How to Cultivate the Bushes That Yield This Delicious Berry
The Blueberry is a aboriginal American fruit reap from unfounded plants since the rural area was settled . About 1910 the previous Dr. F. V. Coville of the United States Department of Agriculture began the domestication of the High - bush Blueberry . A breeding program based on selected uncivilised character has produce through the years a number of varieties vastly superior to their wild ancestors . Considerable research on cultural problem has developed a consistence of cognition on which a highly profitable and extensive commercial industry is growing speedily .
The High - bush Blueberry , Vaccinium corymbosum , is the species which has been improved , and the variety developed from it are those on which the cultivated Blueberry industry is founded . Extensive areas of the Low - bush Blueberry , V. angustifolium , in Maine are managed for commercial-grade production . V. myrtilloides , another grim - bush type , yields considerable fruit .
In the deep South V. Ashei , the Rabbiteye Blueberry , is train to some extent . Several other species are topically important seed of raging fruit .
The cultivated High - bush Blueberry is produce principally in New Jersey , Michigan , North Carolina , and to a lesser extent in the other northerly states . It will grow about as far south as it can experience the approximately 700 hours of temperature below 40 ° needed to break the flora ’s winter residue period . Minimum wintertime temperature of 20 ° to 25 ° F. below zero are about all that the hardier key variety can stand without killing of the forest .
The filth prerequisite of the Blueberryare very specialised , being unlike those of the other fruits and farm crops . The uncivilized Blueberries grow on moist , sandy , acid soils and the cultivated kind require similar soils . arenaceous loams , if moist , Elvis , and high in organic matter , may be used , but compact mud soils with a high pH are entirely unsatisfactory . The optimal pH for Blueberries ranges from about 4.0 - 5.2 . The symbol pH scale is a measure of soil acidity ; see Soil Acidity .
Although dampish soils are suitable , the water table should not be nearer the surface than about 14 in . , nor lower than 30 in . during the grow time of year . Natural Blueberry soils are ordinarily high in organic matter , often of a peaty nature . These dirt often have grow on them Rhododendrons , Azaleas , Mountain Laurel and wild Blueberries , and the school varieties may be expected to fly high on similar land site .
It is often potential to modify unsuitable soils forgrowing Blueberries on a small weighing machine in the home garden . The acidulousness of the soil may be increased by the addition of sulfur . The increase of a pound of sulfur to 100 sq . ft . of a light sandy soil will turn down the pH from 5.5 - 4.5 . toilsome soils will demand 3 - 4 time as much sulfur . The atomic number 16 should be thoroughly work out into the soil to a depth of at least 6 in . a twelvemonth before planting the Blueberries .. The acidity should be checked again before setting the works .
Soil porousness may be increase by working peat into the soil at the rate of a Basle to 100 sq . ft . Sawdust may also be used .
If blueberry must be grown on clay dirt sites , the clay should be removed to a depth of 18 in . and a width of 4 foot . , and the hole fulfill with a worthy Blueberry grime . If the adjoining grime contains much lime , it will be necessary to acidify the “ made ” territory at intervals as pH tests designate the demand .
Frost pockets , or sites where air circulation is poor , are much colder in winter and on frosty dark when the plants are bloom , than slop sites . Mummy berry , a fungus disease of the berries , is less troublesome where air circulation is good .
Home gardeners planting a few bushes should keep them out from the roots and shade of nearby tree or the plant will be weak and unproductive . The Blueberry needs full sun all day to produce good crops of yield .
