How to grow a blueberry bush I your backyard

Blueberries need soil that is quite acidic -- between pH 3 to 5.5. To start with you need to know what the pH (acidity) of your soil is. You can get pH meters or test strips from your local nursery. I personally like to use the test strips. It's simple and inexpensive.

Are your blueberry bushes going in the ground or in containers?
If your natural soil is pH 7 or above (neutral to alkaline), you will be better off growing them in large containers. Anything you do to acidify the soil planting them in the ground will be constantly neutralized by contact with the surrounding soil. I've found that it is a lot easier to control the pH in a container than it is in the ground.

I've planted 6 blueberry bushes thus far and plan to add two more next fall. I've read that the more you plant different varieties together it with help increase yield. This year I decided to give a try. I started by purchasing a used wine barrel from our local winery. The wine barrel created two fairly large plant containers (click here for more information). We placed the large containers in its permanent location, one on each side of the entrance to the garden. You'd want to do this before filling the container with soil because it will be heavy and more of a challenge to move it.

Blueberries bushes do well in rich, organic soil as well as acidic. I created a recipe and so far the blueberries bushes are eating it up!

Acidic Planting Mix- I purchased a bag of acidic planting mix from my local nursery. Dumped half of the bag into the wine barrel and placed it aside for the second barrel.

Organic Matter- Then I added about the same amount of compost. Our compost is made here onsite so that we have a better control on what is being added to the compost.

Rich Dark Organic Matter

Peat Moss- Add about half the amount of compost.

Mix it all together with a shovel. At this point I felt like I was making a witches concoction for the blueberry bush, add a little fish bone meal for taste and you have soil remedy ready for the blueberry bushes.

Fish Meal- Before placing the new blueberry bush in the wine barrel I coated the roots with fish meal. This helps reduce the plant shock of transplanting and it helps establish a healthy root system.

Okay now you've made your soil concoction, you've coated the roots with fish meal. Now you're ready to place the plant in its new home.  Follow the planting instructions on the plant container.

The best time to transplant blueberry bushes is in the fall and earlier spring. I've planted two different varieties together. A mid season variety and a late season variety. I wanted to make sure that I had a long harvest between May through August. This has been my experience with blueberry bushes.  I hope this information helps you on your journey as an gardener.

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