Contents
Blueberries are a very healthy berry. Fruits contain a huge amount of nutrients that restore vision and prevent the development of cancer cells in the body. The culture usually grows in swamps and peat bogs, in a cold, humid climate. Nowadays, it is possible to engage in the cultivation of garden blueberries on an industrial scale, as well as in a summer cottage for your own use. Now many are planting this horticultural crop to sell the berries, which are among the most expensive on the market. In turn, the plant is completely unpretentious and is not subject to disease or damage by pests. Next, we consider in detail all the nuances of growing garden blueberries.
Landing
To prevent freezing of plants, planting is best done in the spring. First you need to choose the best place for planting blueberries. Best of all, the berry will grow in a sunny area with a shallow groundwater level of up to 50-60 cm. In this case, blueberries should be planted on bulk mounds. Also, blueberries do not like cold winds. If you plant a berry in the shade, then do not expect to get a good harvest, as the fruits will be sour and small.
Next, you need to prepare the ground. The soil must be acidic, loose and constantly wet. The acidity should be between 3,5 and 5 pH. With neutral indicators, the horticultural crop will develop poorly. If you decide to grow this horticultural crop, but the soil indicators are not suitable, then in this case you can create optimal conditions yourself. First you need to dig a hole up to half a meter deep and 60 by 60 cm in size. We loosen the soil a little, facilitating the flow of air and water. Next, we fill the hole with a mixture of peat, sawdust, pine needles and sand or slightly decomposed peat.
If it is necessary to acidify the soil, add 40-60 g of sulfur. You can also use citric, oxalic, malic or acetic acid. We condense all this. In this way, we create the ideally acidic soil necessary for growing garden blueberries. The culture can also develop on poor soils, so for now it is not necessary to add fertilizers, especially organic ones. Bushes are usually planted at a distance of 0,75 – 1,2 cm. The value depends on which variety is used, low or tall. If you purchased seedlings in containers, then you need to place them in water for 10-15 minutes, and then remove the bush from the container. When planting, the root system is recommended to be carefully straightened for the further normal development of the bush. The beds are advised to be placed every 2-2,5 m, and a layer of sawdust is poured between the rows.
There are two more ways to plant seedlings: in wells and on a ridge. In the first case, pits are dug up to 40 cm deep and 60-150 cm wide. If the soil is sandy, 60-80 cm wide will be enough, with heavy soils, the value should be up to 1,5 m. Sometimes a plastic film is covered on the walls and the wells are covered with a mixture described earlier. When planting on a ridge, the soil is removed to a depth of 10 cm. A substrate in the form of a mound or ridge is poured into a trench 1-1,2 m wide. A blueberry bush is planted on top and watered.
Care
Blueberry is an unpretentious berry, but still needs care. It is especially important to carry out frequent weeding. While the bushes are small, weeds can suppress their growth. It is worth remembering that the root system of the plant lies 20-40 cm from the surface of the earth. Therefore, when loosening the soil, you should not touch the layers of the earth deeper than 10 cm. Like almost all horticultural crops, blueberries are subject to fungal, bacterial or viral diseases. Late blight, stem cancer, gray rot can be especially dangerous. To prevent these diseases, fungicides should be used. It is advised to spray immediately after spring pruning. There are practically no pests in blueberries, so there is no point in treating the bushes from insects.
Watering
When growing blueberries, it is worth remembering the water regime of the plant. This horticultural crop is very fond of water. After planting, it is necessary to water the bushes two or three times a day. Further, you can reduce watering to twice a week. It is best to do this in the evening or in the morning. In dry and hot weather, it is worth spraying the leaves. When the plants begin to bear fruit, be sure to water the bushes abundantly for the juiciness of the berries. However, do not overdo it, experienced gardeners warn against an excess of moisture. In this case, the roots may begin to rot, and the plant will die.
Trimming
The first pruning is recommended to be carried out 2-4 years after planting, when the skeleton of the bush is already formed. To do this, cut off all the branches with fruit buds. Further, in 5-6 years, it is necessary to carry out similar activities.
