Failures in growing blueberries in a summer cottage occur quite often. But what is their reason? After all, the plant feels great in the wild, where no one around him is dancing with fertilizers or a bucket of water. Or is this exactly the point? Website website will tell you how not to overdo it and not make mistakes in the heat of the moment.

7 mistakes when planting and caring for blueberries do not bring results

1 error:

Blueberries grow in a swamp, so planting blueberries must be in a lowland where water stagnates, or it is necessary to create conditions when garden blueberries are planted in soils with high soil moisture.

In no case! Blueberries grow on the outskirts of marshes or on bumps, where there is more drought than excess moisture. Roots need not only water, but also air to breathe. For blueberries, this is very important. In addition, frosts often occur in the lowland, which damage young shoots, flowers, ovaries, and in autumn - berries. Therefore, if you want to know how to plant blueberries correctly, then the shrub should be planted in areas with moderate moisture, where the threat of frost is minimal. Also, do not allow stagnant water.

Error 2:

I have acidic soil in my garden plot, because it is located on a peat bog, besides, horse sorrel and wood lice grow on it.

Horse sorrel and wood lice tend to grow in slightly acidic soil (pH 6.0 - 6.5), while blueberries need medium acidic soil with a pH of 4.5 - 5.5. In addition, the presence of peat is not an indicator, because it can be upland (sour) and lowland (slightly acidic). Therefore, it is imperative to check the pH level.

In suburban areas with a pH above 5.5, blueberries grow poorly, have a light green leaf color. The reason for this phenomenon is the insufficient absorption of nitrogen, primarily due to the fact that in such cases mycorrhiza does not work on the roots of the shrub.

Error 3:

In nature, blueberry bushes grow under the canopy of the forest, which means that in the garden you need to look for a shady place for it.

Blueberries will indeed grow in the shade, but will not bear fruit. It needs a sufficient amount of sunlight to form a crop. Therefore, planting blueberries in the spring is mandatory in a well-lit, but at the same time protected from the wind place.

Error 4:

We do everything right, but blueberries do not grow.

The reason may be:

1. Garden blueberries are planted in an area where potatoes or other vegetable crops grew. Remember that only perennial grasses are favorable predecessors for shrubs. Also, the plant can be planted only in areas where no fertilizer has been applied for 5 years.
2. Wrong landing. As a rule, gardeners tend to purchase a bush with a large number of branches and in a smaller pot, so that it is convenient to transport. The roots of such a seedling, due to tightness, are densely woven and wrapped inside. And if you want to know how to plant blueberries in the spring in this case, then you need to put the pot with the plant in water before planting, after 10-15 minutes remove the pot, and knead the roots with your hands, separate and spread them horizontally in the planting hole. If you do not do this manipulation, then the roots will not be able to straighten out on their own, as a result, the root system will not grow. Having dug up such a bush after a few years, you will see that the roots are still the same pot as when planted. Therefore, do not be surprised that after a while the plant will die.

Error 5:

It is good to feed blueberry bushes, but for some reason they took and died.

Blueberries do not need large doses of fertilizers, and they especially do not like organic top dressings (manure, bird droppings, etc.), which contain a lot of nitrogen. They can simply burn the plant. Top dressing of blueberries in spring and early summer is possible only with mineral fertilizers.

What to feed blueberries in spring? Heather fertilizers, Kemira Universal, Mortar or any other acidic, complete mineral fertilizer are suitable. Blueberry dressing is applied as follows:

• under a two-year bush 1 tablespoon;
• under a three-year - 2;
• under the four-year - 4;
• five-year-old - 8;
• six years old and older - 16 tablespoons of fertilizer.

Error 6:

The pit was prepared correctly, but the blueberries refuse to grow.

