How To Plant Blueberry Bushes

If you want to start harvesting fruit, you should learn how to plant blueberry bushes. 

Why? Blueberries will grow and last for over 45 years. Paying close attention to the conditions and location ensures you yield tasty fruit for an exceptionally long time. Blueberries flourish only in soils that satisfy their needs. The soil also must drain well. If water remains in the spot you're planting for more than 48 hours, don't plant any blueberries.

Here are tips for growing blueberry plants:

• Blueberries develop best in acidic soil with a 5.0 pH 
• Integrating rich eco-green matter as a top dress or into the soil
• If planting rows of blueberries, consider hilling the plants. Hilling lifts the blueberries over the natural soil level by
• Blueberries need the sun

How to Plant Blueberry Bushes: Location and Soil

Once you have chosen your location, make sure that the spot gets the full sun at least part of the day. Blueberries will endure partial shade, particularly late in the day.

Blueberries will flourish at a higher pH. Though, to get the most increased production, you must amend the soil near the plants. Do this task leisurely over time. Don't try and decrease the pH all at the same time.

Reduce your pH by:

• Use sawdust from any conifer like fir, pine, or spruce. With sawdust, pay attention to the amount of nitrogen. If the leaves are becoming yellow, that signifies a Nitrogen deficiency.
• Using ammonium sulfate fertilizer
• Using ground sulfur fertilizer

Planting Blueberry Plants

Plant blueberries at precisely the same depth as grown at the nursery. Burrow the hole more significant than the size of the roots, back-filling with a mineral-rich compost mixture. If compost isn't available, use the best bark mulch you can find, add 10% peat moss. When planted, keep adding fresh compost as a topcoat to enrich your organic matter. Also, get rid of a ¼ of the branches. This work will encourage energetic branching.

In the first year, the plants are establishing themselves. You will not have to prune until the third year, after completing the fruiting phase. Perform pruning correctly when you open up the plant and eliminate the older limbs. 

Since they have shallow-roots, blueberries necessitate more water than other fruit types, so the surface roots don't dry out. Blueberries react best to top-notch deep watering instead of keeping the surface damp. Water will rise to the surface.

Fertilize in the early part of the springtime as leaves are coming out of dormancy. A soil test is best for analyzing your fertilizer. A well-balanced fertilizer is a 10-5-5. After trimming, another fertilizer application will deliver the necessary nutrition required for the new growth to break from the shortened limbs. 

Take pleasure in the beauty and taste of a blueberry plant. This foliage brings food and elegance to your yard. Not to mention, blueberry plants are quite manageable. Winter's vibrant branches, spring flowers, summer fruit, and fall leaves. A blueberry plant is a plant for any season. 

If you need any tips or assistance in planting or maintaining a blueberry plant, call us at Harrisburg Tree Service.

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