in its second spring. Broadcast the fertilizer 1½ feet away from the shrub and water it in. Apply half the food as soon as the bush comes out of dormancy and the second half four weeks later. In the plant's third year, apply 1 cup of fertilizer 3 feet away from the base when the plant begins growing again in spring.

Prune your bush in early spring while it's still dormant. Remove diseased and broken canes, as well as flower buds, from a plant that's 3 years old or younger. On older plants, trim branches growing within 12 inches of the surface and that have winter damage and are diseased. Also remove two of the bush's older canes. Make pruning cuts at a 45-degree angle and ¼ inch above a bud.