Planting

Conditions

Guide

Subventions

Menu
soil pH meter with a probe
blueberry plants on banks with irrigation

Soil

Soil pH value affects availability of nutrients for the plants. The recommended range for growing high-bush blueberry is within 4.5 to 5.5 or 4.2 – 5.0. When blueberries are grown on soil with high pH, quite common on new blueberry plantations, their leaves turn yellow with green veins or completely yellow. Leaves may also be smaller than normal and turn brown and fall off before the end of the season. Under these conditions, the plants themselves grow very slowly and as such don’t recover even if the soil pH is lowered; some of them may even die.

N-P-K

Basic plant nutrients are:

  • Nitrogen (N) stimulates robust leaves, stem growth, and dark green color.
  • Phosphorus (P) encourages root growth and early growth of the plant, including flower and fruit formation.
  • Potassium (K) affects root development and vitality, disease resistance, and improves fruit aroma.

They are available in chemical/synthetic (inorganic) fertilizers, with the neto weight percentage of each element listed on the packaging.

How to improve the soil

  • Clay soil – gravel (not sand) is added, plus compost and peat.
  • Sandy soil – humus or manure is added, along with peat or wood pulp with additional nitrogen. Clay soil can be also mixed in to make an arable soil.
  • Silty soil – gravel and compost are added, or well decomposed manure mixed with fresh straw.
blueberry planting in banks filling with substrate and mulch
soil pH meter with a probe
blueberry plants on banks with irrigation
soil pH and moisture meter
water pumpa

Water

Blueberries require constant moisture for maximum productivity. They are actually quite tolerant to drought, though that would result in scarce fruitfulness and a slower growth rate.

In order to provide the plants with adequate water quantities the following is necessary:

  • Plants should have a well developed root system to grant enough water.
  • Regular irrigation, so that stress induced by lack of water is avoided.
  • Water should be freely infiltrate the soil, without flushing nutrients away from the roots to areas below.

Main irrigation questions are related to establishing frequency, amount and timing for the most optimized water consumption as well as the growth and productivity of the crops.
Stress caused by floods or droughts will decrease the leaves size and speed up their aging and defoliation. That’s why it’s necessary to use tensiometers for both determining the start of watering and getting the feel about the needs of the plants.

Water quality

Poor quality can have both short- and long-term effects on blueberry development. Good quality water has sparse salts: overall sodium (Na+) <2mM, overall bicarbonate (HCO+3) <1.5mM, and overall chlorine (Cl-) <4.0mM.

ripe blueberries on a plant
soil pH and moisture meter
water pumpa

Water

Blueberries require constant moisture for maximum productivity. They are actually quite tolerant to drought, though that would result in scarce fruitfulness and a slower growth rate.

In order to provide the plants with adequate water quantities the following is necessary:

  • Plants should have a well developed root system to grant enough water.
  • Regular irrigation, so that stress induced by lack of water is avoided.
  • Water should be freely infiltrate the soil, without flushing nutrients away from the roots to areas below.

Main irrigation questions are related to establishing frequency, amount and timing for the most optimized water consumption as well as the growth and productivity of the crops.
Stress caused by floods or droughts will decrease the leaves size and speed up their aging and defoliation. That’s why it’s necessary to use tensiometers for both determining the start of watering and getting the feel about the needs of the plants.

Water quality

Poor quality can have both short- and long-term effects on blueberry development. Good quality water has sparse salts: overall sodium (Na+) <2mM, overall bicarbonate (HCO+3) <1.5mM, and overall chlorine (Cl-) <4.0mM.

rows of blueberries on a hill with anti-hail nets
ripe large blueberry duke with boke in the morning

Light

Blueberries grow faster when they’re exposed to sunlight, but they will tolerate some small amount of shade (they may be less productive in shade). Increased crown density can lower the number of fruit buds. The number of initiated (instigated) buds on high-bush blueberry plants is usually boosted during shorter days – shorter periods of sunlight. Full bud induction requires mostly 5-6 weeks of shorter daylight exposure, though it happens that some Duke and Bluecrop buds are initiated after only 2 weeks of 8 photoperiod hours. If summer lasts longer, blueberry plants might bloom in September/October.

rows of blueberries on a hill with anti-hail nets
ripe large blueberry duke with boke in the morning
ripe and green blueberries among leaves with dew in the morning
large blueberry plants in the gutters with snow in the winter

Temperature

When blueberries switch to their inactive phase, they need low temperatures for normal growth and development. High-bush blueberry varieties require periods of chill hours with temperatures of +7°C and lower; South high-bush varieties need 150-800 hours and North high-bush varieties 800-1200 hours.