March 2013 old RR posts

Wed, 2012/03/07 – 11:46am — BuffMother

My Blueberry research~

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Read more: How to Raise Blueberry Plants | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5615817_raise-blueberry-plants.html#ixzz1oYWvqbvH

 

A newly planted blueberry bush will begin producing the second or third season after it’s planted. During the first blossom year, remove all blossoms. This helps root development and strengthens plants.

Pests and Problems:

Birds love blueberries! Consider draping blueberries in bird netting to deter them. Or build a walk-in blueberry cage (a light frame covered in bird netting), because birds sometimes fly under netting draped on top of plants.

In winter, rabbits and rodents may nibble on blueberry branches. Consider a chicken wire fence to protect tender bushes.

Maintenance:

Blueberries need one inch of water per week or more. Use caution with tap water, as it can raise the pH of the soil or damage blueberries with minerals. Mulch made of wood chips, sawdust, or shredded bark will help conserve moisture and keep soil pH low.

Fertilize in spring and again in late summer.

Prune bushes in the winter. Remove any dead or diseased branches. Slightly thin bushy plants. Trim height, but don’t cut away more than half an inch of the newest growth.

Harvesting:

Peak blueberry “season” is three weeks in July, but blueberry bushes will bear fruit until the frost. You know they’re ready when the berries are easily picked. When ripe, they have a grayish cast on a very blue color. A berry with a hint of red is not yet ripe. Cup a cluster of berries and rub gently with your fingers to pick ripe berries quickly.

Storage and Preservation:

Don’t wash blueberries until just before using. Chill them as soon as possible after picking. Freeze berries on a cookie sheet without washing, then move into freezer bags or containers. Rinse in cold water immediately before using.

Soils

Blueberries have very specific soil requirements. Plants grow best in well-drained, light sandy loam soils that are high in organic matter with a pH between 4.5 and 5.5. Peat and muck soils also are suitable. The soil water table should be at least 14 inches below the soil surface, or roots will suffocate.

If your garden has only coarse sandy or gravelly soils, pay more careful attention to watering and fertilizing. However, you can modify many soils that are unsuitable initially to make them suitable for blueberry production.

Selecting a cultivar

In most places, the blueberry fruiting season extends from early July to mid-September, depending on which cultivar you grow. The fruit on each cultivar ripens over a 2- to 5-week period.

Although highbush blueberry cultivars generally are self-fertile, cross-pollination produces larger berries. Also, if you plant two or more cultivars that ripen at different times, you’ll lengthen the harvest season.

Some cultivars grown(in order of ripening): ‘Earliblue,’ ‘Bluetta,’ ‘Duke,’ ‘Spartan,’ ‘Patriot,’ ‘Collins,’ ‘Bluejay,’ ‘Blueray,’ ‘Ivanhoe,’ ‘Berkeley,’ ‘Bluecrop,’ ‘Pemberton,’ ‘Jersey,’ ‘Coville,’ ‘Dixi,’ ‘Lateblue,’ and ‘Elliott.’

Which cultivars should you choose?

Choosing two cultivars that flower at the same time allows for cross-pollination and larger berries. Choosing various cultivars that ripen at different times allows you to pick fruit for a longer period. Choose cultivars with favorable fruit characteristics and plant growth habit.

Establishing your planting

Preparing the soil

You must prepare soils that are not naturally suitable for blueberry plant growth before planting. If you plan on growing several plants together, you’ll obtain more satisfactory results if you prepare an entire bed, rather than digging holes for individual plants and preparing soil to fill these holes.

It’s better to group plants together in a bed or row than to scatter individual plants around your home or garden. Blueberry plants are long-lived, so considerable time and expense in preparing the soil can be justified.

A well-drained, acid soil with a pH between 4.5 and 5.5 is considered ideal for good growth. Incorporate organic matter, such as well-decomposed (rotted) sawdust, bark dust, or leaves, to improve soil aeration and drainage. Test soil pH a year before planting.

