Both decorative and fruit crops are grown on the plot. Shrubs that give a good harvest of berries are popular among gardeners. One such plant is the garden blueberry. Of course, it requires attention to itself: you need to choose the right plant variety, take time to care for it, take into account all the nuances of cultivation.
In order to harvest good yields of tasty and he althy berries, you will need to familiarize yourself with the features of planting and caring for blueberries. The subtleties of this process will be discussed in detail in our article.
General characteristics
Garden blueberry (photo of the plant is shown below) belongs to the Heather family. This plant is native to North America. Blueberries are very popular in Canada and the USA. This is a relative of the common blueberry, which is common in countries with a temperate and cold climate in the Northern Hemisphere.
In the wild, blueberries are more common. It grows both in Iceland and in the Mediterranean. ATIn our country, this plant is also common, it has many names. Previously, it was believed that the berry catches up with dope and causes hopping, like alcohol, it gives a headache. However, the culprit of this phenomenon is wild rosemary, which often grows next to blueberries in the wild.
Common blueberry is a medium sized plant. Her garden look is taller. The plant began to be cultivated in North America, but today garden blueberry varieties, as well as their hybrids, are also common in our country. They are grown both in the southern regions of Russia and in the climate of the middle zone.
The plant belongs to the genus Vaccinium. It also includes shrubs such as lingonberries, cranberries, blueberries. However, each of these plants has characteristics that make them different from blueberries.
The garden blueberry bush reaches a height of about 2 m (common wild blueberries grow up to 1 m). Its berries have a pleasant sweet and sour taste, so many summer residents want to plant this particular type of plant on their plot.
Reviews of gardeners
If you want to grow blueberries in your garden, you need to familiarize yourself with some of the features of this plant. Experienced summer residents claim that this plant requires increased attention.
The roots of garden blueberries have a fibrous structure, erect branches have a cylindrical cross-sectional shape. The bark is gray or brown. The leaves are small and hard, growing in the next order. Their surface is smooth. The leaves are up to 3 cm long. Their top is rounded,resembles the shape of an inverted egg. A waxy coating can be observed on the surface of the leaves, due to which they acquire a bluish tint.
During the flowering period, flowers appear on the branches with five toothed petals, which are directed to the ground. They have a pinkish or white corolla in the form of a water lily. After the flowering period, oblong-shaped berries appear. The berries of common blueberries reach a length of 12 mm, their weight does not exceed 1 g. The garden variety is distinguished by larger berries weighing from 10 to 25 g. The skin on the berries is thin, covered with a bluish bloom. The flesh is colored green. Up to 7 kg of berries are harvested from one bush.
According to reviews, garden blueberries, varieties of which were cultivated in America, do not have time to ripen in our climate. Before the onset of cold weather, you can have time to collect only 30% of the crop, so you need to carefully choose a shrub variety. There are early and mid-ripening varieties, it is quite suitable for growing blueberries in our latitudes.
Variety variety
Varieties of garden blueberries are diverse, but in our country it is better to grow northern tall varieties that are highly winter hardy.
Such varieties were bred from North American species by crossing with common blueberries. Varieties that can be grown in temperate and northern climates include:
- Bluegold. Differs in the average period of maturationharvest. Cold resistant. Medium sized berries with a sweet and sour taste.
- Patriot. Tall variety, which is characterized by medium ripening. It reaches a height of 1.5 m. The berries are large with thick skin. Yield up to 7 kg per bush.
- Chippewa. Early maturing variety. Its height is 1 m. The berries are large, very sweet.
- Duke. Early maturing tall shrub. Grows up to 2 m. Berries are medium and large.
- Northland. The bush is low (up to 1 m). Gives a good harvest of berries with a pleasant taste. They have time to fully ripen before the onset of cold weather.
Growing garden blueberries has a number of nuances. Fulfilling all the requirements, you can get an enviable harvest of tasty, he althy berries. Experienced gardeners give advice on how to grow this interesting species.
Choice of location and soil
How to grow garden blueberries? You will need to choose a suitable location. The area where blueberries are planned to be planted must have good drainage. Otherwise, surface water can stagnate in the soil, causing roots to rot. Blueberries will die in this case.