The reason that planting and caring for blueberries does not work may be:

1. Excess water. The recommendations, as a rule, refer to sandy soils, sandy loams, peat bogs, that is, land into which water and air easily penetrate. And often gardeners arrange "wells" with acidic soil in clay areas, without taking care of good drainage. As a result, during rains or frequent watering, water accumulates in them, which deprives the roots of air, the root system suffocates, dies, and then the entire bush dies.
2. Lack of nutrition due to natural deoxidation of the soil due to rain, moisture inflow from the lower layers of the soil, irrigation. If the pH of the water with which the plants are watered is above 5.5, then over time the acidity of the soil will also become higher. At least once a month, blueberry bushes should be watered with acidified water. For acidification, you can use acetic or malic acid (100 ml of 9% vinegar is diluted in 10 liters of water), citric acid (1 teaspoon per 3 liters of water).

Error 7:

Loosening the soil around the bushes.

The root system of blueberries is not deep, almost all in the upper layer of soil up to 25 cm deep. When weeding, you should not use a hoe or other devices, as they damage the roots, which are then not restored.

Proper care for blueberries in terms of loosening is as follows. It is possible to loosen the soil around blueberries no deeper than 3 cm. It is better to mulch the surface with sawdust with a layer of 5 - 8 cm. At the same time, a number of problems are solved when growing blueberries. Firstly, mulch will allow you to get rid of weeds, secondly, it will regulate the water-air and temperature conditions of the topsoil (it will not dry out and overheat), thirdly, it will improve the illumination of the bush, fourthly, it will help fight diseases.

How to grow blueberries in the garden. Features of care.

To obtain regular good yields of blueberries and large berries, it is necessary to prune bushes from the age of six. Cut out all the low, empty branches that thicken the bush. Then all branches older than 7-8 years are removed (six-year-olds are also possible). Of the large annual shoots, 3-5 of the strongest and healthiest are left, the rest are cut out.

For the winter, it is desirable to provide protection from hares. They are very fond of eating annual shoots. To do this, it is enough to overlay the bushes with spruce branches. In winter, in the absence of snow cover and frost below - 23 ... - 25 degrees, garden blueberries must be covered. In spring and autumn, it is better to treat it with fungicides to protect against diseases. Early in the spring, it is necessary to carry out a general eradicating treatment (polycarbacin - 1% solution; Bordeaux liquid, Rovral - 1% solution). After the leaves bloom, you can spray the bushes three times with an interval of 7-10 days with a 0.2% solution of one of the fungicides: Topsin M, Kuprozan, Euparen, Benomyl, Rovral. In the autumn, after harvesting the berries, also carry out three sprayings with fungicides, and after the leaves fall - one eradicating treatment.

27.03.2016 33 521

How to plant blueberries in the garden?

Description

Garden blueberry is a shrub plant, the fruits of which are juicy berries of a rich blue color with a bluish bloom, rounded in shape. Outwardly, it is very similar to blueberries, only larger.

The pulp of the berry is also different. It is colorless and sweet in taste. In the literature, there are such names as tall or corymbose blueberries, tall blueberries, corymbous vaccinum, and even Canadian (or American) blueberries.

Shrubs grow up to 2-2.5 meters, there are many shoots. The root system of the plant is no deeper than 15-17 cm. The flowering period falls on May. At this time, the bushes are strewn with pinkish flowers, shaped like bells. Already in the middle of summer you can enjoy the first berries.

Beneficial features

The dark color of the skins of berries is due to the presence of natural anthocyanins, due to which toxins and decay products leave the body. Garden blueberries are a source of phytoestrogens (hormones of plant origin), which have a beneficial effect on the digestion process, help strengthen the walls of blood vessels and treat heart diseases. Folic and ellagic acids, which are rich in fruits, must be present in the diet of pregnant women. Children over 1.5 years old can eat berries.

The beneficial substances that make up blueberries are able to restore vision, relieve eye strain during prolonged work at the computer. The composition of the berry includes vitamins A, B1, B2, K, P and C, carbohydrates, pectins, many minerals, micro and macro elements.

You should not use blueberries if there are problems with the duodenum or there is an exacerbation of gastric ulcer, gastritis. The berry is excluded from the diet if the level of glucose in the blood is low.

Requirements

Choosing plants for planting in their own backyard, modern gardeners prefer the most valuable crops. These include garden blueberries. Growing has its own characteristics. In particular, for planting bushes, it is better to choose a well-lit area, protected from sudden gusts of wind.

