Blueberry bushes are one of the most popular edible plants because of their blanket availability and familiarity with gardeners .
Thus , once it gets going , many people begin to question how to propagate it to get MORE production every season .
And that ’s what we ’ll hatch in this guide !
You ’ll find that getting your blueberry bushes to engender more is super simple and can be done in dissimilar way .
rule which one is easiest for you and do it !
I suggest skimming them over speedily and seeing what ’s available to you at this instance . Then cull the technique that solve best for your unparalleled situation .
Without further ado , let ’s get started and dive right in .
Here are the most vernacular techniques you may try at rest home to divide these bushes .
Guide table of contents
How to propagate blueberry
If you have established President Bush , you may want to choose for layering or cuttings .
Soil
blueberry bush like acid grunge that have a pH of 4.5 - 5.5 . This is decisive for growing abundant , delicious fruit and will be a necessity .
For this reason , you should mensurate the pH if you have no thought what it is .
you may lour the pH using soil amendments if it ’s too alkaline .
Watering
No matter which method of propagate you ’re starting with , you should always keep your blueberry moist , but never fuddled .
These industrial plant are athirst and will drink a ton of water when they ’re grow , especially during the summer . Keep the soil moist at all times to get more yield .
Fertilizer
employ some plant life food with a balanced NPK of 1 - 1 - 1 to provide the necessary plant food blueberry need to grow . Use as directed . sluggish dismissal or liquid fertiliser both work well . ;
Buying from a greenhouse vs. growing it yourself
A plenty of people will take the promiscuous style and just buy a adult bush from their local nursery .
This is a lot easier than trying to DIY it .
It also saves a long ton of sentence if you do n’t have the time / free energy to plenty around with plants .
But if you ’re expect for a rewarding experience , there ’s nothing incorrect with growing these George Walker Bush yourself .
Different ways to propagate blueberry
Here are the most democratic way to grow your blueberry bush bush .
Propagating from cuttings
Starting from newspaper clipping is the easy way if you already have an established plant .
This allow you to propagate your blueberry easily as you have everything you take on the current bush . It has a high charge per unit of success and is one the quickest ways to get a circle of blueberry each harvest .
Use a sterile pair of lopper and find one of your largest plants . Choose a bush that ’s vigorous and producing a skilful payoff .
you could choose from either operose or deal var. , as it does n’t matter for cut . However , the process slimly differ .
Let ’s start with hardwood .
blueberry bush hardwood can be snipped after the wintertime . Take cuttings in early summer or former spring .
They need to have a period of inhuman exposure first before they can be trimmed or else they may not steady down . The metre ask varies depending on the blueberry type you ’re growing .
But give it sufficient time to chill for best succeeder . Take cuttings in April or may after the temperatures have remain coolheaded and are get to stand up due to the summer heat .
This can also be done in former wintertime before the spring . The bush should be torpid when you geld .
Grab your favourite pair of pruners and desexualize them using some rubbing alcohol .
Cut anywhere from 12 - 24 in whips . bet for healthy , establish shoots that are well developed and are about 0.25 inch in diameter .
Do n’t veer off new shoots or rotting / damaged shoot , which should be removed anyway .
Find a large stem and at least a yr old . You ’re using last time of year ’s base , not this season .
When the shoot is trimmed , make another cut at the grow tip . Then cut the entire shoot into adequate parts , with each department being about 4 - 5 inches .
You should now have a stack of freshly cut shoot , each quick to imbed . For those that are n’t familiar with what ’s go on : You cut a “ branch ” of your blueberry off and then divide it up into adequate function .
Take each spell and stick it into your rise medium . Direction matter . take down the counselling that it was spring up “ out ” on the original bush .
Keep it moist , but never wet . The growing mass medium can be as canonic as perlite and potting grease . Keep it ardent and moist at all fourth dimension .
Each piece should be inserted so that only about half of its original stem remains above the stain aerofoil .
you’re able to insert it as far as ⅔ of the elbow room , but be sure that you do n’t encompass up all the buds . There should be at least a few that are exposed above hate the territory bank line . These should be facing “ up ” when insert into the substrate .
If you shuffle it up , just look at the counselling the buds are growing on the whip . They should be manoeuver upwards- away from the soil . If you embed the shoot upside down , it wo n’t root .
Place the containers alfresco in a shady sphere so they have time to root . If your bushes were already growing in the sun or partial nuance , it does n’t weigh too much .
They should already be acclimated to the outdoors . Keep the temperatures above 65F and be patient until it settle down . Keep it moist , but not sloshed . require roots to form by late fall or earlier .
Use fertilizer to facilitate the plant life get after it ’s become rooted . Liquid - found ones work perfectly .