The plant does well in a well-lit place on the site, after ripening the berries will have a sweeter taste. The area on which the bush grows must be elevated. There should not be strong winds and drafts. A calm, sunny location on the plot is ideal for growing whimsical blueberries.
Better to give preference to peat or sandy soils. However, it should be noted that the first typesoils are characterized by a rather high content of nitrogen. As a result, blueberries can freeze in winter. In addition, peat soil thaws much more slowly. There should be no large trees and spreading shrubs nearby.
When learning how to grow blueberries in a garden plot, you need to pay attention to the choice of soil. It must be sour. Otherwise, the plant will not take root here. In the area where the bush will grow, no additional crops should be grown for 2-3 years.
If there is no suitable plot in the country or in the garden, you need to prepare the soil yourself. Before planting in the ground, you will need to add a mixture of peat (3 parts) and sand (1 part). This recipe is for loamy soil. If there are not enough nutrients in the soil, nitrogen, phosphate and potash fertilizers must be applied to the ground in equal proportions. In this case, it will be easier to create suitable conditions for blueberries.
When to plant?
Planting garden blueberries is carried out in autumn or spring. The second option is preferable. During the summer period, the seedling has time to grow and take root in a new place. It will get stronger, and the winter cold will not be able to harm the young plant. For planting, seedlings are purchased in specialized stores. When choosing material for planting, you need to pay attention to the root system. It should not be open - the bush is usually planted in a container with earth.
If your friends grow blueberries on the site, you can plant using the methods of dividing the bush, layering orcuttings.
If the owners of the plot nevertheless decided to plant blueberries in the fall, they should pay great attention to the removal of weak branches with pruners after the first year of blueberry growth. Developed shoots should be shortened by half.
The procedure for planting garden blueberries does not depend on the season. It must be planted in the ground before the buds begin to swell. It should also be taken into account that you can’t just transfer the plant from the container to the pit - this can damage fragile roots that cannot take root in the soil without proper preparation.
Before planting in the ground, you need to lower the container into the water for 25 minutes, then the seedling must be carefully removed from its previous container. The earthen ball is carefully kneaded, and the roots are straightened.
Next, you will need to prepare holes 60 × 60 cm in size in the area. Their depth should be about 50 cm. The distance at which the plants are planted depends on the variety. If there are several bushes, they should be located at a distance of 120 cm if the bush grows up to 2 m in height. Medium-sized types of blueberries can be planted at a distance of 1 m, and undersized - 50 cm. Leave a distance of 3-3.5 m between rows.
The walls, as well as the bottom of the recess, need to be loosened to improve the flow of oxygen to the roots. Peat with sand, fertilizers are introduced into the pit. The seedling is lowered into the hole, straightening its roots. The recess is covered with soil. The root neck should be 3 cm below the soil level. Then the seedling is watered and mulched. The sawdust layer should be about 20 cm.
Features of care
Planting and caring for garden blueberriesrequire some simple rules to be followed. When the seedlings are transplanted to a permanent place of growth, the soil near the bushes will need to be loosened to a depth of 8 cm. You should not do this often. Otherwise, the bush will not receive enough moisture. Also, do not loosen the ground deep. In this case, fragile roots can be damaged.
Loosening is carried out without removing the mulch. It is replenished every 2-3 years, which is also a mandatory requirement when growing blueberries. In the area where the seedlings grow, weeds should not be allowed to develop - they are immediately destroyed.
Garden blueberry seedlings need proper watering, fertilization and pruning. It is very important to properly moisten the soil, so you need to develop the right irrigation scheme. The soil should be damp, but remember that stagnation can lead to rotting of the roots, and this cannot be allowed.
Most often the soil is watered 2 times a week. Under each adult bush you need to pour a whole bucket of water. Saplings of moisture require a little less. Watering is carried out early in the morning and after the sun sets. In other words, water the bushes twice a day every three to four days as the soil dries.
In the hot period, the plant needs abundant watering. Moisten the soil more than usual and during the period of active flowering. Due to the lack of water, the quality of the crop, not only this year, but also next year, can significantly decrease. On hot days after sunset, the bushes also need to be sprayed fromatomizer.
Feeding
Planting and caring for garden blueberries require the use of fertilizers. Although this plant is not particularly demanding on indicators of soil fertility, the plant gives a good harvest when using mineral fertilizers. This type of bait must be applied in the spring. They are added to the soil at the very beginning of spring, when the plant begins active sap flow.