Acidic soils (pH 3.7-4.9) are best suited. The culture is really demanding on the land. If the soil acidity (pH) reaches 5.5, then this is immediately reflected in the amount of the crop. When the pH reaches 6.5-6.7, the bush stops growing. But too high acidity is not good. So, at pH 2.9-3.2, the shrub becomes susceptible to diseases and dies.

Blueberries can be planted in a place where oats or lupins grew before. It is important to ensure that the land for cultivation is not waterlogged, the depth of groundwater is not more than 55 cm. In the wild, the shrub grows on peat-marshy soils, but such conditions can be created artificially by adding acidic peat with biohumus.

Blueberry garden: varieties

The tall plant species was artificially bred by breeders in North America. It is the United States that still occupies a leading position in the cultivation of this crop. In total, 45-50 varieties are common, of which the most popular are Bluray, Weymouth, Jersey, Rancocas, Dixie, Berkeley, Bluecrop, Garrison and others. Species such as Geerma and Goldtraube 53 were bred in Europe.

The yield of bushes increases every year, subject to all the rules of care, feeding and watering. It is believed that the maximum number of berries (8-9 kg per bush) can be collected in the seventh or eighth year of cultivation. The period of intensive fruiting lasts up to 16-18 years. If garden blueberries soon “settle” on your site, choose varieties especially carefully. It is believed that it is necessary to give preference to species that are characterized by early and medium crop maturation. These are varieties such as Patriot, Spartan, Blueetta, Bloor, Rubel, Bluecrop.

Garden blueberries: planting and care

Bushes are planted individually or in rows using two-year-old seedlings. This is best done in the fall. After determining the place where the culture will grow, holes are dug for single specimens, the sides of which are 60 to 80 cm long and about 70 cm deep. If will be carried out in rows, then prepare a trench. Its width and depth are also within 65-80 cm. The distance between individual bushes and rows is at least 1.5 meters. This will allow the plant to grow and develop normally.

Before planting garden blueberries, the hole is filled with a certain material, the type of which depends on the type of soil on the site. If the earth is sandy, then a layer of clay (about 13 cm) is laid at the bottom of the pit. As additional and necessary mixtures, you can use crushed moss, a peat-sand composition with the inclusion of meadow land (in equal shares), as well as sand with the addition of high-moor peat (in a ratio of 12: 1). It is allowed to acidify the soil with irrigation water with organic acid diluted in it. However, this option is acceptable only if it is possible to constantly monitor the level of acid content and the quality of the earth.

Around the bushes spread mulch from the rotted bark of coniferous trees or the needles themselves.

This technique allows you to effectively retain moisture inside the soil, and also prevents the emergence and reproduction of weeds. The mulch layer is at least 7-9 cm. To create optimal conditions, rotten needles need to be updated or reported every 2-3 years.

It is more difficult to take care of the plant for those summer residents whose personal plots are located in the southern regions, where it can be unbearably hot and dry. If garden blueberries grow under such conditions, care should be supplemented with daily spraying of bushes. The soil around the plant is loosened several times a season, deepening no more than 6-7 cm.

pruning

Annually, old, broken or diseased branches are removed from the shrub. Most often, this procedure is performed in early spring or winter, when the plant is still sleeping and the movement of juices is slowed down. Removing old, infertile shoots, which only thicken the bush, contributes to a good distribution of nutrients in the fibers and allows you to increase the yield.

If you are interested in how to grow garden blueberries, then you should pay special attention to this stage of care. All instruments should be sharpened and disinfected to prevent contamination. It is believed that young bushes that bear fruit no more than 3-4 years can not be pruned. It is important to carefully examine the blueberries and remove dry or underdeveloped shoots.

Prune shoots that have more than 5 buds. It is also not necessary to leave too long branches, because later they can simply break off under the weight of the crop. Most of the young shoots should remain intact.

reproduction

If blueberries are already growing on your site, then it is not at all necessary to purchase new seedlings. The culture can be propagated in several ways: using seed material, lignified cuttings, or by dividing the root system.

