This is a blog post on growing and harvesting blueberries. Blueberries are now considered a superfood due to its high antioxidant content. It’s a mild-tasting fruit that harvested during mid-summer. It is a mild sweet taste with a bit of acid from the berry. It is a great fruit serve on its own, as part of a dessert panna cotta or cook in a tart.
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Growing and harvesting Blueberries
To grow blueberry one needs to buy a blueberry plant or small young plant that is propagated out of offshoot. This available in supermarkets and garden centres in early Spring. Here is a link to buy blueberry plants. I have tried unsuccessfully to grow them from young cutting/ plants. In the end, the blueberry plant that successfully was one that fairly quite establishes. It was Bluecrop variety that I grew. However, it doesn’t mean that this plant was ready to fruit anytime.
Blueberry plant are partly and fully self pollinating. It is better to grow at least 2 plants for it to produce bigger fruits. As cross pollinating tends to do that.
Growing blueberry
Blueberry plants needs to be grown in ericaceous soil in order for it to thrive and fruit. Here is where to buy ericaceous compost. Try to water it with rain water. Feed it regularly with ericaceous fertilizer like this one by Doff. It does takes time for the blueberry plant to establish and fruit. On the first two years it only produce flower but not any fruit.
Try to grow in pots or raised bed set aside for acid soil loving plants. Grow them in well drain soil in a sunny spot This year the only thing I did differently was to feed them and put lots of ericaceous soil. If you can’t get hold of ericaceous compost try to use lime or lemon compost. It is close to ericaceous compost.
Blueberry plant is a perennial plant and will survive some degree of frost in the winter. Come autumn time the leaves will die back and the plant goes dormant. It means less watering time. As the blueberry plant get old do prune it back to give it a second life.
Harvest time
Come around early July after producing abundant of flowers it will start producing fruits. Blueberry will slowly turn from green to blue.
Thank you for reading and dropping by. do have a look at my other post like growing raspberries and alpine strawberries.
