How to Fertilize Blueberries: 12 Steps (with Pictures)

This article explains what to do to fertilize your homegrown blueberry plants successfully, by adjusting to improve the soil acidity, using healthy plants and ensuring that they are well positioned to ensure that the bees and other insects pollinate them with ease.

Start 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.

• 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.

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Part 1 of 2:

Planting for optimal fruits

Plant in full sunlight. The blueberries need plenty of sunlight, whenever it begins to branch or bramble. [2] X Research source

Ensure sufficient drainage. Adequate soil drainage is important. Find a suitable site, avoiding low lying areas the collect water or are slow to drain in the spring. [3] X Research source

• 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.

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

Ensure pollination for the blueberry plants. [5] X Research source Blueberries cannot be fertilized by their own pollen. 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 (30.5 m), so bees can travel and cross pollinate.

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Part 2 of 2:

Fertilizing the blueberries

Fertilize at the right time. Spring is the best time, before the leaves grow. [6] X Research source Apply in early spring and again in late spring for best results.

• Blueberries thrive in acidic soils. One 4-cubic foot compressed bale will usually be sufficient for four to five plants, for raised beds mix equal volumes peat moss with acid compost or planting mix. Your garden center representative can recommend a soil acidifier if necessary for your soil.

• For newly planted stock, use 2 tablespoons of 10-20-10 (or similar fertilizer) in late spring or once plants are established. Be 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.
• For organic fertilizers, blood meal and cottonseed meal work well. Or you can use the following:
  • Fish meal or bone and blood meal for nitrogen.
  • Bone meal and powdered seaweed can add potassium and phosphorous.
  • Coffee grounds or sphagnum peat can increase acidity.

  

  Water in. Always water well after fertilizing.

  

  Ensure that the blueberry plant is not deficient in iron or magnesium. If you see red to yellow leaves, this signifies a deficiency in magnesium, while yellow leaves with green veins signifies a possible iron deficiency. [6] X Research source The fertilizer should contain either or both of these nutrients, as required.

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  Community Q&A

  Can I fertilize with berries on the plant?
  Top Answerer
  You can fertilize anytime, but late winter/early spring is best.

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  Do I need to prune the plants?
  Top Answerer
  No, you don’t have to. You can simply cut the dead wood and embarrassing twigs in the winter.

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  Question regarding bulleted advice at part 2.2: a “4-cubic-foot compressed bale” of what?
  Top Answerer

  Hay bale. It acidifies the soil for the blueberries. You can also use ericaceous compost if you don’t have hay.

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  Spacing: Blueberries can be planted as close as 2-1/2 feet apart to form solid hedgerows or spaced up to 6 feet (1.8 m) apart and grown as individual specimens. If planted in rows, allow 8–10 feet (2.4–3.0 m) between the rows depending on equipment used for mowing or cultivating.

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  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 (2.5–5.1 cm) 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.

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  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.Remove low growth around the base. If it doesn’t grow up, it gets pruned out! 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. If 1/3 to 1/2 of the wood has not been removed, thin out the fruiting laterals and small branches until this balance has been obtained.

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