Can Blueberries Be Planted in Large Containers?

Culture

• When potting a blueberry plant, use a mixture of half topsoil with half acidic planting compost. Potting soil can be used instead of topsoil, but most potting soil is alkaline, so you must add a higher proportion of acidic material. Mix a couple handfuls of fertilizer formulated for acidic plants such as rhododendrons and camellias into the soil when planting. Water container plants weekly with a slow soak to wet the whole root ball. Mulch with acidic materials such as pine needles, compost or sawdust.

Fruiting

• Blueberries are self fertile, but cross-pollination with a different blueberry variety will yield more fruit on both plants. Choose varieties whose bloom periods overlap, such as an early- and mid-season, or a mid-season and late-season bloomer. Plant them within 10 feet of one another. A mix of bloom times provides an extended harvest season, as well. Protect your fruit from birds by netting the plants after blooms drop.

Dwarf Blueberries

• Half-high, low-bush or dwarf blueberry plants make compact ornamental shrubs and grow well in smaller pots about 18 inches deep and wide. Top Hat grows only 18 inches tall and wide, and is a profuse bloomer. Other varieties grow about 3 feet tall, including Northsky, Northland, Northblue and North Country. They will thrive in pots on a deck or balcony.

Evergreen Blueberries

• In mild climates, such as U.S. Department of Agriculture zones 7 to 10, several varieties of blueberries stay evergreen. They are smaller than their full-size deciduous cousins and make beautiful ornamental container plants that also produce fruit. Varieties include Sunshine Blue, which has pink blossoms and grows 3-by-3 feet; Bountiful Blue, with bluish foliage and profuse bloom; Crimson Legacy, whose foliage turns red in winter; and Misty, which grows to 6 feet with large, blue-green leaves.