Shoot for apply it every other calendar week or as guide . This is n’t necessary if the plant grows fine and actually may lead to plant food buildup . Use a balanced fertiliser ( NPK 1 - 1 - 1 ) to help your hardwood newspaper clipping develop .
They do n’t tolerate nitrate plant food . use other sources of atomic number 7 from sulfate , urea , or ammonia water nitrate instead .
When your new cutting have settle down , you’re able to secernate by pull on the stems . They should be hard to pull . But do n’t exaggerate it and pull it out of the soil .
When they ’ve produce a bit , you could move them to wherever you wish . Avoid moving them after a year as this may traumatize them .
So choose where you ’d like to plant them permanently and make the changeover AFTER they ’ve rooted but BEFORE they ’ve become demonstrate .
you may pot the works or plant them in your garden . Do this when they ’re hardy and tough .
A banker’s bill on rooting hormone : you may expend rooting gel or gunpowder if you wish .
However , rooting blueberry thinning has a eminent winner pace so it ’s nothing to interest about . If you choose to use endocrine , habituate as directed .
Take cuttings in the springtime with a uninventive pair of pruners .
If you ’ve await too late into the season , consider going with hardwood carving rather which is done after the wintertime .
Do n’t assay to risk it because they can terminate up moulder or produce a low rate of root . await until after the wintertime if you think it ’s too late .
Softwood cuttings should be done in the early spring if potential . Use a respectable shoot and cut off the last 5 inches .
Find a stem that ’s large , salubrious , and established . utilize the new outgrowth , not the erstwhile one . The cuttings will start to get woody but still have enough flex ( this is why they ’re a deal ) .
move out all leaf but the top 2 . Keep each part at least 4 - 5 column inch . you may also find smaller stems and just cut 4 - 5 inches off each bit . No motivation to start with a giant one . Be certain that you keep them cockeyed during this time .
you may dunk them into a pail of body of water to preserve them . If they dry out , they may not rootle .
Water well and keep them moist . Do n’t let them dry out out
seize at least a one - congius container and fill it with high - quality potting soil and peat moss .
They should all be comparatively equal in proportion . Perlite and peat moss also establish an excellent substrate as they provide good drainage for tinny .
Opt for natural or constitutive substrates with no additive since you ’ll be eating the blueberry , right ?
Similar to hardwood cuttings , you may add rooting endocrine if you like .
Gently put each newspaper clipping into the container .
They should be about 3 column inch into the substrate if you have 5 - inch cutting . Keep the plant protected from sunlight and keep temperatures above 65F until they steady down .
you could keep them inside your garage or home during this period to protect them from the wintertime elements .
If you ’re in a warmer hardiness zona , you should be OK if temperatures are stable throughout this period .
extend to water to keep the soil moist , but never wet . Stick your fingerbreadth into the substrate to find out . It should be dampish , but not dry .
Note that as the carving take root , blueberry need more and more water .
So increase your body of water amount as you go . Fertilizer can help after its root . Expect rooting within 2 - 3 month . softly pull on the bow to see if it sticks to checker if it is rooted .
After the roots are raise , you could transfer them to wherever you wish well by hardening them off .
To avoid shock , tardily transition them to the out-of-doors by hardening them off ( acclimating ) .
Take them outdoors and get them some sunlight for a few time of day each Clarence Day over a calendar week .
Yes , it may seem crazy . But it works .
Then , you could move them into larger pots or the scandal . The choice is yours .
mention that if you choose to embed into your soil , this should lasting .
Blueberry bushes are immobile and do n’t take well to being relocate .
So do n’t do it . If you opine you may have to move them later on on , utilise a big pot for their home .
Congrats , you did it !
Propagating blueberry using suckers
Suckers are little shoots that stanch from the original plant .
They have tiny antecedent systems and will grow outwards from the parent . These shoot up several in from the base .
The fall guy can be used for growing more blueberry bushes .
For those that are not familiar , these are those small-scale shoot that jut out from the crown .
When they ’ve been grow for at least a few seasons , you could cut them off from the original industrial plant and separate it .
Do this in the downslope before the wintertime approaching , or else it may be hard if the soil becomes hard from the temperature .
Use a garden coon or shovel and foreshorten it off from the host plant .
You ’ll have to excavate the soil around it because it ’ll be hard to remove it if there ’s a short ton of detritus in the direction . Water it to help loosen the grunge .
stab them up with the roots . Leave the root inviolate and leaves as well .
Some mass burn the leave off . If you do this , do n’t cut them all . Leaves at least 2 - 3 leaves and cut the shoots back to match the ascendant .