Varieties of Blueberries
About 40 varieties have been appoint since the Blueberry melioration work started , but many of the older ones have been supercede by the more recent sorts . Cabot , Concord , June , Pioneer , Rancocas and Rubel are older multifariousness still grown , but they are inferior to the new sorts . Jersey , Atlantic , and Pemberton are good standard sorts . Stanley is of higher-ranking quality but not as rich as the others . Dixi is one of the largest and is desirable for home use . Weymouth is very former but of low-down character . Coville and Berkeley are newer sorts that will be widely planted when well known . Coville is one of the modish to ripen . Still new and promising are Earliblue ( to replace Weymouth as an excess early variety ) , Bluecrop , Herbert and Ivanhoe . Murphy and Wolcott are raw pestilence - resistant variety befit to North Carolina condition . In eastern North Carolina and southward through the Gulf Coastal states and westward to Arkansas , the Rabbiteye ( Vaccinium Ashei ) varieties should be grown . Black Giant , Hagood , Owens and Myers are sound varieties of this metal money . Calloway and Coastal are recently introduced and promising .
blueberry bush varieties are mostly self - fertile , but heavy berries and a higher per centum of yield - scope may be await if cross - pollination by another variety is provide . This may be done by establish every third row to another variety . humblebee are the pollinating insects .
Propagation of Blueberries . Blueberries are usually develop from hardwood cuttings , but the functioning is more difficult than with many other plants . The cuttings root with difficultness and considerable skill and experience are call for to propagate the plants profitably . The small - scaleplanter will find it more satisfactory to buy the plantsfrom baby’s room specializing in Blueberry propagation .
The cuttings are steady down in a ground bed make full with a mixture of half peat and half sand to a depth of 6 in . The press clipping , 4 - 6 in . long , are inserted in the root medium in early outpouring and cover with sash and lath or gunny shade . Shallow tray , 4 in . deep , suspend in a boxwood and replete with peat , are also used for root the cutting . Ventilation and watering must be very careful . The film editing are ordinarily settle by July , but remain in the frames until the undermentioned spring , when they are delineate out in the glasshouse wrangle for a year , after which they are sold as 2 - twelvemonth plant . One - yr plant life are take root cutting from the propagating frame of reference .
deal cut claim in July are sometimes used to propagate blueberry .
Planting stock should be obtained from nursery specializing in Blueberry plant . The two - year plants are the better size for most purposes , but root cuttings may be used , provided they are given greenhouse care with lacrimation if the conditions is juiceless .
The plants should be set as betimes in the spring as the territory can be act upon without packing it .
Late fall planting of the 2 - year plants is satisfactory if soil or sawdust is mound up around the plants to prevent them from being buckle out of the ground by frost action during the winter . On soils that are inclined to be too wet , the plants should be set on low ridges or mounds .
The plants are arrange 4 - 5 ft . apart in rows 8 - 10 ft . apart . Peat moss may be mix with the dirt at planting time at the rate of half grease and one-half peat in a hole 2 ft . across and 6 in . cryptic . The peat is specially suitable in grease that are not the upright Blueberry land . No plant food should be used at planting time and usually not during the first growing time of year .
Care of the Planting
Blueberries are shallow - rooted , and tillage operations should be done with that in mind . Cultivation should be shallow and frequent enough to control the weed . Mulching is much superior to cultivation for Blueberries , and sawdust has proved to be an excellent mulching material . Peat moss , or oak leaves , may be used if sawdust is not uncommitted . The mulch conserve wet and prevents root injury from cultivation , an important matter with the shoal - take root Blueberry . It may be applied at any time and to a depth of several in if an abundant supply is at hand . Either hardwood or softwood sawdust is desirable and there is no harm in using wise sawdust .
plant food . Complete fertilizers of the 7 - 7 - 7 rule are usually urge for Blueberries , but observational work has shown that nitrogen is the element that should be practice , as the other elements are usually available in sufficient amounts in all except the pathetic soils . Ammonia nitrogen is much higher-ranking to nitrate nitrogen for Blueberries , and this should be obtained from sulfate of ammonia , especially in soils near or above a pH of 5 . In very acid soil , nitrate N may be used .
begin with the second leaping , the sulphate of ammonia should be applied at the pace of 2 - 4 oz . per plant , spread equally on the ground as far as the branches reach . This is applied when the bud begin to swell up and again about 6 workweek later . The amount is increase an ounce a twelvemonth until mature bushes are receiving half a British pound sterling at each lotion . heavy app may be call for to countercheck the nitrogen starvation possibly induced by a sawdust mulch .