For most soils the pH must be lowered (made more acidic). However, if the pH of your soil is below 4.0, incorporate finely ground dolomitic limestone, following the rates recommended on the soil test report.

If the pH is above 5.5, acidify the soil by one of the following methods:

Mix 4 to 6 inches of peat moss into the top 6 to 8 inches of soil. In addition to acidifying the soil, peat increases the organic matter content. Mix sawdust (do not use cedar) into the soil the fall before planting as outlined above for peat. Sawdust is not as effective as peat for lowering soil pH, but it’s effective at increasing soil organic matter. You also can use wood shavings (no cedar), alfalfa or grass hay, pine needles, leaves, and manures; however, these materials must compost (rot) before they become very beneficial. Composting robs soil of nitrogen. Therefore, as a general rule add 1 lb ammonium sulfate per 100 ft2 per inch depth of sawdust. Apply elemental sulfur or aluminum sulfate the year before you plant and thoroughly mix into the top 6 to 8 inches of soil. The amount of sulfur required to lower pH to the desired range differs for each soil type, so you must determine the amount required by trial. As a guide, it requires 1 to 2 lb sulfur or 6 to 12 lb aluminum sulfate per 100 ft2 to lower the pH one unit (say, from 6 to 5). Use the higher rate on heavier loam soils high in organic matter and the lower rate on light sandy soils low in organic content.

It takes several months for sulfur to lower the pH. Check the pH once or twice during the first growing season to determine if more sulfur is required.

If the pH is slightly above 5.5, continued use of ammonium sulfate fertilizer will lower the pH gradually.

If the pH of an organic soil is higher than 6.5, it’s usually not practical to acidify it.

Although blueberries require readily available moisture, they will not tolerate poor drainage. Ideal soils are well-drained with a water table 14 to 22 inches below the surface. You often can make poorly drained sites or soils suitable for growing blueberries by tiling and/or planting on raised beds.

A raised bed 8 to 18 inches high and 3 to 4 feet wide usually is sufficient to provide adequate drainage and aeration. Remove some of the soil and replace it with about 3 inches of coarse material (gravel, crushed stone, etc.) to provide good drainage.

On top of the coarse material add 8 to 18 inches of a mixture containing a high content of acid peat. For example, you can use a mixture of half sandy soil and half peat or half soil and half sawdust. Use logs or stones to retain the soil mixture if necessary.

Back to the Blueberries

 

Planting

Plant healthy 2- to 3-year-old plants in late winter or early spring. Purchase bare-root or container grown plants from a reputable nursery. If you purchase bare-root plants, plant them before they break dormancy (begin growth in spring). Space plants from 4 to 6 feet in the row. Spacing between the rows can be from 7 to 9 feet. Set plants no more than 2 inches deeper than they were growing in the nursery row or container. Firm the soil well to remove air pockets. Avoid fertilizing plants when you plant them. Water thoroughly after planting, but don’t overwater.

Remove blossoms

Strip off flower buds or blossoms that appear the year the plants are set, so that no crop is produced. Be patient! It’s important that plants grow well the first year, and flower and fruit production hinder growth.

It’s easy to strip off blossoms by wearing leather gloves and rubbing your hands up and down the twigs.

Weed control

Eliminate all perennial weeds before planting and keep the planting free of all weeds during the growing season to within at least 4 feet of the plants. Blueberry roots grow mostly near the soil surface. Thus, to prevent root damage, any cultivation you do must be very shallow and not too close to the plant.

Mulching

Blueberries grow better on mineral soil if you mulch them. After planting, apply mulch to a depth of 3 inches. Increase the depth of the mulch to 6 inches over a period of years. You can mulch the entire soil surface (and then you don’t have to cultivate), or you can place a band of mulch about 3 to 4 feet wide in the row. You may have to apply two to three times as much fertilizer on mulched plantings compared to unmulched plantings.