Pruning of bushes is carried out only in the spring.
Blueberry pruning scheme
It is necessary to have time to prune non-fruiting, diseased, broken branches before the buds swell. They will not give a harvest, and the plant will spend energy on their development. If the plant is 10-12 years old, it is recommended to carry out anti-aging pruning. To do this, you can delete all the old branches. In this case, the bushes will not bear fruit well for 2-3 years. There is one more option. In the first year, we cut off only part of the old branches. The following year, we leave new shoots, and remove the old ones that remain.
Top dressing and mulching
It is impossible to feed blueberries with organic fertilizers. This leads to a decrease in the level of soil acidity, which, therefore, can lead to the death of the plant or a decrease in yield. Therefore, it is recommended to use mineral fertilizers twice in the spring. The first application is carried out before the kidneys swell, and the second after 6-7 weeks. It is usually advised to carry out top dressing, depending on the age of the plant. If the bush is 2 years old, 1 tablespoon of mineral fertilizer is applied, 3 years – 2 tablespoons, 4 years – 4, 5 years – 8, and after 6 years 16 tablespoons.
Experienced gardeners determine by the appearance of the plant what kind of substance it picks up. With a nitrogen deficiency, the leaves become yellowish, the plant grows poorly, the berries become small. If the plant lacks phosphorus, the leaves turn purple. If there is not enough potassium, the tips of the leaves begin to die off, spots appear, young shoots die off. The edges of the leaves turn yellow with a lack of calcium. Magnesium deficiency is visible on the red edges of the leaves. If the top becomes bluish, boron should be added. Thus, it is possible to determine just such a substance that a plant lacks, and make up for this deficiency, preventing a decrease in yield or even the death of a bush.
Mulching is done to prevent moisture loss. Peat, oak leaves, sawdust are used as mulch. The mixture is distributed with a thickness of 10-12 cm. It is worth noting that the decomposition of the mulch contributes to the additional nutrition of the plant. Scientists have proven that when mulching with sawdust, the crop yield increases by 100%, and when using oak leaves by 54%. Mulch also prevents overheating of the soil during a hot period. To prevent the roots of the plant from freezing in the aisles, siderats are left – lupine and oats. In the spring they are buried in the soil. Mulch needs to be changed every 2-3 years.
Shelter for the winter
Blueberry garden rather frost-resistant culture. Plants withstand frosts up to 23-25 degrees. But in the case of a snowless winter, bushes are advised to cover. Late-ripening varieties are most susceptible to freezing. It is advised to cover such plants with burlap. In preparation for winter, it is necessary to bend the branches of the bushes to the ground using twine or wire arcs. 
Further, in fact, we cover the blueberries with non-woven material or burlap, but we do not recommend using polyethylene. In winter, the bushes can be sprinkled with snow, thus protecting them from severe frosts. The flowers of the culture withstand frosts up to 7 degrees, therefore, when heat sets in, the shelter can be removed.
Harvesting
Now it’s time to consider the question, when should you start harvesting? First of all, it depends on the variety of garden blueberries. When planting early varieties, you can enjoy berries from the first decade of July, and late varieties are harvested at the end of August. Varieties of garden blueberries Patriot and Duke are classified as early. Bushes begin to bear fruit early, in the first decade of June. Mid-season varieties include Blue Crop, Blue Rey, Berkeley, they begin to bear fruit at the end of June and until August. 
These varieties are recommended for cultivation in the Moscow region. We also note that the fruits do not ripen at the same time, so you can pick berries for a whole month or even more. The ripeness of blueberries can be determined by color – green changes to bluish. In sunny weather, it will be possible to harvest in a week. The fruits should separate easily from the bush. Usually, from the first harvest, the berries are large and juicy, then the fruits become smaller.
Now you know almost everything about planting and caring for garden blueberries. Follow all the recommendations and enjoy rich harvests of berries.
Video “Planting technology and blueberry care”
In the video, a woman talks about the features of planting blueberries, as well as how to increase fruiting and how to cut the shoots.
