It would be nice to feel in the forest without leaving the cottage. The magnificent forest blueberry, which has turned into garden gardening by breeders, provides such an opportunity, for the realization of which it remains only to properly perform its planting and to provide proper care, after which you can take photos for memory and receive rave reviews from friends and acquaintances. From tundra to the mountain ranges of the Caucasus - such a wide area where blueberries grow in natural conditions.
Garden Blueberry: General Description
Garden blueberries, planting and caring for bushes which are quite accessible even to beginner gardeners, will delight you with a tasty good harvest. We cultivate for the most part varieties of the American version of garden blueberries, finally bred half a century ago, although the first experiments in the United States date back to the beginning of the last century.
A bush of such a blueberry garden differs from a forest plant in high (up to 2.5 m) growth with a width of one and a half to two and a half meters and a larger size of berries. Harvest, if you know exactly how to grow such a blueberry, also get more abundant. It will be even more if several varieties are grown in the garden at the same time — insect pollinators (bees, bumblebees, etc.) will be able to more intensively fulfill their natural duties. 
The ripening season of blueberry berries depends on a particular variety, in general it is limited to the middle of summer and the end of September. The organic feature of the garden blueberry root system is its absorption from the soil of moisture and nutrition by mycorrhiza (symbiosis of fungi with root tissue) instead of root hairs common to most plants. Mycorrhiza fully performs its functions only in the soil with high acidity (up to pH4.5).
A common feature of all American varieties is the love of heat and light and dislike for long periods of drought and moisture overload. The most famous blueberry varieties cultivated in our area are Bluecrop, Patriot, Blueette, Bluette, Elizabeth and Northblue.
Did you know? The leader in growing blueberries is the US state of Maine.
Features planting garden blueberries
Starting the cultivation of this crop, you need to know how to plant garden blueberries.
The choice of lighting
For garden blueberries need a well-lit area. The rapid growth of the plant and the size of the grown berries depend on the intensity of the received solar energy. Given the fact that blueberries do not tolerate drafts and strong winds, a quiet place on the southern side of a dense fence or wall would be best for it.
Soil type
The main requirement for the soil is the presence of good drainage, eliminating the stagnation of water at the surface. Water-loving blueberries are not afraid of the proximity of groundwater (even at a depth of only 0.5-0.7 m), but can die from a long surface excess of moisture.
The second condition that provides soil moisture optimal for a blueberry is the absence of large fruit trees next to it that can compete with the shallow roots of the berry bushes in the water intake.
Blueberries prefer acidic soils, it will be most comfortable on light sandstone or peatlands covered with a solid layer of hardwood litter. But it is absolutely not suitable for the cultivation of blueberry clay and loam.
Garden Blueberry Planting Technology
Planting garden blueberries is possible in autumn and early spring, until the movement of the juice began and the buds opened. In most cases, the bushes are planted in the autumn, based on the need for the best adaptation of the seedling to the place before spring growth begins.
Important! During the entire growing season, you can plant blueberry seedlings from pots (boxes), where their roots are covered with soil.
Landing pit preparation
Before planting blueberries, pits are prepared in advance. They are pulled to a depth of up to half a meter, width - to 0.8 m. Further steps are as follows:
- Filling the pit with soil, taken in a coniferous planting and mixed with the natural vegetative layer of fallen needles, pieces of bark, whole and broken branches, moss. This composition is supplemented with still sour peat and fertile soil from any site;
- Inclusion in the pit of nitrogen fertilizers, in which a high concentration of sulfur, at the rate of 25-30 g per seedling. Immediately you should consider how to acidify the soil for blueberries. You can simply purchase special soil oxidizers in the agro shop. If the possibility of buying is not available, then available food ingredients are used in the form of table vinegar, which in this case is dissolved (50 ml) in a bucket of water, or citric acid (5 g / pail).
Important! The acidity of the soil should not exceed 4.5, otherwise the risk of chlorosis will sharply increase.Blueberry leaves will signal the low acidity level of the soil, which will turn red, even if it is summer outside.
Description of the process and landing pattern
The classic method of planting blueberries is the planting method in rows. The distance between seedlings varies depending on the varieties selected for cultivation:
- from one to one and a half meters between saplings of tall varieties;
- from 0.8 to 1 m - the gap between the bushes of low-growing varieties.
How to care for blueberry garden
What and how to do to calmly and successfully grow blueberries in the garden plot, the farmers will be prompted by three well-known rules - watering, feeding, pruning.
The importance of watering
Reflecting on what it will be necessary to feed the garden blueberries in the spring, do not forget about her regular watering. Moisture-loving blueberries require frequent watering. Natural precipitation is not enough.
You can organize drip irrigation - such a hydraulic system guarantees excellent results. In other cases, it is assumed that:
- the signal for irrigation is a dry 4-centimeter upper soil layer;
- saplings and young blueberry shoots should be watered every 2-4 days, learning to dry and weakening at moderate temperatures;
- Ready acidizers or table vinegar (up to 0.1 l per bucket) are added to irrigation water every month, if it is known that the acidity of the soil does not reach the blueberry cultivation rate.
Top dressing blueberry bushes
Top dressing blueberries do not begin in the spring, but in the fall, when they mulch the soil around the planted bushes. The procedure for mulching fallen needles and / or sawdust of coniferous trees is considered mandatory. Mulch in this case performs a dual function - it retains the necessary blueberry moisture in the ground and, gradually decomposing, maintains the necessary acid balance in the soil.
Of the finished fertilizers needed for blueberries in the spring (the first feeding is mid-April, the second is a month later), you should pay attention to the multicomponent mineral Florovit and Target, which have everything you need. shrubs, including soil oxidizers.
