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Blueberries do not bloom and do not bear fruit – a problem faced by gardeners who do not know the intricacies of plant care. The reasons for this are various, ranging from poor-quality planting material or the wrong place, to improper care.
When do blueberries begin to bear fruit after planting?
Blueberries differ in the timing of the onset of fruiting from most crops grown in central Our Country. You should not expect the appearance of fruits in the second and even in the third year after planting. Not knowing this nuance, gardeners conclude that blueberries do not grow, although in reality the time has not yet come.
The first flowering of the bush begins 3-4 years after planting. During this period, the plant forms replacement lateral shoots. At their tips in the next season, the first inflorescences are formed. Ripening of berries lasts from mid-summer to the end of September for 5 years, after which the old branches are pruned.
It is difficult to determine the exact fruiting time of blueberries unambiguously: it depends on the plant variety, the quality of the planting material and other parameters. Approximately this is 3-7 years after planting.
Why garden blueberries do not bloom and bear fruit
There are several reasons:
- low-quality planting material;
- wrong place for landing;
- lack of drainage;
- irrational watering or fertilization;
- lack of or incorrectly selected material for mulching;
- illiterate pruning of shoots;
- diseases and pests;
- absence of pollinators;
- spring frosts.
Poor quality planting material
There are frequent situations when it is pointless to cultivate blueberry seedlings. A bush grown from them will not bloom and will not produce a crop. Signs of poor-quality planting material:
- spots on leaf blades;
- the presence of uncharacteristic burgundy areas on the bark;
- open root system.
The first and second symptoms are characteristic of a seedling with phomopsis or godronia. A plant sold with open roots will not take root in a new place. Blueberries must be in a container with acidic soil, otherwise they will not bloom and bear fruit for a long time.
It is problematic to visually determine the quality of seedlings that are ordered from online stores. If defects were found after the inspection, it is better to cut off the affected areas and try to grow blueberries.
Violation of the rules of landing and leaving
Even in a healthy and strong seedling, it is easy to damage the roots. They are thin, matted branches (hence their American name “angel hair”). The following procedures will help reduce the risk of injury:
- soak a pot of blueberry roots in water for 4 hours;
- remove the plant from the planting container;
- gently knead the earthen ball, starting from the central part.
Regarding the placement of blueberries in the ground, there are also a number of rules.
- The bush is placed in the planting hole so that the roots are straightened and evenly distributed on all sides.
- After that, the blueberries are sprinkled with the top layer of the substrate, watered, and, to reduce the evaporation of moisture and maintain the looseness of the soil, mulch.
- The plant does not like cramped conditions, so when planting bushes, you need to maintain a distance between them of at least 1 m.
If the planting rules are neglected, an inferior root system will prevent the established blueberries from developing normally.
Wrong landing site
Blueberries do not bear fruit and do not bloom with an erroneous choice of a planting site.
A bush planted in a lowland does not grow well due to excess moisture and frequent frosts. With a large amount of water, the roots die, and frost damages young shoots, flowers, ovaries, and berries in autumn.
Experienced gardeners do not recommend planting blueberries in shady areas. In the shade, it grows, but does not bear fruit. For berries to appear, she needs good lighting.
Blueberries do not grow in places where plants that were treated with organic matter or soils that increase the acidity (potatoes and other vegetables) were placed before it. They should not be chosen as bush neighbors either. Also, blueberries do not grow well if the pH is more than 5,5: the leaves turn yellow, the berries become small, and the shoots become weak. The reason is that on slightly acidic soil, mycorrhiza does not work on blueberry roots, which means that nitrogen is not absorbed.
We need a soil whose acidity is pH 4,5 – 5,5. The site is suitable if gourds grew on it: zucchini, cucumbers, pumpkin. Blueberries are planted in the place where parsley, corn, rosemary or thyme grew.
Blueberries do not grow well in windy areas.
Lack of drainage
If there is no drainage, then excess water is formed. Stagnant water deprives blueberry roots of air, they “suffocate”, die off, and then the bush dies.
Therefore, in the presence of heavy soil or groundwater close to the surface, a drainage system is needed. To do this, a part of the earth is removed to a depth of 70 cm, which is carried along the contour of the landing hole. The resulting pit is filled with peat mixed with sand, needles and sawdust. The result should be a hill, on which the blueberries are placed, sprinkling the roots with earth on top.