Organic fertilizers are strictly prohibited. But blueberries perfectly absorb superphosphate, ammonium sulfate, zinc and potassium, as well as magnesium sulfate. These fertilizers affect the quality of the crop and the well-being of the bush. Ammonium sulfate must be applied three times per season. In total, during this time, each bush should receive about 80 grams of bait of this species. The first time nitrogen fertilizer should be applied to the soil in early spring, when the buds begin to swell on the branches (about 35 g). In the first decade of May, you will also need to feed (about 25 g). And a month later, the rest of the ammonium sulfate (20 g) is added.
Superphosphate should be used in summer and autumn. In total, about 100 g of this bait for each bush will be required. Magnesium-based fertilizer is applied in an amount of 15 g once a season. Sulfates of potassium, zinc are also applied once in the amount of 2 g each.
Fertilizers for garden blueberries can improve the quantity and taste of berries, so you need to take this work very responsibly.
Seed propagation
Reproduction of garden blueberries is carried out by differentways. You can use vegetative methods or seeds for this. The second option involves the preparation of planting material. First, the largest and most mature berries are harvested from the bushes, from which seeds are extracted. The grains are dried. In autumn, the seed will need to be applied to the greenhouse soil, after adding acidic peat to the soil.
If the planting of seeds is carried out in the spring, the seeds will need to be prepared first. They are stratified within 3 months. The seed is placed on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, the seeds are brought into the grooves prepared in the soil to a depth of 1 cm, and the top is covered with a mixture of peat and sand.
After the seeds are planted in the ground, it will be necessary to maintain a high air temperature. It should not fall below +23 ºС. Humidity should remain at 40%. While the seedlings are developing, they are periodically watered, the soil is constantly loosened, weeds are carefully weeded.
After 2 years of growth, seedlings need to be fertilized with a nitrogen composition. At the same time, it will be possible to plant seedlings in the ground at their permanent place of growth.
Cuttings and dividing the bush
Garden blueberries can be propagated by cuttings. In this case, the result will be faster. To do this, you need to take cuttings of the roots of the plant. They are cut in October or even early November, when all the foliage has fallen off. Also, the procedure can be performed in early spring before the sap flow begins in the branches.
You need to choose thicker shoots. They are cut into a length of 9-16 cm, cuttings within a monthstored at a temperature of +1 … +3 ºС in the refrigerator. After that, they are planted at an angle in a sand-peat mixture. Above the cutting should be about 5 cm of this soil. After 2 years, blueberries are planted on the site.
You can also propagate the plant by dividing the bush. To do this, they dig it up, divide it into 2 parts so that each of them has a rhizome about 6 cm long. After that, each part of the bush is planted on a prepared and fertilized permanent place of growth. Fruits on bushes that reproduce vegetatively appear 4 years after planting. When propagated by seed, the first crop is harvested after 7 years.
Pruning shrubs
Garden blueberries require proper pruning. This is necessary for the regular fruiting of the plant. Pruning is carried out in the spring before the start of sap flow. If diseased and frail branches are found in another season, they should be removed and burned immediately.
If the bush bloomed in the first year of its permanent growth in the ground, all flowers must be removed. From the second year, the plant will need to form a clear "skeleton" - this will allow blueberries to withstand the weight of the berries with a good harvest. Weak, frostbitten and other suspicious branches should be cut with secateurs, root shoots are also carefully removed.
After 5 years, the bush will need to cut not only weak and diseased branches, but also shoots that are more than 4 years old. Of the new shoots, about four pieces of the strongest are left. If the bush is upright, the thinning procedure is performed in the middle of the bush, but if the plant is sprawling,then you will need to delete the lower branches.
Some gardeners have several bushes of this plant growing in the area nearby. If they are in contact with branches, this negatively affects the quantity and quality of the crop, so branches cannot be intertwined.
Such simple recommendations will allow you to grow a beautiful, he althy bush. It will harmoniously fit into the landscape of the garden, and a rich harvest will delight gardeners.
Having delved into the peculiarities of growing garden blueberries, you can get a bountiful harvest of sweet berries. Even in a difficult domestic climate, the plant will feel quite comfortable, delighting its owners with tasty and he althy berries.