Ripe berries gently crush into gruel and pour a glass of water. At the same time, good, full-fledged seeds immediately settle to the bottom. They are collected and planted in containers filled with sand. You do not need to store the seeds, they quickly deteriorate. For germination, containers are stored in a cool place (in the basement, for example). The propagation of garden blueberries in this way has not received proper distribution due to the fact that the bushes bear fruit only 6-7 years after planting in the ground.

There is an easier way to reproduce. It is enough to select a few low-growing branches, bend them to the ground and sprinkle with sawdust. It is believed that after a couple of years they have their own root system, and they can bear fruit as an independent bush. But for this, the branch is separated from the main plant and grown separately. This breeding option is more popular and is well known to summer residents who grow garden blueberries. Planting and care in the future allow you to get a good harvest.

Microclonal propagation is also gaining popularity, which occurs according to the following scheme: explants are selected, grown and cultivated in a special nutrient medium, rooted and adapted in the soil.

How to choose planting material

If in the near future you plan to decorate your garden plot with garden blueberry bushes, then you should take care of choosing the right seedlings. It is best to contact a nursery or an exhibition organized by special garden societies. The bottom line is that the material must be properly prepared in order to please the owners with a good harvest. Blueberry seedlings are dug up for propagation in the second half of October. Until this period, nutrients accumulate in the roots and stem, which makes the plant strong and full.

When the seedlings are ready to be transplanted, the accumulated starch turns into sugar and the leaves fall off. Therefore, another indicator of good material is the absence of leaves. Seedlings should have lignified branches, and their size should practically not differ from the standards for this variety.

By the way, garden blueberries grow and bear fruit well in the Moscow region. Varieties such as Patriot, Bluecrop, Pioneer, Northland, Toro, Spartan, Herbert, Rankokas take root well and winter in rather harsh conditions. Some gardeners note that the bushes are undersized, but this does not affect the quality of the berries.

Feeding

The need to feed the plants arises when there is a lack of nutrients in the soil. This happens for various reasons, which depend on the area of ​​\u200b\u200bgrowth. The amount of fertilizer also depends on the age of the plant. In the first year, shrubs do not really need feeding. A two-year-old bush will need no more than 1 tablespoon of "nutrition". If garden blueberries grow on the site for 3-4 years, then 2-4 servings should be used. For five-year-old bushes, "nutrition" is prescribed in the amount of 7-8 tablespoons. Proper care of a plant older than 6 years includes mandatory feeding with 16 tablespoons of mineral fertilizers.

After planting, the bush is provided with additional "nutrition" after 10-14 days. Add 1 teaspoon of superphosphate and urea to 10 liters of water, as well as a tablespoon of potassium sulfate. Shrubs are watered with the prepared solution. Each plant needs up to 10 liters of composition. Such top dressing will allow the blueberry bush to adapt to the soil faster, making it stronger.

In the future, fertilizers are applied in spring (April) and early summer (June) in an amount that corresponds to the age of the plant.

How to solve a micronutrient deficiency

Experienced gardeners are well aware that by the appearance of a culture, one can easily guess how it feels. The absence or shortage of certain minerals, as they say, is evident.

Look closely at the bush. Timely feeding with the right fertilizers can save the crop and save the life of the plant.

What causes blueberries

Like any other living organism, plants can experience ailments. True, if measures are not taken in time, then the disease can spread throughout the bush and destroy it.

Moniliosis disease looks like frostbite of individual parts of the plant. Affected fragments are collected and burned.

Red swellings that appear on young shoots should be alerted - this is physalosporosis, an ailment that spreads rapidly. Shrubs are advised to cut and burn.

Berries, flowers and branches of the plant are often affected by gray rot.

Damaged garden blueberries (photo) are often subject to complete destruction. True, the spread of the disease can be stopped if you pay attention to it in time.