Mulching with old sawdust or some other well decomposed (rotted), suitable material keeps the soil cool, helps conserve moisture, adds organic matter to the soil, improves soil structure, and aids in weed control.

Fertilizing

Four weeks after planting, apply 10-10-10 fertilizer at the rate of about 1 ounce (11/2 tablespoons) per plant. Sprinkle it evenly within 12 to 18 inches of each plant, but not directly on the crown or stems. If possible, use mixtures in which potassium is supplied in the form of potassium sulfate rather than potassium chloride. Fertilizer is more effective when it’s in contact with the soil. If you mulched the plants, rake it aside, apply fertilizer, then replace the mulch.

Watering

Blueberries have a shallow, fibrous root system, so they’re susceptible to drought injury. A uniform and adequate supply of water is essential for optimum growth. If this isn’t supplied by natural soil water or rainfall, then you must irrigate. On the average, plants need 1 inch of water per week. Check the soil frequently for adequate moisture and irrigate if necessary.

Pruning

At planting, prune all branches back by about 30 to 40 percent to encourage vigorous new growth. Young plants require little pruning for the first 2 to 3 years. Remove dead or dying parts of branches and less vigorous, spindly growth around the base of plants to encourage vigorous upright growth.

Whenever you fertilize, use either ammonium sulfate (21 percent nitrogen) or a well-balanced fertilizer containing potassium sulfate. These fertilizers gradually will lower the pH of the soil. Blueberries grow best if the soil pH (a measure of acidity) is between 4.5 and 5.5.

 

Checklist for establishing a blueberry planting and taking care of plants the first year Select a good site. Eliminate all perennial weeds before they go to seed. Test the soil pH a year before planting. Prepare the soil the year before planting: Incorporate organic matter. Modify soil pH if necessary. If the site drains poorly, use tile drains and build raised beds.

Choose cultivars-planting two or more leads to larger fruit and a longer harvest period. Plant in the spring. Apply 3 inches of straw or other mulch. Prune all branches back by 30 to 40 percent. Apply fertilizer a month after planting. Keep the planting weed-free. Irrigate as required. Care of established plants

Adding mulch

Add mulching material as required to attain a depth of about 6 inches once plants are mature. In row plantings, widen the mulched area to at least 4 feet as plants become larger. As a rule, sawdust mulch decomposes at the rate of about 1 inch per year.

Fertilizing

Apply 10-10-10 fertilizer annually in the spring at the rate of 2 ounces (1/4 cup, or equivalent rate of another well-balanced fertilizer) per plant the second year after planting, increasing by 1 ounce each year until you reach a total of 6 to 8 ounces (3/4 to 1 cup) per plant. If the soil is quite fertile, an application of 5 ounces of ammonium sulfate (21-0-0) per mature plant is sufficient.

Apply this fertilizer at the time the buds are swelling. Spread it evenly around the plant, over an area approximately equal to that of the maximum spread of the bush, without touching the base of the canes.

The first 2 or 3 years after you start mulching, plants may become pale green, because much of the soil nitrogen is used by organisms that decompose the mulch. Therefore, it’s often necessary to fertilize each plant with 1 to 2 ounces of ammonium sulfate in early May and again in late June to avoid nitrogen deficiency. In general, you should avoid fertilizing after July

Check the soil pH every year or two, especially if growth is poor. If the pH is above 6, you can apply sulfur to the surface of the soil or mulch at the rate of about 1 ounce of elemental sulfur or 6 ounces of aluminum sulfate per plant. Water or lightly rake the sulfur into the soil or mulch. (It’s best to delay this sulfur application for about a month after applying fertilizer, to avoid possible burning of blueberry roots.)

Ammonium sulfate fertilizers used over a period of years gradually will lower the pH. However, if you use nitrate fertilizers, you tend to raise the pH.

