Types of blueberries
Blueberries are divided into rabbiteye blueberry varieties, lowbush blueberry varieties, northern highbush blueberry varieties, southern highbush blueberry varieties and half-high bush blueberry varieties.
1. Tree shape: blueberry is a shrub species with great differences in tree height. The height of rabbiteye blueberry can reach 10m, which is often controlled at about 3m in cultivation; The height of the highbush blueberry tree is 1~3M; a half-high bush blueberry tree is 0.7~1.5m high; The height of dwarf blueberry bush is 30~50cm.
2. Flowers: blueberry flowers are racemes, most of which are lateral and sometimes terminal. Blueberries are mostly milky white or pink, altar shaped or inverted bell shaped, and the flowering period lasts for more than one month.
3. Fruit: blueberry fruit is blue or light blue, oval or nearly round, covered with white fruit powder. The size varies with varieties. There are many seeds in the fruit, but the blueberry seeds are very small, which does not affect eating. It tastes sour, sweet and delicious with a light aroma.
4. Leaves: Generally, blueberry leaves are long oval, with different sizes and lengths. The back of most kinds of leaves is covered with villi, but the leaves of dwarf blueberries are rarely covered with villi.
5. Root: the root system of blueberry is relatively weak, there is no root hair, and the absorption capacity is small. It is generally only distributed in the shallow soil layer. Almost all fine roots are parasitized by endophytic mycorrhizal fungi, which overcomes the difficulty of absorbing water and nutrients caused by the lack of root hairs in blueberry roots.
The main part of the root system of lowbush blueberry is the rhizome. Adventitious buds germinate on the rhizome and form branches. New rhizomes are usually pink, while old rhizomes are dark brown and lignified.
How To Planting Blueberry Bushes
1. Leaf bud development: blueberry leaf buds are inserted in the middle and lower part of annual branches. In the early stage of growth, when the leaves are fully expanded, leaf buds form between leaf axils. The leaf buds fully bloom about 2 weeks before the full flowering period.
2. Branch Growth: new blueberry shoots have two growth peaks in the blueberry growing season, forming summer shoots and autumn shoots respectively. Leaf buds germinate and sprout new shoots, which grow to a certain length and stop growing.
3. Root development: Blueberries have shallow roots and no root hairs. The roots are mainly distributed in the shallow soil layer and extend outward to the middle of the rows. In one year, blueberry roots had two growth peaks with the change of soil temperature, and the soil temperature was 14 ℃ and 18 ℃ respectively. During the two root growth peaks, the shoot growth peak also appeared at the same time.
4. Flower bud development: the flower bud of blueberry is inserted at the top 1 ~ 4 nodes of annual branches. There is a clear difference between flower bud and leaf bud. The flower bud is oval and hypertrophic. It takes about 9 months from flower bud formation to flowering.
5. Flowering: when blueberries bloom, the top flower bud opens first, and then the lateral flower bud. The flower bud on the thick branch opens later than that on the thin branch. In an inflorescence, the basal flower opens first, then the middle flower, and finally the top flower.
6. Fruit: in order to achieve a better yield, the pollination rate should be at least more than 80%. Due to the low self pollination rate of some blueberry varieties, pollination trees can be configured in cultivation to realize cross pollination. Cross pollination can improve fruit setting rate, increase single fruit weight, mature early, and improve yield and quality.
Best place to plant blueberries
For blueberry planting, the middle and lower parts of the east slope and south slope should be selected, with a slope of less than 30 °. When the slope is large, terraces should be built, and the farm should be built in a place with loose and fertile soil, good drainage performance and wet but no ponding as far as possible.
The growth of blueberries requires strong acidic soil conditions. The key of blueberry cultivation is to improve the soil, adjust the soil pH value to about 5, and the content of soil organic matter is not less than 5%.
Soil for blueberries
In order to completely improve the soil environment for blueberry growth, it is recommended to completely improve the soil and reform the whole garden. In the autumn of the year before planting, the whole garden shall be turned over 40~60cm deep, the drainage ditch shall be dug, and the gentle slope shall be adjusted into a gentle slope.
After spreading sulfur powder, the specific amount shall be determined according to the measured soil pH. In order to ensure uniformity, rotary tillage can be spread twice. Rotary tillage and deep plowing in the blueberry growing zones. Before rotary tillage again, the material input per mu is about 5M3 of peat, about 3T of organic fertilizer, 5~10cm of sawdust or bark with a diameter of 3~5cm, and 30-50m3 per mu.
In order to avoid nitrogen deficiency caused by sawdust, 15 kg/mu urea or other types of nitrogen fertilizer need to be added with sawdust at the same time. Ensure that all materials are evenly mixed with the garden soil, and the improved soil basically returns to the ridge after ridging.
Propagating blueberries
Blueberry planting time: blueberry can be planted in spring, autumn and winter, and it is best to plant at the end of spring in the Northeast.
Selection of blueberry seeds for planting: the height of blueberries in plastic seedling trays should be 35 ~ 50cm, with more than 2 ~ 3 upright and strong branches. The main branches are healthy and not aging, and there are few old and weak branches. Do not grow old seedlings. The root system is light yellow, developed, non blackening and has no packing phenomenon.