Preparing for winter

Blueberries are resistant to cold and can withstand up to -30 ° C in winter. If there is no snow or very little snow in winter, then the probability of freezing the bushes increases. It is better to prepare for frosts in advance, using ordinary burlap. Blueberry branches are carefully bent to the ground and tied with wire or twine, without tightening too tightly. This should be done before the first autumn frosts. After the temperature has settled below 0 ° C, the bush is covered with a cloth. Polyethylene material is not recommended.

It is also good to additionally protect the base of the shrub by tightly overlaying it with a mixture of peat and sawdust. The fallen snow will create additional protection for blueberries.

Frost-resistant shrub flowers are considered that do not die, even if the temperature drops to -7 ° C.

Medicinal properties

Blueberries can cure many ailments if properly prepared. Those who suffer from frequent sore throats can be advised to prepare a decoction of two glasses of water and a handful of berries. The infusion is boiled for 1 hour and used to gargle.

Drinking fresh blueberry juice (half a glass a day) will help with various diseases of the kidneys and liver.

It is useful for cores to infuse blueberry leaves and twigs (1 tablespoon) in a glass of boiling water. Strained and chilled broth is taken three times a day, 3 tablespoons.

Diabetics can eat fresh berries three times a day for 200-250 grams. And from the leaves and young shoots (1 tablespoon), filled with a glass of water, you can prepare a decoction, which is boiled for 10-15 minutes, drink half a glass a day.

Blueberries have an excellent anti-inflammatory effect. And this property is successfully used in cosmetology, as well as in daily skin care for the face and body. You can grind the berries into gruel and put on cleansed face skin. After 15 minutes, fine wrinkles are smoothed out, redness fades. With regular use, the skin becomes cleaner and fresher. If sunburned, mash blueberries, put on a clean cloth and apply to damaged skin.

Blueberry is a shrub common in Central Europe, rapidly gaining popularity in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other countries of the near abroad. Since its berries have exceptional beneficial properties - a high content of vitamin C and other minerals and vitamins, it is necessary in the diet of every healthy person. However, many summer residents refuse to grow it just because they do not know how to grow blueberries correctly. Although this shrub is not at all whimsical to care for and does not require much effort, only a few nuances must be observed when growing blueberries.

Growing conditions

Industrial cultivation of blueberries is carried out only on acidic soils. The plant develops well on sandy and sandy substrates, peat bogs. To significantly improve the water regime and soil fertility, rotted leaf litter is used. In a garden plot, you can create such soil using acidic high-moor peat, sawdust, bark, foliage or other materials, increasing the acidity of the soil to 3.7-4.8 units (pH) with sulfur, citric, acetic or malic acid.

One of the main conditions for the successful cultivation of blueberries is moderate soil moisture. Therefore, it should not be planted in areas lying in the lowlands, since in such cases there is a risk of waterlogging.

In a plant that has been growing for a long time in places with an excess of moisture, the roots begin to quickly rot and die off, and the bush itself stops its development and ceases to bear fruit. In the country, you should choose the most illuminated place for planting blueberries, protected at the same time from strong winds. In partial shade, the yield will be significantly lower, and the quality of the berries will deteriorate. In addition, with a lack of light, the growth of shoots lengthens in time, and they do not always have time to become woody before the first frost, as a result of which they can freeze in winter.

It is cost-effective to plant several varieties of blueberries in the garden. Such a mixed planting of different varieties not only ensures good pollination and high yields, but also significantly improves the taste of berries and reduces their ripening time. If the plot is quite large, you can organize a home business, growing blueberries from seeds for sale.

Blueberry Planting Scheme

Landing

Low-growing varieties of blueberries are planted at a distance of 70-80 cm from each other, strong and medium-sized varieties - at a distance of 90-120 cm. Planting pits are prepared earlier, 40-50 cm deep and 60-70 cm in diameter. On loamy heavy soils, the pit is made less than 20-30 cm deep, but wider and equipped with an additional drainage layer of 10-15 cm or blueberries are planted on the ridge.

For planting, I use two- and three-year-old seedlings with a closed, developed root system. A pot with a plant immediately before planting is immersed for 20-25 minutes in a container with water to saturate the roots and earthen coma with moisture. After that, the seedlings are carefully removed from the pot, kneading the lump with their hands. A young bush is turned upside down, the root ball is cut to a depth of 5-7 cm crosswise or torn with hands, starting from the middle.

