Although planting instructions will be enclosed with you order we would like to give some general information here.
Blueberries like a ph of 4.5 to 5.5 (acidic) and like a high content of moisture and organic material, peat moss, sawdust, wood chips and decomposed leaves are excellent mulching materials for blueberry bushes. They should be watered often, but over watering for a long period of time is not good for them, if the top inch of soil is damp then you are OK. The blueberry bush is shallow rooted and cultivation if any should be shallow, many people keep the area around the bushes mowed for an attractive appearance.
New plantings should be fertilized with a water soluble slow release fertilizer and should be watched carefully for lack of water. If your plants do not grow or produce as they should then recheck soil for acidity and nutrients.
Pruning is necessary for removing dead or broken branches, thin or brushy wood growing horizontally and around the base of the bush, remove old stems that have lost their vigor and have not grown new shoots also stems or canes that are 6 yrs or older to encourage new growth, to prune 6 year and older canes cut the cane off at the base of the plant as close to the ground as you can, the plant will sent up new canes to replace the ones you prune off, it is the 3 to 5 year old stems/canes that produce the bulk of the fruit. Pruning should be done in the fall or winter when the plant is dormant. Do not prune to shape your blueberry bush, the fruit comes on the ends of the branches so shaping will simply be cutting off the fruit buds.
Bare root plants should be planted to a depth of 1/4" to 1/2" above root line with 2" to 4" of mulch on top of that.
The bulk of the fruit comes on the 3 to 5 year old branches, but that does not mean you will not get some fruit the first couple of years, usually when the plant is 3 to 4 years old you will be getting fruit, I would guess you would get about a pound on a 3 year old bush and around three pounds on a 4 year old bush, now of course that will depend on what time of year the bush was planted and how well it has been correctly taken care of and the age of the bush when it was planted but once they start growing they grow rapidly, usually the first year in the ground they tend to grow more slowly due to getting established but after that watch out !
You may catch me repeating myself on this but, I always like to stress to people with new blueberry plantings, ph is very important, 4.5 to 5.5, you can lower your soil ph with sulfur or aluminum sulfate or ammonium sulfate. Also the first year if it doesn't rain that day water them.
A pint of blueberries weights about 7/10 of a pound.
Although the varieties we raise are all self pollinating, by using two different varieties you can achieve higher Yields.
Blueberry Bushes are a unique and beautiful free standing bush that can serve as an ornamental shrub as well as fruit production. In the spring the green foliage is thick and attractive the flowers that precede the fruit are pretty with a light perfume, as the flowers fall green berries form which turn blue as they ripen, in the fall the foliage turns bright shades of reds.
They are easy to care for and maintain. I cannot stress this enough, they require a ph of 4.5 to 5.5, if a blueberry bush is not doing well or is dying it is nearly always because the ph is wrong ! They like to be mulched with peat moss, wood chips, sawdust, pine needles, leaves or other acid content organic materials.
Blueberries like a good supply of water, especially the first year as they are a shallow rooted plant, cultivation if any should be shallow, many people just keep the grass mowed short around them, but take care during fruit bearing not to disturb the berries or knock them off!
New plantings should be fertilized with a slow release or water soluble fertilizer. We also recommend that you fertilize throughout its life, we use and recommend Miracle Grow Mir-Acid, (no we don't get any perks from mentioning them, we just like the product), there are other very good acid loving fertilizers available also, so pick your favorite and use it. Keep in mind that these products are fertilizers, not acidifiers.
Trimming or pruning is not necessary until your bush is around 5-6 yrs old, pruning is mainly for the purpose of removing dead or broken branches, removing the thin, bushy growth that grows around the base (but do not prune the straight strong new growth coming up from the base) and after your plant is 5 years old remove the 5 year old and older branches to encourage new canes (growth ) growing up from the base.
In the fall your bushes will start turning red, this is what they are supposed to do, the stems may also take on a red hue, after the leaves are red they will fall off for the winter, if you look closely you will see buds on the branches, depending on the age of your bush you will see small leaf buds and larger more swollen looking fruit buds, the fruit buds will be more toward the end of the branches or stems, each of the fruit buds will produce fruit the next summer, so never trim off the ends of the branches, that's where the fruit will be. When spring arrives the leaf buds will begin to open and soon pink & white flowers will follow on the fruit buds, the flowers have a nice light fragrance, as the flower petals fall off you will see the beginnings of tiny green berries forming,they will look very much like tiny peas with a ruffle around one end, these tiny green berries will get larger and larger until finally they start to turn reddish then get a purple tint then turn blue, wait until they are a dark blue and appear to have a dusting on them, then they are ready for picking, the usual picking time is 2-3 weeks depending on the variety you have.
How can you tell which part of the blueberry bush will your berries be on? There are fruit buds and leaf buds.
When your plants are coming out of dormancy you will observe large buds toward the tips of your bushes, these large buds are the fruit buds, each of these will eventually have a cluster of berries on them.
The leaf buds are much smaller, also the leaf buds will run down the length of the branches and not just toward the tips.
There are many ways to harvest blueberries. Handpicking is the preferred choice for fresh fruit eye appeal, a blueberry rake can be used as an alternative. For the commercial market blueberry catchers along with hand or powered beaters are used and harvesting machines are an economical way for larger blueberry farms.
To handpick your blueberries cup your hands around the bottom of the cluster of berries and gently but firmly using your thumbs and forefingers roll the berries off the stems into your hands.
Blueberries are great frozen, just pick them and freeze unwashed or washed, but make sure they are dry before you freeze them or they will clump together. You can enjoy blueberries in your baked goods, pancakes, muffins, jams, jellies, on ice cream, cereal, pies or just plain, blueberries are a tasty healthy snack that can be enjoyed all year long.