How to Plant a Blueberry Container

Blueberries (Vaccinum) offer a perfect container plant with three-season beauty as both an ornamental and a fruit producer. A blueberry container near the front door displays spring foliage in a deep bronze and white to pinkish blossoms. In the summer, powder blue or deep blue berries cover the container plant, depending upon the variety. Autumn brings scarlet leaves and often berries continuing to ripen. The blueberry shrub has life expectancy of 50 years or more, so choose a sturdy container for planting that will not need to be replaced every few years.

1/2 wine barrel container
Container potting mix
Trowel
Fertilizer
Drill
1/2 inch drill bit
Bucket
Pea gravel
Blueberry plant

Instructions

- 1
  
  A blueberry container by the front door provides an instant snack.
  
  Choose two blueberry bushes for container planting. Blueberry shrubs will produce a larger crop if two varieties are planted to cross pollinate. If not growing them in separate containers, select dwarf varieties. Three compact blueberries available are the Chippewa, at 3 to 4 feet tall, Polaris at 4 feet tall, and Northsky with a mature height of only 18 inches. These are all hardy to USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 3 to 7.
- 2
  Turn a half wine barrel upside down. Drill 20 or more drain holes into the bottom floor of the barrel, spaced throughout the surface. Turn the barrel right side up, move it to its final location, and pour in a bucket of pea gravel for additional drainage.
- 3
  Fill the half wine barrel partially with bagged potting soil with a pH of 4 to 5. This is an acidic soil mix that may be labeled for rhododendron or azalea plants. If you use regular potting soil, mix 1 part potting soil 1 part peat moss to supply the acidity. After the barrel is half full, soak the potting mix with water and stir with a trowel to moisten all the soil.
- 4
  Turn the blueberry plant out of its pot and loosen any compacted roots. If they are very tightly bound, use the trowel to scrape and free them. Set the plant in the barrel to gauge how much more potting soil must be added to bring the level to a few inches from the top rim. The blueberry bush should be planted at the same depth level in the barrel as it was in its nursery pot. Add soil to correct the level and fill in around the blueberry plant. Thoroughly water the entire barrel again.
- 5
  Water the container weekly the first summer and thereafter only enough to ensure some moisture during hot summer months. Blueberry roots are shallow, so do not cultivate the soil deeply around the bush. A light surface application of an organic blueberry food (labeled as rhododendron food) in the spring will benefit the plant.
- 6
  
  Fall foliage of the blueberry shrub turns a fiery crimson.
  
  Apply 1 to 2 inches of mulch with an acid pH level over the surface of the container soil. Sawdust, pine needles, or ground bark will look neat, hold in moisture, and discourage weeds.

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