The third dressing needs to be done in a month too. If the problem is, how to fertilize blueberries in the spring and in subsequent periods, is not solved by ready-made preparations, then you can independently prepare fertilizers that can saturate the soil primarily with nitrogen, which is extremely positive for the growth of the plant.
Important! Nitrogen fertilizers should be made no later than mid-July so that shoots of a rapidly growing bush do not freeze in winter.The mineral mixture should consist of ammonium sulfate (90 g), superphosphate (110 g), potassium sulfate (40 g). To measure the dose applied to the soil within the boundaries of the circle around the barrel, use a tablespoon without a slide (the mass is obtained up to about 10 g). The dosage depends on the age of the blueberry:
- 1 year - 1 spoon;
- 2 years - 2 spoons;
- 3 years - 3-4 spoons;
- 4 years - 4-5 spoons;
- 5 or more years - 6-8 spoons.
When and how to prune blueberry bushes
In terms of pruning garden blueberries coincides with a similar operation on fruit trees, that is, either in early spring, until the plant "woke up", or in late autumn, when the leaves naturally fell off. For the intended purpose, there are three types of pruning, also based on how to care for garden blueberries.
| Type of trim | Term | purpose | Actions |
| Formative | 3-4 year | Formation of skeletal branches and comfortable crown of the correct form | Removal of low, weak and too thick shoots |
| Regulatory * | Annually after formative | Uniform and successful distribution of inflorescences and fruit buds | Remove low, weak and too thick shoots. Removal without residue of 5-6-year-old large branches. Removing growing bundles of small twigs at the ends of the shoots |
| Rejuvenating * | After 8-10 years | Uniform and successful distribution of inflorescences and fruit buds. Giving the bush a new life force | Remove low, weak and too thick shoots. Removal without residue of 5-6-year-old large branches. Removing growing bundles of small twigs at the ends of the shoots |
Features care for garden blueberries in winter
The garden blueberry starts to really freeze when the subzero temperature drops to 23-25 degrees. But the frozen shrub is able to restore its viability in full with the return of heat. Risk fine plant is still not worth it.
therefore conifer mulching should be used. In addition, they also use the so-called moisture-charging irrigation (up to 6 buckets of water per bush, which have already undergone the formative pruning), the meaning of which comes to autumn soaking the top layer of the earth to a depth of 0.4 m. Assuming severe frosts, it should be in the autumn, fixing Blueberry branches tilted to the ground with a staple, for the bush itself to make a shelter of spruce branches or of other material.
Important! You should not worry about the protection of blueberries during the spring flowering - it is resistant even to 7-degree frosts.
Description of the main diseases and pests of the bush
To the already mentioned reason for the redness of the foliage on the shrub garden blueberries should be added and a serious vegetable disease - stem cancer. In this case, the process begins with the appearance of red spots on the leaves, spreading with time and becoming brown, and ends with the death of the entire shoot.
Almost no cure for treatment, so all hope for prevention. It consists of early spring (before the leaves bloom) and autumn (when they fall off) spraying of bushes with Bordeaux liquid (3%), including sixfold treatment of the berry with Fundazol (0.2%): three times with a weekly period before flowering and three more spraying after all ripe fruit has been harvested.
Another serious disease that threatens a garden blueberry (also manifested in red spots on the leaves) is fomopsis. The causative agent is a special fungus, and the disease leads to drying out and death of young branches. Dead shoots are not only cut, but also burned to prevent the expansion of the distribution range of the dispute. The scheme of preventive spraying with "Fundazole" is the same as with stem cancer.
Blueberry diseases such as mummification of berries, gray mold and anthracnoseaffecting mostly berries, but also affecting wood. Prevention is also important to combat them.
Speaking of pests, you need to start with the birds, who love to feast on blueberries. To protect against birds use a covering grid with a small cell. Maybugs are the most well-known of the insects, which in the spring eats the leaves and does not disdain the contents of the flowers, thereby reducing the prospects for future harvest. In the soil the larvae of these pests also gnaw young shrubs.
To combat the beetle use acquired chemical and biological agents. But you can give preference to folk remedies, collecting the Maybugs manually directly from the bushes (you need thick gloves and a glass jar), either shaking them out, first laying a plastic film, or choosing white larvae from the ground during spring soil preparation. The larvae are doused with boiling water and discarded.
Do not forget about the natural enemies of the May Beetle. These are the moles, as well as the starlings, which can be attracted by placing a birdhouse nearby.
To combat the larvae, you can also treat the soil with onion solution (1/3 of the bucket of onion peel is filled with water and infused for a week).
Blueberry garden: harvesting
Ripe berries garden blueberries are in no hurry to crumble. They can hold out on branches until crescent. Given this circumstance, blueberries are removed without haste, taking weekly breaks between harvesting procedures. Large softish berries of blue-gray color are gathered, and dense fruits are left on the branches so that they can gain sugar content before the next stage. Berries perfectly tolerate long-term transportation, a month of storage in the refrigerator and a week in an ordinary home environment. The first crop of farmed blueberries is expected in the third year. 
Did you know? The British pilots who fought during the Second World War ate blueberry jam to improve night vision.
Growing blueberries in the country or another area is very promising. Due to the wide range of vitamins, acids, sugar, minerals and tannins contained in it, garden blueberries, which have been given proper time to grow, will help to cope, for example, with angina, hypertension, dysentery, catarrh of the stomach, rheumatism, enterocolitis and even scurvy. Regular consumption of blueberries helps to rejuvenate the body, maintaining its brain activity in an active state. In short, garden blueberries should be grown by those who want to live longer, while remaining healthy.