Irrigation Schedule Violation
Blueberries do not bloom and do not bear fruit with a lack or excess of moisture. Gardeners are often faced with the drying of the soil coma in the central part of the plant. This can happen with a proper watering schedule if the roots were not straightened when planting.
Too much moisture is also harmful. Optimal regimen: twice a week, 10 liters per bush. The volume of water is divided into 2 equal parts: one is poured in the morning, and the second in the evening.
Violation of the feeding schedule
Blueberries have specific requirements for applied fertilizers. Without regular top dressing, it will not begin to bear fruit, but does not tolerate organic matter:
- bird droppings;
- compost;
- manure.
The best option for blueberries is mineral complexes like Mortar or Fertiki.
Lack of or incorrectly selected material for mulching
If there is no mulch layer, then moisture is not stored in the upper layer of the substrate, the roots are not protected from sudden temperature changes. This is bad for the growth of blueberries.
Also, the bush does not grow and does not bear fruit if clean sawdust is taken as mulch. They have 3 major drawbacks:
- when watering, they absorb a lot of moisture, which means you need more water;
- sawdust quickly shrinks and, after drying, forms a crust along which water flows down without reaching the roots;
- blown away by the wind.
The most effective material for mulching is a mixture of needles and sawdust.
Violation of cropping rules
The peculiarity of blueberries is that only those shoots that grew last year actively form berries. Inflorescences are formed at their tips. Therefore, if you shorten such branches, then next year you can not expect berries. Pruning is done only in extreme cases, when you need to save the entire plant from a disease or pest.
In blueberries, only branches older than 5 years of age and dry branches are removed. If they are absent, it is better not to form a bush.
Lack of pollinators
Blueberry is a self-pollinating plant, but in order for the culture to begin to bloom and bear fruit, it is necessary to ensure its proximity to pollinators. The flowering period of these plants must match. Therefore, experts do not recommend planting blueberries in one bush. The best option is to place several seedlings at a distance of 1,5 meters from each other.
spring frosts
Late spring frosts at night can ruin a potential crop. At this time of the year, the temperature is unstable and the heat of the day can be replaced by a serious cooling. If the frost grabs a bush that has managed to bloom, there will be no harvest this year. It is impossible to correct the situation, the ovaries of fruits will appear only next year.
Pests and diseases are another reason why garden blueberries do not grow well
The reason for the poor development of blueberries may lie in the infection of the bush with fungal diseases and bacterial infections.
The most dangerous diseases for berries:
- anthracnose;
- gray rot;
- spotting (double, necrotic, red ring);
- monoknosis;
- mosaic;
- stem cancer;
- dwarfism;
- filamentous shoots.
An effective means of combating them is fungicides (Kuprozan, Topsin-M, Benomyl). Processing is carried out after harvesting 3 times with a weekly interval. With advanced forms, it is better to get rid of the plant in order to prevent the spread of infection throughout the garden plot.
Pests can become the reason that blueberries do not bloom and do not bear fruit. The most dangerous:
- gallica;
- shield;
- kidney tick;
- leaflet.
Insecticides will protect the plant from them (Spark, Karate, Mospilan, Actellik and products from lesser-known manufacturers). The ideal time for processing is early spring, when the larvae leave their wintering grounds, and the bush itself has not yet bloomed.
Preventive measures
Knowing all the subtleties of caring for blueberries, you can achieve fruiting in a couple of years. To do this, you need to periodically check the condition of the bushes. Preventive measures should include:
- regular top dressing with minerals;
- mulch update;
- cutting off dead branches;
- spring protective treatment of the plant with natural aseptics (onion var, soap solution, etc.);
- soil acidity and moisture monitoring;
- sheltering a bush for the winter to protect against frostbite.
Periodic carrying out of the above works will allow maintaining optimal conditions for growth and development for blueberries. The result will be a bountiful harvest.
Conclusion
Blueberries do not bloom and do not bear fruit for many reasons: the plant is demanding on growing conditions. To harvest a good harvest, you will have to maintain an optimal level of acidity, provide sufficient lighting, moderate watering and loose, nutritious soil.
