How to Grow Blueberries

Contact your state agricultural experiment station for a blueberry variety recommendation. Bluecrop, for instance, is a mid-season bloomer which produces large, light blue berries and is quite hardy and drought resistant. This might be great in a dryer area.

Select a location. Blueberry bushes need acid soil with a high moisture retention. Be sure to check that the pH value is between 5 and 6. These bushes can thrive in partial shade, but do best in a sunny location.

Plant your blueberry bush in the fall or the spring when the soil is workable. Space them about 4 feet apart and 1 inch deeper in the soil than they were in the nursery. Plant 4 to 6 bushes for an averaged-sized family to enjoy fruit all season with some left over for canning and freezing.

Fertilize the blueberry bush in the late winter or early spring, about 1 month before growth starts to appear. In sandy soil, apply the fertilizer again 1 month later, after the first spring growth appears.

Mulch in the early summer with peat, leaf mold, compost or well-rotted manure. Place netting over the blueberry bushes to protect your berries from the birds.

Prune after the first 3 years of growth in the winter. Remember that the fruit will grow on last year's wood. Try cutting one or two of the oldest shoots back to a strong new shoot to promote new growth, which in turn will bear fruit the following year.