Pruning the Bushes
The Blueberry fruit on the Grant Wood of the previous season ’s growth and the with child yield is borne on the most vigorous wood . Blueberries that are unpruned usually overbear and produce small Charles Edward Berry that may not ripen well and are of pitiable caliber . Pruning , therefore , is necessary to reduce the crop to what the bush can mature and still produce vigorous shoot ontogeny to fruit the following year . Light pruning tends to delay ripen , while heavy pruning hastens mature , although reducing the harvest . If one is develop early smorgasbord for an former market , the pruning should be more terrible than where later varieties are acquire for a late market place .
Little or no pruning is necessary until the goal of the third growing season . Then the low weak shoots near the ground are removed and in dense bushes , the weaker growth in the snapper of the bush is thinned out . aged bush will need more extensive pruning .
All of the sucker , or new shoots from the base , should be dispatch except as one or two may be needed to replace an old cane that is removed . Six or eight of the one-time canes are enough for mature George Walker Bush . feeble twiglike branches have few yield buds and should be cut out . Vigorous fruiting Mrs. Henry Wood of some varieties , particularly Cabot and Pioneer , has too many fruit bud and the shoots should be reduce back to 3 - 5 yield bud per shoot . Injured and utter cane and branches near the ground should be removed . The trimmer should attempt to do as much pruning as potential with a few large slice as this is dissolute than many little cut . Pruning may be done at any time after the leaves fall until the beginning of growing in the spring .
Harvesting the Crop
Several picking are necessary and the interval between pickings is from 5 - 7 days . The Berry keep very well on the flora , or in storage after pick , so that haste is not so essential as with other berries . The berries of some variety color before they are ripe and care must be taken that only fully good berries are harvested for grocery store . unripened berries , even though they are blue , are sour and miss the characteristic gamey flavor of a ripe Blueberry .
Improvement of Wild Blueberries
Good stand of barbarian Blueberries may be better so that much heavier crops are bring forth than are turn out by the uncared - for George Walker Bush . The first footmark is to skip out all Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and light touch that compete with the Blueberry plants for light , wet , and nutrient . The bushes should be snip to remove dead Sir Henry Wood , weak cane , and twiglike maturation without many yield bud . An software of sulfate of ammonia at the rate of a half - pound to a George Herbert Walker Bush will energise vigorous new growth . This care will increase the harvest , but not the size of the berry . To have turgid berries , one must found the vauntingly - fruit varieties .
Managing the Low-bush Blueberry
The Low - bush Blueberry is native to the northeastern United States and neighboring Canada . In easterly Maine the extensive wild pedestal are managed according to a definite program . The plants develop only a few inches tall and spread by undercover rhizomes . In the full Dominicus they cultivate heavily , but among tree diagram and brushing little yield is produced .
The fields are cauterise every two or three old age to kill the weed and underbrush and to rationalise the plants . Hay or straw with oil is used and the combustion is done in the spring while the ground is still wet . extra weeding may be done by pulling or with chemical weed killers , which must be used carefully to ward off injury to the Blueberry plants .
The harvest is harvested with a special rakehell similar to a Cranberry soap . The rake , which has many fingers , is run through the bushes and pulls off the berries , green as well as advanced . The berries are put through a winnowing machine to gasconade out the leave-taking and light dirt . Thegreen and injured Charles Edward Berry are take out as the yield passes over abelt . Much of the crop is process .
Birds are very fond of Blueberries and will often take most of the crop in home garden plantings . dash equipment are of in question note value and it is necessary to screen out the plant with cheesecloth or conducting wire netting if the raiser look to harvest much of the crop . In commercial-grade plantings , there is enough yield for both the skirt and the agriculturalist and the loss is less noticeable .