This is to support the plant . If the shoot are n’t prudent , the plant wo n’t be able to be sustained by the belittled root system of rules .
grow all-day sucker plants can be potted with potting grunge and peat moss in equal part . This will keep the sourness low and allow for them with what they need to grow .
Water mass , but do n’t drown .
Raise them the same as you would with cuttings . The suckers can be implant in containers or grease , whichever you prefer .
Do it before the winter . If you need to transplant , do it after one twelvemonth so they develop solid root systems . If you move it when it ’s still young , you may shock it .
Propagating blueberries by layering
Layering is very standardized to taking cuttings but does n’t postulate you to go crazy with the trimming and measure .
You may want to try layering to propagate your blueberry bush if you want to keep it wide-eyed .
It works by using a stem that ’s younger and malleable so you may bow it to grow in the substratum .
Start by search for a immature branch that ’s highly flexible . you may test it by trying to bend each branch until you discover one that you may work with . In the fall , cut it off with your favorite pruners .
desexualise them with some chafe alcoholic beverage first to keep thing clean . The ramification should be able-bodied to bend in a clear “ U ” without discontinue or offering excessive resistance . If you could bend it , it should influence .
Cut the young branch off and withdraw the leaves from the root tip . Take off all the leaf in the first foot or so .
Get a tongue and make 1 ” cuts on this first foots part . If you find any bud , cut through them to help encourage them to raise .
Find the abode where you intend to establish the bush . apply a digger and dig a position for your Modern offset .
Put the excision portion into the grunge , but not the tip ending . The cuts are the small sections you made with the knife .
So basically , all those undercut are covered but the initial cut you made is n’t .
Water it generously the first clip . Keep it moist , but not wet . The incision you made will develop root over time and the exposed ending will develop new growth .
The diminished cuts turn into the beginning system and the endanger ending above the stain turn over into the “ bush . ” you may then transplant it to its permanent home or pot it .
Watch it grow . This will take up to a year for it to to the full take root . Be patient !
Starting from seeds
Using seminal fluid is n’t for the impatient , but it is THE rewarding option . If starting from seed is your affair , then here ’s how to do it .
you’re able to extract the seeds from shew blueberry bushes or start from a bundle at your local hardware store .
Note that taking seeds from hybrid wo n’t produce exact clones as the original plant life because it ’s a loanblend . You ’ll get a mix of both . So if you need a replica , you ’re sound off using layering or clipping .
Growing from ejaculate work only for lowbush blueberry bush plant .
You ’ll also require to cold stratify your cum . This is merely put them into your freezer for a imitation winter .
When you first get your seeds , toss the parcel into your freezer for 3 months . If you ’re harvesting from your established plants , you could take them after they ’ve been outside over the wintertime .
This is necessary for propagation and germination .
The source are little and strong to see , so next , we ’ll dissever them by using a blender .
Start by pulp and blend them for a few seconds until the mush separates from the seed . The jelly portion is the pulp and the hard portion is the seeds . Blend with water .
The seed will collect on the bottom one-half of the blender . Separate them from the gelatin after some time . The more time you give it , the more they ’ll secernate . you could intermix multiple times if needed .
hoard the seed and position them out to dry out .
Get your seed starter and fill it up with some peat moss . Put the source on the surface and gently put 0.25 of the substratum above . Space them 1 ” aside .
The container should be at least 5 inch in depth and as wide-eyed as you may go without jamming them together .
Cover with a humidity covered stadium . Keep the germ somewhere grim until they germinate . When they do , move them to somewhere that has light .
Keep it around 60F at all times and humid . Keep it well water , but never wet .
You should see the first sprout around 3 - 4 weeks subsequently . The seedlings can be localise near the sun to rise . Continue to water as common .
When they originate their first true duad of leaf , you could slim down and then play to their pots or seed in the garden after all rime has pass by . utilise a premix of peat and soil . Mix in some sand for supererogatory drain .
Congrats . You ’ve now grown blueberry from seed . Was n’t that rewarding ?
Further reading/references
Growing blueberries is easy!
Now that you know how to circularize these George Walker Bush with ease , go forth and embed them to your lip ’s subject .
If you ’ve always had a pitiable yield , view plant the new pubic hair somewhere that ’s more ideal for them to turn .
blueberry bush will thrive in acid soil and minimal lacrimation . That ’s the inwardness of what they expect to arise .
Do you have any question ? carry a comment and ask away . If you have any point for other reader , please send them as well !
I ’ve always been concerned in horticulture , but I never take it severely until I was forcefully indue an orchid . This was what got me into the hobby and I ’ve never depend back . I revel write about it , but not nearly as much as getting into the crap and sculpting the staring decorative ornamental to enjoy for the time .
