Keep your blueberry plants respectable and fertile with these fecundation summit and more .
Laurie Black
Patience Is Key
To heighten blueberry bush plant , you ’ll call for a bit of patience since you wo n’t get much yield in the first couple of years — it may take five year to get a good harvest .
It may be tempting to go heavy on fertilizer when you see how lush your plants look , but overfertilizing will leave in inadequate - character fruit and stimulate other problems . For instance , if you contribute too much fertiliser , you might notice that your blueberry plant is getting leaf singe and that branches and shoot are starting to snuff it back .
We ’ll have you recognise how and when to fertilize your blueberry bush plants so you ’ll have plenty of fruit to throw intomuffins , sweet talker , andpie(and do n’t leave that blueberries freeze down well ) .
Credit:Laurie Black
Start with a Soil Test
Before you add fertilizer to blueberries or bemuse down any amendments in your garden , test the filth . You need to know thecondition of the soilto develop any plant successfully . Garden soil can accumulate salts from overuse of fertilizers over time or become depleted of vital nutrients . A soil test tells you exactly which nutrient and other amendments you necessitate to add to the dirt . Plus you ’ll be able to tell whether thepH needs to be adapt for Elvis - have intercourse blueberry bush plants .
you’re able to getDIY soil testingkits online or have your stain essay by your local cooperative wing business office . blueberry grow comfortably in well - drained , acidic soil with a pH of 4.3 to 5.3 andfortified with organic affair . Once you know your soil pH , you may conform it as ask .
Best Fertilizer for Blueberries
Most fruit crop need annual applications ofnitrogen fertilizerto sustain the growth of roots , leaves , and fruit . The good plant food for blueberries have its nitrogen from ammonium ion and not nitrate . blueberry are sore to nitrate , and their roots can be damaged by it . expend a fertilizer that have its nitrogen from urea , S - cake carbamide , ammonium sulfate , or cottonseed meal .
taste a 7 - 7 - 7 or 4 - 3 - 4 fertiliser formulated for acid - loving flora . Any fertiliser sell for azalea or rhododendrons will work well for blueberries . Cottonseed meal is also a good plant food forblueberry plants .
Fertilizer alone wo n’t give you a bumper crop of blueberry , though . You need to feed the soil , too . Add organic material , such as aged manure or compost , to your garden land to give blueberry plants the nutrients they need to thrive . Rely on the grunge mental test to assure you whatamendments to add to your soilto keep blueberries well-chosen and healthy .
When to Fertilize Blueberries
Time the feeding of blueberry bush plants around their cycle of flora and berry development , and feed your blueberry bush plant three times a year :
How Much Fertilizer to Give Blueberries
Too much nitrogen fertilizer can cause a blueberry plant to grow lots of offshoot at the disbursement of berry production . The amount of fertilizer you apply depends on the maturity of the blueberry plant life . The quondam the plant is , the more fertilizer you need to apply each year to corroborate yield increment .
How to Fertilize Blueberries
blueberry bush plants take up nutrients through their root system , so put on fertilizer to the soil at the cornerstone of the flora as a top dressing . Do n’t crease or cultivate the soil around the understructure of the blueberry plant life to work ingranulated plant food ; just water it in . Blueberry plants have shallow root systems that can be damaged if you dig in the dirt .
Mulch Your Blueberry Plants
blueberry bush plants grow faster and produce more Berry if you put a 2- to 3 - inch - recondite layer of organic mulch around the base of the plants . A layer of pine barque , pine pale yellow , compost , or wood chips avail blueberry plant hold back wet and suppress weeds that take food forth from the blueberries . Themulch also launch the soilby adding organic affair as it break down . You ’ll see regular growth and systematically high output of blueberry if you mulch the plant .
Do n’t habituate mulch with a high pH , like mushroom-shaped cloud compost . Pine bark or true pine straw is the best option because it is acidic and lour the stain ’s pH as it decomposes . Blueberries favour acidic stain .
Frequently Asked Questions
Yellow leaf might indicate your plant has chlorosis ; it is n’t cause enough Sunday , body of water , and nutrients to make the chlorophyll it needs to thrive . icteric leaves could also stand for the flora has a nutritionary job . You might be able to even out the condition by adding constituent cloth to the land , fertilizing the blueberry works , or adjust the soil pH.
The three factor governing blueberry sweet are sunlight , weather condition , and soil nutrition . Get any of those awry , and blueberries will be less sweet . Make your soil pH correct and fertilise a balanced fertilizer formulated for berries that is high in potassium ( the K in the N - P - K proportion . )
Yes , blueberries in containers still need an acidic - base fertilizer ( without nitrates or chloride ) in former spring .
add up meditative streamer or raspberry netting to your bushes to keep birds at bay .
“ grow blueberries in the habitation garden . ” University of Minnesota Extension .
“ How Blueberries Grow . ” U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council .
“ Suggested Blueberry Fertilization Timings and Rates . ” University of Georgia Extension .
“ grow blueberry in Containers . ” University of Maryland Extension .