A small amount of high-moor peat is poured at the bottom of the pit, fertilizers are not applied, a seedling is placed there, spreading the roots in different directions, and also covered with prepared acidic soil. The plant is buried 6-7 cm above the level of the coma in the pot. After that, the earth is slightly compacted, a shallow hole is made around the bush and watered abundantly. Then the near-trunk zone is mulched with sawdust with a layer of 7-9 cm.

Care

Constant moderate watering, without swamping the soil and preventing it from drying out, is an important condition for good survival and development of bushes. Watering is carried out by finely drip sprinkling or drip irrigation of the soil around the bush directly.

In the summer period in mid-July and August, the plant should be watered twice a day - in the morning and in the evening, 2-3 times a week, at the rate of 1.5-2 buckets for each bush. During this period, abundant watering is very important, because simultaneously with fruiting, flower buds of the next year's crop are laid on the bushes. The lack of moisture will be reflected in its significant decrease, both in the current year and next.

In especially hot, stuffy times, the bushes should be cooled by spraying them with cool water during the daytime at 12-13 o'clock. With such a simple manipulation of agricultural technology, the rate of photosynthesis increases and stress from overheating of the plant is minimized. Mulching plantings with needles, rotted leaves, straw or sawdust not only slows down the germination of weed seed, but also allows you to retain moisture in the soil and even out its temperature. The mulching layer is maintained at a height of 7-12 cm. When mulching with fresh bark or sawdust, additional nitrogen fertilizers should be added so as not to slow down the growth and development of bushes.

Blueberries react to lack of fertilizer, especially taller varieties like Canadian. The first feeding with complex mineral fertilizers, such as Azofoska or Fertik, is carried out in early spring, when the buds swell, the second - during flowering, the third - when small berries appear, but no later than July 1. Depending on the age of the bush, a different dose of fertilizer is applied per season: for a two- and three-year-old bush - 10-20 g, for a four-year-old bush - 40 g, for a five-year-old dose 70-80 g, for an older plant - 150-160 g.

Growing mistakes

One of the most common mistakes is the application of organic fertilizers. Blueberry variety Canadian and others not only do not tolerate compost, manure and chicken manure, but can also die after using them. Also, many gardeners ignore such an important event as maintaining optimal soil acidity. Why twice a month from April to September, each bush is watered with a weak solution of citric acid - 5-12 g per 3 liters of water, or vinegar. 180-200 ml per 8-10 liters of water.

High fruiting is ensured only with regular spring pruning of bushes. At the same time, diseased branches lying on the ground and a small bushy growth at the base are removed. If the bushes are older than 5-6 years, part of the branches with flower buds should be cut, leaving only a few shoots up to 6-8 years old, and 4-6 of the most developed ones are left from annuals. In bushes of a spreading type, the lower drooping branches are removed, in bushes of an upright type, the middle is thinned out.

When removing weeds around the planting, it should be borne in mind that the roots of blueberries are located very close to the soil surface. Therefore, inter-row processing is carried out with the help of herbicides or shallow weeding. More often they are sown with low-growing grasses, which are mowed several times during the season and left to rot.

Video "Growing tall blueberries"

This video tells how to grow blueberries, what are the nuances in caring for bushes, which is the key to high yields.

Friends, our topic today is very interesting and important: how to properly plant blueberries and care for them.

For many gardeners, this wonderful berry simply disappears due to inadequate conditions, improper cultivation practices, or pests.

Garden blueberry is a rather demanding plant, let's discuss in order what it needs for a comfortable life and large yields.

Planting blueberries at their summer cottage

So, if you decide to plant blueberries on your hacienda, you should start with high-quality planting material. Buy seedlings from trusted, good manufacturers.

For planting, we need a healthy plant, with a strong root system.

After you have decided on the variety and purchased high-quality seedlings, we proceed to prepare the blueberry place.

Pit preparation for blueberries

We choose a good, sunny place for our future landings.

