How To Grow Blueberries

I don’t know about you but blueberries are one of my favourite fruits. We eat tons of them. Straight up, mixed in with a bit of yoghurt or even with homemade pancakes on a Sunday morning. I’ve also wanted to try my hand at growing them, so this year I’m going to plant some blueberry bushes in my garden and hopefully later this summer, I’ll be able to enjoy some of my own home-grown blueberries. Here’s some of the top tips I’ve come across for how to grow blueberries successfully.

How To Grow Blueberries

Test Your Soil

The thing to remember with blueberries is that they like acidic soil. So just planting them in your garden possibly won’t help them flourish, as the pH of the soil may not be correct. If you have a garden where camellias or heathers flourish, blueberries should do quite well directly in the ground. If you aren’t sure, it’s simple enough to do a quick soil pH test before you start.

Plant Two Blueberry Bushes

I’m going to plant my blueberries in pots and I’m going to pot two different varieties. Because although many blueberry varieties are either partially or fully self-pollinating, they will produce much more fruit if they can cross-pollinate and I’m looking forward to harvesting a bumper crop – hopefully!

I have two different varieties – Grover and Northland. The Grover variety is likely to produce fruit in August. The Northland variety should fruit very slightly earlier. Both should produce lots of fruit, so we should have plenty come the summer.

Use the Right Soil for Blueberries

Now as I mentioned, one of the most important things to remember when you are thinking about how to grow blueberries is the soil. This is very important when it comes to blueberries. You need to have acidic soil. A pH of between 4.5 and 5.5 is ideal for blueberries. If the soil in your garden has a more alkaline pH, then I would suggest buying some ericaceous compost for your plants and then planting them in pots.

Planting Blueberries in Pots

You’ll need to make sure your pot has some small drainage holes, otherwise, the plants get waterlogged and the roots will rot.

I’m using a 30cm wooden pot. Wooden or terracotta pots are great as they will help to keep a more consistent heat. In the summer it gets really hot in our garden and a black plastic pot will not only heat up very quickly, but it will also dry out really quickly. Wooden or terracotta pot are ideal for this type of bush and it will provide a little bit more protection over the cold winter too.

By using a pot larger than 30cm, your blueberry plant is likely to grow larger. They can grow up to 7 ft high, but most plants will grow perfectly well in a 30cm plant pot in the first instance. You may have to think about repotting after a couple of years.

When To Plant Blueberries

Blueberries are best planted in autumn and winter and then they will fruit in late summer to early autumn. Ideally, you should plant them between November and March.

Blueberry plants are a relatively hardy plant and should survive quite well over the winter.

Watering and Feeding Blueberry Plants

Blueberry bushes are pretty low maintenance. You should only need to feed them around once a month. You must feed them with ericaceous plant food. So one that has an acidic pH of between 4.5 and 5.5.

The other important thing to remember when considering how to grow blueberries is to always water your plants with rainwater. Tap water has lime in it, which will dilute the acidity of the soil over time, making it more and more alkaline. Rainwater doesn’t do this. So use the water collected in your water butt and your blueberries will thank you for it.

It’s important to not let your blueberries dry out, so water them often, especially over the hotter summer months.

Pruning Blueberry Bushes

You shouldn’t need to prune your blueberries for at least the first two years. Over time, as your plants grow in size, you may want to re-pot them in bigger pots with new compost. It’s also a good idea, after each harvest, to remove the top layer of soil and replace it with new, fresh compost. That way your plants should thrive year, after year.

Netting Blueberries

One final thing to note is that birds love blueberries, so once your blueberry bushes start fruiting, I would recommend netting them to stop your precious fruit being pinched by the birds. I hope you’ve enjoyed my tips on how to grow blueberries successfully.

So check back in with me over the coming months, to see how my blueberry plants are coming along. I’d love to hear what success you are having with your blueberries.

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