Remember that your visual assessment of plant growth and fruiting is extremely useful in a good fertilizer program. If the plants are growing well (10 to 12 inches of new growth each year) and if you obtain average yields, there’s no need to worry about whether plants are getting an adequate amount of nutrients.

Watering

Blueberries need a uniform and adequate water supply from blossom time to the end of harvest. The demand for moisture is greatest from berry swell through harvest. Fruit bud formation for next year’s crop begins from late July to early August–so adequate water is needed at this time.

Irrigate if plants don’t receive about 1 inch of water a week from rainfall. Irrigate frequently enough to prevent the leaves from wilting. However, avoid overwatering the plants, or roots may be killed.

Pruning

After the third year, you need to prune blueberry plants regularly. The main objectives of pruning are to promote the growth of strong, new wood and to maintain good fruit production. Fruit is produced on 1-year-old wood.

If you prune too little, plants become crowded, with weak, twiggy growth; and they fail to develop strong new wood for future production. Severe pruning produces fewer, larger berries and more new wood. Experience is the best guide on how hard to prune.

The best time to prune is January to mid-March, when plants are dormant. If you follow a series of steps, you may systemize your pruning job and make it easier:

Cut out any wood that’s dead, damaged, or diseased. Keep the bush fairly open. Remove basal shoots smaller than pencil size in diameter, but leave larger shoots to develop into next year’s fruiting wood. Cut out one or two old, unproductive canes (large stems arising near the base of the plant). Fourth-year or older wood (with small, weak laterals and few fruit buds) is unproductive-cut these canes back to the ground or to a strong new side shoot.

Limit the number of canes to one for each year of age of the plant, or a maximum of 6 to 8 canes for old bushes. If you remove one or two old canes each year and if one or two new ones are produced, none will be over 4 to 6 years old-a good goal towards which to work.

Remove excess sucker shoots (growing from base of plant or roots) and weak, twiggy wood, especially from the top of the plant, to allow light to reach the center. Twiggy wood generally has few fruit buds.

Plants may overbear. This often results in very little new growth of wood, and small, late-maturing berries. If this is a problem, remove some of the weakest 1-year-old wood and, if necessary, tip back some of the remaining 1-year-old wood. Cut off about one-third of the flower buds; these are larger, fatter, and less pointed than vegetative buds.

If you prune bushes correctly, you’ll have a good balance between fruit production and growth of vigorous new shoots.

Checklist for taking care of mature plants Add mulch to a depth of 6 inches. Apply fertilizer in the spring when the buds start to swell. Maintain a uniform and adequate moisture supply by irrigation if necessary. Pick fruit at optimum maturity. Prune from January through mid-March. Harvesting

Each blueberry cultivar ripens berries over a 2- to 5-week period. Berries occur in clusters of 5 to 10. Don’t be too anxious to pick the berries when they first appear ripe. They’ll develop better flavor if you leave them for a few days after they completely turn blue. Pick about once a week or more often in hot weather. Gently roll berries between your thumb and forefinger, removing fully ripe berries and leaving unripe berries for the next picking.

You can collect berries in an open container attached to a belt or cord at waist level. This frees both hands for picking. You can keep fruit for a week or more in the refrigerator.

Pests

Many species of birds feed on blueberry fruit; they can harvest 100 percent of the berries if you don’t control them. Scare tactics like aluminum plates and strips of foil flapping in the wind have limited effectiveness; birds become used to these devices.

The most effective method of bird control is netting with a light plastic fabric. You can place nets directly on the plants, but this makes harvesting fruit difficult, and birds still can feed on some of the outside fruit by pecking through the netting. As an alternative, you can construct a small wooden frame over individual or groups of plants as a support for the netting.

If any diseases or insect pests become a problem-such as mummy berry, Botrytis, Pseudomonas, aphids, root weevils, or scales-check with your county office of the OSU Extension Service for control recommendations.