It is necessary to dig a hole with a diameter of 90 cm and a depth of 45 cm. Most of the blueberry roots are at a depth of 30 cm, so we need a small depth.

It is determined based on drainage and the necessary bedding.

Blueberries love acidic soil, the ph required for it is in the region of 3.5-5.0.

Rarely does anyone have enough acidic soil on the site to just plant this beauty and forget about it. Therefore, in fact, we need such a hole in order to create conditions for blueberries that they will like.

If this is not done, then in insufficiently acidic soil, blueberries wither, wither, do not grow and bear fruit poorly. And it might even die.

Therefore, in this hole we will put acidic soil mixture. In addition, there are a few more tricks to acidify the soil enough.

If the soil is not too alkaline, you can limit yourself to sprinkling the bottom of the pit with colloidal sulfur. In the process of decomposition by bacteria, sulfur will gradually acidify the soil. You can also add special acidifiers for the soil.

If suddenly there is no bark at hand, then pine litter, rotted sawdust of conifers, fragments of coniferous branches will do. We pour a layer on the bottom with a thickness of about 5 cm.

The basis of the soil will be sour red riding peat.

Since blueberries prefer loose soils, peat can be additionally mixed with fine bark, rotted sawdust and sand.

Add some of your soil to this mixture, provided that your soils are not heavy, clayey.

The soil mixture for blueberries is ready.

It's time to settle our seedling for permanent residence. Pull it out of the pot and look at the earthen ball, it should be completely braided with roots. You can be sure that the root system of the plant is sufficiently developed and strong.

There is no further consensus on this matter. Many gardeners are of the opinion that it is necessary to stir up, break the earthen ball along with the roots, so that when planted, they begin to interact more quickly with the new substrate.

This is especially true for seedlings that have "stayed too long", have been growing in the same pot for many years, and their root system is a dense lump.

If the roots are soft enough, then the earthen lump can not be torn apart, but only slightly stirred up.

In the finished pit, we make a recess to the size of the coma of our seedling. Let's put a plant in there.

It should be slightly deeper than the edge of the hole. We fill the roots of the seedling with earth.

We compact the earth around the bush.

Watering.

Mulch will prevent weeds from germinating and will retain moisture in the soil, as loose peat itself dries out very quickly.

After planting, we remove all thin shoots from the bush.

It is also necessary at this stage to remove the fruit buds of the plant so that it does not waste energy on fruiting at least this year. Instead, it grew big and strong.

blueberry care

Blueberries will thrive in full sun.

Watering should be regular, in dry periods even frequent. On hot days, it is recommended to spray the bushes in the evening.

For 3-4 years, the first pruning is done: all thin, extra branches are removed, the crown is thinned out. This stimulates blueberries to grow new shoots and lay new fruit buds. Pruning is carried out in the spring, before the dissolution of the foliage.

It is important to monitor the acidity of the soil, not to let it become alkaline, which means to acidify in time. This can be done in the spring with the help of "compote" of sour grass.

It is done like this: cut a large bunch of rhubarb, a bunch of sorrel and sorrel and pour 10 liters of water. Insist 3 hours. And you can carry out watering with such water under a bush.

You can also use lemon juice as an acidifier: 1 lemon per 10 liters of water.

Periodically inspect blueberries for pests and treat if necessary.

The most malicious pest of blueberries is the larva of the May beetle. They simply adore the delicate roots of blueberries, often cramming dozens of individuals under one bush and nibbling it with pleasure.

Therefore, during planting and in the future, preventive treatments against these insects are necessary by spilling the soil with specialized preparations, such as Antikhrushch.

From folk remedies, an ammonia solution copes with the larva of the May beetle: 1 tbsp. l per 10 liters of water.

Blueberry fertilizer

Blueberries need to be fed three times per season. The best choice would be specialized fertilizers for blueberries with an acidifying effect.

First of all, because they contain the optimal dosage for this plant, and of course help to maintain the acidic reaction of the soil.

If you cannot find these fertilizers in your city, then as an option, you can use fertilizers for azaleas - they also acidify the soil and nourish the plant well.