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Blueberry · Acid-loving fruit shrub

Blueberry

Blueberry (grow bags)

SpringSummer

Manage acidity with Espoma Soil Acidifier + Holly-tone against alkaline Atlanta tap water.

Blueberry — Young Young
Seedling / just planted

Small young highbush blueberry shrub (Vaccinium corymbosum) with fresh spring leaf growth, no flowers yet

Photo: layfad· CC BY-NC

Blueberry — Growing Growing
Established, filling in

Blueberry shrub (Vaccinium corymbosum) in bloom, clusters of pinkish-white bell-shaped flowers on bare-ish spring branches

Photo: ecbos· CC BY-NC

Blueberry — Full grown Full grown
What you’re aiming for

Mature blueberry bush (Vaccinium corymbosum) with clusters of ripe blue berries among full green foliage

Photo: no rights reserved· CC0

Growing stages

What to look for, and what to do, at each point in its life

In Decatur's grow bags, rabbiteye and highbush blueberries spend their first year building roots (no fruit allowed), then settle into a late-winter-dormant, March-bloom, May-through-July-harvest rhythm that repeats and intensifies for 3-4 years until the bush is fully mature and producing for a decade or more.

  1. 1

    Planting & Establishment

    Year 1, planted fall or late winter

    You'll see A young bush 1-2 feet tall with a handful of thin whip-like canes and small oval leaves. You may see flower buds (small, pointed, clustered near branch tips) forming by late winter.

    Do Strip off every flower bud or open blossom by hand as soon as you see them, and tip-prune the top third of each cane at planting.

  2. 2

    Winter Dormancy

    Late Nov - late Feb

    You'll see Bare or near-bare stems (rabbiteye holds a few leaves in Decatur's mild winters). Fat, round flower buds cluster near the tips of last year's growth; thinner, pointed leaf buds sit further back on the cane.

    Do Do your main structural pruning now, on a dry day above freezing.

  3. 3

    Bud Swell & Bloom

    Late Feb - late Mar

    You'll see Flower buds swell and split into small, bell-shaped, white to pale pink flowers hanging in clusters of 6-12 from each fruiting bud.

    Do Leave blossoms alone (bees do the work); protect open blooms if a hard freeze is forecast.

  4. 4

    Fruit Set & Green Berries

    Late Mar - mid May

    You'll see Flowers drop their petals and swell into small hard green berries in tight clusters, still fully green and marble-hard.

    Do Keep soil evenly moist — this is when berry size is determined — and feed with an acid-loving (azalea/camellia type) fertilizer.

  5. 5

    Ripening & Harvest

    Late May - late Jul (varies by cultivar)

    You'll see Berries shift from green to pink/red to a dusty blue-black over 1-2 weeks per berry, and they do not all ripen at once — a single cluster will have green, pink, and fully blue berries side by side.

    Do Pick every 3-4 days, taking only fully blue berries that come off with a light roll of the thumb.

  6. 6

    Post-Harvest Growth

    Aug - Oct

    You'll see New cane growth extends from the tips, leaves stay full and deep green into fall, and next year's flower buds begin forming near the tips of this season's new wood.

    Do Keep watering and feeding through September; stop fertilizing by early fall so new growth can harden off before winter.

  7. 7

    Propagation by Cuttings

    Dormant season, Dec - Feb

    You'll see Pencil-thick, healthy 1-year-old wood cut from the current dormant bush, 4-6 inches long with several visible leaf-bud nodes.

    Do Take hardwood cuttings, dip the cut end in rooting hormone, and stick them in a moist peat/perlite mix under cover.

  8. 8

    Mature, Established Bush

    Year 4 onward

    You'll see A dense, multi-caned shrub 5-8 feet tall (rabbiteye can go taller) with a mix of cane ages, heavy bloom in spring, and a full crop.

    Do Continue the annual dormant-season cane renewal and keep pH tested every 1-2 years.

Techniques — transplant, prune, propagate, divide, seed

Sun

Full sun

Water

Consistent moisture; shallow roots dry fast in bags.

Spacing

Grow bags / 3–4 ft apart; needs another variety nearby for best pollination.

Feeding

Acid-loving fertilizer (Holly-tone) IN ADDITION TO a soil acidifier.

Care

  • Manage soil acidity with Espoma Organic Soil Acidifier — ongoing pH pressure from alkaline Atlanta tap water.
  • The acidifier and an acid-loving fertilizer are BOTH needed against alkaline tap.
  • Mulch with pine bark/needles to help hold acidity.

Harvest

Pick fully blue and slightly soft, a few days after they color.

Watch for

Chlorosis (yellowing) from high pH — correct with acidifier; birds love ripe fruit.