Blueberry Plants are Easy to Grow and Produce Delicious Blueberries for Your Home Garden!

BLUEBERRIES ARE EASY TO GROW!

Plant blueberry bushes this year and enjoy not only the healthy delicious berries, but savor the beauty of these highly ornamental landscape shrubs.For years we have sold proven cold-hardy blueberry varieties that are prolific producers of tasty sweet berries at our farm in Eastern Oregon.

We are now offering these same varieties available online. All our blueberries are certified to be virus free and true to type.When planting blueberries, not only are you planting a bush that will bear delicious and healthy fruit, you are also planting an attractive ornamental shrub. Whether you plant blueberries for the birds, your children, or yourself, blueberries can work very well in your landscape plans.

Blueberries have delicate bell shaped blooms in spring, followed by glossy green leaves throughout summer, delicious powder blue to dark blue fruit, striking fall color ranging from deep orange to scarlet-red, and brilliant winter wood.Blueberries, such as Bluecrop blueberry and Rubel blueberry make excellent hedges. To form solid hedges or screens, place plants 2½ to 3’ apart. To obtain uniform shape and texture use the same variety for the entire hedgeFor border plantings along walks or skirting a planting bed, choose Northcountry. Northcountry blueberry bushes will eventually reach 3’ wide and stays compact at only 2’ high. Since blueberries are acid loving plants, mix in with where rhododendrons or compact evergreen azaleas are planted.

If the soil type in your area is not suitable for blueberries or your growing space is limited to a deck or patio, container growing is an option. The half-high varieties, especially Northcountry, lend themselves to this use. Northcountry will fill out a container such as a half whiskey barrel when mature.Blueberries are noted for their striking fall foliage. Red hues from burgundy to flame, as well as bright yellow oranges, can add rich color to the fall landscape.Although the reason most people buy blueberry plants is not the winter wood color, it is certainly worth noting. The bare branches of blueberry plants have brilliant wood color that is beautiful throughout the winter months and a striking contrast to a snowy background.

Browse our selection of hardy blueberry plants at our online farm store.

Gardening!

http://www.blueberry.org/gardening.htm

Commercial

Need advice or tips on growing blueberries? Contact your local County Extension agent. publications/extension.PDF  Normally the county agent is listed in the white pages of your phone directory under State or County.  Ask for an extension horticulturalist.   (Sorry, USHBC is involved in promotions and not well suited to give horticulture or plant gardening advice!)  We offer this page as a service to home gardeners.  Thank you!

Home Gardening:Everyone loves blueberries!  We have been asked many times how you can grow your own blueberries to enjoy this sweet treat during the summer months!  Your best resource for horticultural information in your area is the Cooperative Extension Service or County Agent.  You can also look in your local Yellow Pages and locate nurseries near you who are knowledgeable of blueberries.  We wish you luck and hope this whets your appetite to head for the produce and frozen foods section during the  months of the year your blueberries are not in season.

BlueberryGrowing Essentials:

	Sunlight – Fruit need plenty of sunlight, whenever it begins to branch or bramble.
	Soil – Almost all fruits do best in slightly acidic soil, somewhere between a pH of 5.5 and 6.5.  Blueberries prefer a soil of even greater acidity of between 4.09 and 5.0.
	Drainage – Adequate drainage is important.  Find a suitable site, avoiding low lying areas the collect water or are slow to drain in the spring.
	Pollination – Most fruit trees, including blueberries have both male and female organs on the same flower, but not all are self pollinating.  The best bet for blueberries is to have different varieties of blueberries  within 100 feet, so bees can travel and cross pollinate.  Blueberries cannot be fertilized by their own pollen!

