How to Grow an Abundance of Blueberries! Simple, Easy Guide

I’ve been growing blueberries at home for a few years now and love how simple it is to grow an abundance of fresh, sweet berries that you can pick straight from the garden! Before I started growing blueberries, I always assumed they were difficult plants as blueberries are on the pricier side when it comes to buying fruit at the supermarket. This always led me to believe that there was something potentially troublesome about growing them, but this is not true! Blueberries are surprisingly a really easy fruit to grow at home and are perfect for urban backyards due to their generally compact nature. Plus, they happily live in pots so are great for patios and small spaces as well. In fact, growing blueberries in pots is what I recommend.


I suggest starting off with 1-2 blueberry plants. 2 if you can as often it helps with pollination. If you have more room, 5 plants would be totally reasonable for around 2-3 people. I may or may not have….10 potted blueberries in our garden! In the first year, I started off with a Brigitta. The second year, I added a Sunshine Blue and Blue Rose. The third year (this year), I added two Blueberry Kisses, two Blueberry Burst, a Peach Sorbet, Denise and Northland. I truly believe you can never have too many blueberries. And if you do, freeze them!

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BLUEBERRY VARIETIES

SELF-POLLINATING VS POLLINATION PARTNER

Blueberry varieties can be categorised as self-pollinating, or requiring a pollination partner. These words can sound intimidating to a beginner gardener but it totally doesn’t have to be! Let me explain. If a blueberry variety is self-pollinating, this means that it does not require a second plant in order to produce fruit. If a blueberry variety is not self-pollinating, then it requires another plant of a different variety, in order to bear fruit. Although self-pollinating varieties don’t officially need a partner, you may find that if you have two varieties near each other, that it may further increase the yield on both plants. Because of this, I usually recommend planting two blueberry plants. If you only have room for one, make sure it is definitely a self-pollinating variety else you won’t get fruit.

HIGH CHILL VS LOW CHILL

Blueberry varieties can also be categorised as ‘high chill’ or ‘low chill’. High chill varieties require a longer period of cool weather (over winter) to set fruit, hence they are more suited to cooler areas such as Melbourne and Tasmania. Low chill varieties require a shorter period of cool weather to set fruit, hence they can be grown in both warmer (e.g. Brisbane) and cooler (e.g. Melbourne) areas. Your local nursery will usually only stock varieties suited to your climate, so if you live in Brisbane, you will likely find mainly low chill varieties as they are more suited to your climate.

Here are some examples of blueberry varieties available that I also have in my Melbourne garden:

  • Blueberry Sunshine blue: Self-pollinating. Low chill - will grow in warmer and cooler areas. Compact variety that grows around 1 metre tall.

  • Blueberry Peach Sorbet: Self-pollinating. Compact plant up to 60cm tall.

  • Blueberry Kisses: Self-pollinating. Low chill. Compact plant up to 1 metre tall.

  • Blueberry Burst: Self-pollinating. Low chill. Compact plant up to 1 metre tall.

  • Blueberry Blue Rose: Self-pollinating. High chill. Larger plant up to 2 metres tall.

  • Blueberry Northland: Self-pollinating. High chill. Medium plant up to 1.5 metres tall.

  • Blueberry Brigitta: Self-pollinating (but I would say only partially). High chill. Larger plant up to 2 metres tall.

GROWING YOUR OWN

YOU WILL NEED

I personally find one 50cm pot uses around 1.25 bags of 25L potting mix and 0.3 bags of 40L pine bark mulch. So for 2 plants, I’d get around 3 bags of 25L potting mix and 1 40L bag of pine bark mulch. You will have some spare leftover which you can use for other acidic plants or keep for next time.

HOW TO

1) Fill your planter with potting mix until about half full. Add a little pine bark mulch to the mixture to help with drainage in a large pot. Note: If your pot has really big drainage holes, you can place a piece of breathable scrap fabric at the bottom to stop soil from falling out.

2) Gently remove your blueberry plant from the pot. Do not tease the roots as they are sensitive. Position in the centre of your pot.

3) Add a small handful of Neutrog Seamungus into planting hole.

4) Backfill with potting mix and pine bark mulch mixture.

5) Mulch with pine bark mulch to the depth of around 4cm.

6) Position in a sunny/partially sunny spot but avoid afternoon western rays (too much sun!)

7) Water thoroughly and regularly, especially in summer. It’s safer to overwater a blueberry plant than underwater it as they prefer not to dry out.

8) Around spring, your blueberry plant will start to product flowers/fruit. This is a good time to fertilise. Use Organic Potash or Neutrog Kahoona to give it a boost. After your plant is a few years old and more established, you can begin to do a yearly winter prune and remove weak, thin branches. This will help it grow more in spring, leading to more fruit!

Happy blueberry planting!

permaculture garden, homeConnie Caogardening1 Comment