How to Grow Blueberry Bushes in Eastern North Carolina

Test your soil for pH and amend the soil as needed several months before you plant the blueberries. Southern Highland blueberries flourish in soil pH of 4.5 to 5.3, while Rabbiteye blueberries grow best in a maximum pH of 5.0. Amend the soil with lime to raise the pH, or sulfur to lower the pH. Allow several months for the soil to adapt to the sulfur or lime addition.

Add peat moss, pine sawdust or bark to the soil if the organic matter content is below three percent. Also, mix sand into the soil if the lithology is mostly clay or loam. Blueberry plants have shallow root systems that require well drained, organic-rich soil. Mix the soil and amendments with a tiller.

Plant Southern Highland blueberry shrubs in holes that are approximately 4 inches deep, with 4 to 5 feet between plants and 8 to 10 feet between rows. Position Rabbiteye varieties in 4-inch-deep holes approximately 6 feet apart with 10 to 12 feet between rows. The best time to plant blueberries is in the late winter or early spring. Choose a location in your landscape that gets at least 50 percent sun; however, full sun is best.

Spread 3 to 4 inches of mulch around the blueberry shrubs. Use mulches such as pine bark, pine chips or pine sawdust, which work well due to their natural acidity. The mulch will help hold in soil moisture and keep weeds out of the landscape beds. If weeds grow, pull them by hand rather than using a hoe or rake. The root system of the blueberry bushes is very shallow and damages easily with garden tools.

Apply fertilizer such as 10-10-10 or 12-12-12 in a circle approximately 12 inches from the base of the plant after the shrubs' leaves reach full size. Do not apply the fertilizer immediately after you plant. During subsequent years, fertilize the soil in a similar manner, but increase the distance from the base of the plant to 18 inches in the second year and 36 inches thereafter. If soil tests in subsequent years indicate that sufficient potassium is present in your soil, switch to an ammonium nitrate fertilizer.