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Blueberry Cultivation
The native home of the North American Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) is in areas of sandy or peat acid soils in North America or Canada where there is some shelter from excessive wind, but with cold winters, sunny summers and adequate moisture for the fine, fibrous roots. It is related to our native Bilberry, but grows as a bush similar in size to a Blackcurrant bush. The plants have white, bell-like flowers in spring with a light ‘cowslip’ fragrance, and brilliant autumn colour as the leaves turn from yellow to bronze to fiery red.
Spring flowers…
Soil
It is necessary to have the right acidic soil (pH of 4.5-5.5) to grow Blueberries in the garden, but anyone can grow Blueberries in well drained containers using ericaceous compost or pure moss peat. An open, sunny site is preferable, allowing 1.2-1.5 metres (4-5ft) between plants. Digging moss peat into the soil when planting is beneficial.
Growing in Containers
A sunny site is ideal while the fruit is ripening; no protection is needed in winter as the plants are very hardy. Choose tubs with a wide diameter, not necessarily deep, but do not plant in an excessively large container. As a guide, an 8-9inch diameter pot would be suitable for a 1½ litre plant. In future years the plant can be potted up into the next size container as it grows, ultimately requiring a container of 2-3ft diameter. Make sure that the container has plenty of drainage holes and cover them with some stones or coarse gravel to prevent clogging with compost. Preferably raise the container on bricks to further encourage good drainage. Plant the blueberry in the centre of the tub in moss peat or ericaceous compost, a little deeper than it was in its pot, and water in.
…and autumn colour
Watering
Keep well watered, but not waterlogged, throughout the year, particularly in dry weather and while the fruit is swelling.
Feeding
Blueberries do not require heavy feeding. In April lightly sprinkle a granular fertiliser suitable for acid loving plants (e.g. Vitax ‘Conifer and Shrub’ fertiliser) over the soil surface. Alternatively a liquid feed (e.g. ‘Miracid’) will do just as well.
Pruning
The aim is to encourage strong growth from low down
on the plants; this takes place during the summer. Provided the plant
is in full sun this growth should fully ripen before the worst of the
winter weather. It will then provide a few large berries at the tip
the following summer, and lateral growths behind this in the same
season. These should fruit, forming the bulk of the crop, the year
after that. It is not therefore a good idea to prune out the long,
strong growths to make the plants look bushier - you will be cutting
out next year’s crop!
Pruning, which should be done in winter
while the plant is leafless and dormant, consists of removing the old
tired woody growth which has fruited for two years or more and which
will produce only a few, poor quality berries in future. Other weak or
damaged stems, including any that are crossing or congested in the
centre of the bush, can also be removed
Picking
A harvest worth the wait!
The best bit! - pick the fruit as it ripens fully, which will be over a period of some weeks on each plant. It should be blue with no hint of pink at the stalk end. A full crop of 6lb or more should be expected on plants of approximately 8 years old, and plants will remain productive for twenty years or more if properly looked after. Once picked the fruit will last for a week or more in a refrigerator and can also be frozen.
A harvest worth the wait!
And while blueberries taste great straight from the bush, you’ll find some interesting suggestions ideas for cooking with blueberries in Mrs T’s Dorset Blueberry Cookbook.