Plant Type	Spacing	Soil	Fertilizer	Remarks
Potting Blueberries	Potted	Moist, well drained acidic, may be left in container, repot in spring.	ammonium sulfate	Water heavily first 2 weeks.  Must experience cold (36 degrees F or less) for at least 6 weeks annually
In the ground blueberries	4-5 feet apart	Rich, well drained	ammonium sulfate

Home Garden Sites:

STARTING RIGHT WITH BLUEBERRIES

Blueberries bring a unique combination of delicious fruit and striking ornamental beauty to the garden and landscape. Blueberries are easy to grow, require little care, and are seldom bothered by pests. If a few basic steps are followed your blueberry plants can thrive and last a lifetime.

Varieties

Blueberry varieties are distinguished by their climate suitability and ripening season. Be sure to choose varieties suited to your area. You may want to select varieties that ripen at different times or feature large fruit (best for fresh eating and desserts) or small fruit (best for muffins and pancakes). Bushes with brilliant fall color or different growth habits offer the gardener lots of choices to use throughout the landscape. For blueberry lovers, allow at least two plants per family member.

Site Selection and Preparation

Select a sunny location in well drained soil free of weeds and well worked. Locate in an area where irrigation water is available as best results will be obtained by keeping the root zone moist throughout the growing season. Where the soil is poor or marginally drained, raised beds 3-4 feet wide and 8-12″ high work very well for blueberries.

A fail safe way to grow blueberries in almost any soil is to incorporate peat moss into the planting medium. For planting directly in the ground, work up a planting area approximately 2-1/2 feet in diameter and one foot deep. Remove 1/3 to 1/2 of the soil. Add an equal amount of pre-moistened peat moss and mix well. One 4 cubic foot compressed bale will usually be sufficient for 4-5 plants, for raised beds mix equal volumes peat moss with acid compost or planting mix. Blueberries thrive in acidic soils. Your garden center representative can recommend a soil acidifier if necessary for your area.

Spacing – Blueberries can be planted as close as 2-1/2 feet apart to form solid hedgerows or spaced up to 6 feet apart and grown as individual specimens. If planted in rows, allow 8-10 feet between the rows depending on equipment used for mowing or cultivating.

Planting– For container stock, remove from pot and lightly roughen up the outside surface of the root ball. Set the top soil line of the plant about 1-2 inches higher than the existing ground and firm around root ball. Mound soil up along sides of exposed root mass. Watering well. For bare root plants, spread roots out wide and shallow, cover with 1/2″ of soil. Firm soil around roots and water well.

Mulching – Blueberries do best with a 2-4″ mulch over the roots to conserve moisture, prevent weeds and add organic matter. Bark mulch, acid compost, sawdust, grass clippings, etc. all work well. Repeat every other year.

Pruning – It is important that blueberries get established before allowing them to bear fruit. Thereafter, they should be heavily pruned each year to avoid over fruiting which results in small or poor growth.

Remove all blooms as they appear the first. year. In years thereafter, follow these steps after the leaves have dropped.

1. Remove low growth around the base. If it doesn’t grow up, it gets pruned out!
2. Remove the dead wood, and non-vigorous twiggy wood. Select for bright colored wood with long (at least 3 inch) laterals. Remove blotchy colored short growth.
3. If 1/3 to 1/2 of the wood has not been removed by the above steps, thin out the fruiting laterals and small branches until this balance has been obtained.

Fertilizing – Blueberries like acid fertilizers such as Rhody or Azalea formulations. For newly planted stock, use 2 tablespoons of 10-20-10 (or similar fertilizer) in late spring or once plants are established. (Careful! Blueberries are very sensitive to over fertilization!) For subsequent years, use 1 ounce of fertilizer for each year from planting to a total of 8 ounces per plant. Apply in early spring and again in late spring for best results. Always water well after fertilizing.

For organic fertilizers, blood meal and cottonseed meal work well. Avoid using fresh manure.

CHECK LIST

_Blueberry Plants (2 per family member)
_Peat Moss (4-5 plants per cubic bale)
_Mulch (1 cu. ft. per plant)
_Fertilizer
_Soil Acidifie