Blueberry planting tips: when planting, dig a planting hole on the ridge, the size is generally 40 × forty × About 40cm. Add 5kg organic fertilizer and 30 ~ 50g compound fertilizer at the bottom as base fertilizer. After adding, mix more soil and leave it at the bottom. Cover a layer of soil, add some peat and insecticide on it, mix well with the soil, and leave it on the upper layer of the planting hole for planting.
When planting, put the seedlings in the plastic nursery pots into the water in advance, soak them thoroughly, move blueberry bushes out of the small plastic plant pots, shake the root system slightly, and dig another one about 20cm on the dug planting hole × In a small pit of 20cm, plant the seedlings, gently firm and pour water through. Cover with pine needles, rice stalks, sawdust and other moisture and acid retaining materials, and cover 15 ~ 30cm above the ground.
Post planting management of blueberries: water the roots after planting. After watering and sinking, the foundation is flush with the ridge surface. Do not plant too deep or too shallow. Mulch with plastic ground cover for weed control before they grow, carry out flat stubble in the dormancy period after planting in autumn and winter, and flat stubble as soon as possible for cultivation in spring.
Fertilizer for blueberry bushes
Base fertilizer: the most suitable application time is before the leaves change color in autumn, and the effect of the early application is better than that of a late application. Generally, it is mainly rotten sheep manure, cow manure and rabbit manure. It is fertilized by ditching. In the full fruit stage, the tree is 10 ~15 kg/plant and the young tree is 5 kg/plant.
Topdressing: during the topdressing period, the quick acting fertilizer is mainly used in the leaf bud germination stage, before and after flowering. It is recommended to apply 300 times of the root application solution of sea elf biological stimulant; After fruit picking, a small amount of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer can be applied to avoid excessive application of nitrogen fertilizer causing excessive growth of twigs, promoting root growth and strong branches.
Watering blueberries
The water supply of blueberry young fruit should be sufficient and stable during the development period. Avoid sudden drying and wetting, otherwise, it is easy to cause red fruit and fruit. When the drought time is predicted to exceed 7 days, sufficient water shall be poured within 5 days, and the watering shall avoid the noon period with high external temperature as far as possible.
Blueberries are more sensitive to waterlogging and must be drained in time. It is not good for blueberries to be waterlogged for half a day. When building the farm, the planning of drainage and irrigation facilities should be combined with the extreme flood weather in local history, which is particularly important in the cultivation of blueberries on the flat land in the south.
Blueberry weed control
Herbicides are prohibited on blueberry farms. All herbicides can cause harm to blueberry plants or roots. In production, in order to control weeds, straw, bark, sawdust and plastic ground cover are generally used for ground covering, which can not only control grass damage, but also reduce acid after the covered plants rot and leach into the soil, which is conducive to maintaining the soil pH at the partial acid level. It can also increase soil organic matter and fertility, reduce element deficiency, promote blueberry growth, increase yield and improve quality.
Pruning blueberry bushes
Blueberry is a cluster shrub for many years. Its shaping and pruning are different from bulk fruits. The main method is to adjust the relationship between nutritional growth and fruit bearing, and regularly remove weak branches, fruit bearing branches and aging branches.
Summer shear and winter shear are the main parts of the year. Winter pruning: rejuvenation of weak trees and production control of strong trees; Summer scissors: strengthen the trees, remove the density and promote the strength. Prune the branches as soon as possible and prune the young trees in time after planting in summer.
Early fruiting stage: for trees with normal growth, 20 ~ 30 fruiting branches are generally left in the fruiting year, and the yield of 0.5 ~ 1kg can be obtained. If the growth is weak, most of the fruiting branches can be retracted.
Full fruiting period: the task of pruning in this period is to maintain strong trees and reasonable load. Generally, 70 ~ 100 fruiting branches are reserved to make them high, stable and high-quality, and prolong the life of the full fruiting period.
Blueberry bush care
Pollination: bees are released at the beginning of flowering. Bumblebees are used in the facility. A box of bees (10000 ~ 20000 bees per box) is placed on about 5 mu of open air.
Rain shelter during flowering and fruiting in southern China: rainy areas in southern China have cloudy and rainy flowering and fruiting periods, which can seriously affect the fruit setting rate and fruit picking and quality. It can be cultivated in a rain shelter, with film applied in the middle of flowering and removed at the end of fruiting.
Dry and hot wind during flowering in the North: the cold shed and open air in the north are dry and rainy in mid April. In case of high temperature weather, the air humidity is often lower than 20%, and the blueberry corolla often shrinks and withers, which has a great impact on the vitality of blueberry stamen pollen and pistil stigma, resulting in poor pollination. Pay attention to watering and moisturizing.
Blueberry harvesting
The ripening period of dwarf blueberry fruit is relatively consistent, and the early ripening fruit is not easy to fall off. It can be harvested after all the fruits are mature. After the fruit is harvested, remove the dead branches, fallen leaves, stones and other sundries and put them into containers.
The ripening period of high bush blueberry fruit is inconsistent. Generally, it needs to be harvested for 20 ~ 30 days, usually once a week. When the fruit is fresh, it should be picked manually. For processing, it can be harvested mechanically.
Blueberry diseases and pest control
Blueberry has few diseases and insect pests, such as powdery mildew, blueberry rust and downy mildew; Pests include aphids, mites, fruit flies, longicorn beetles, beetles, etc. Pay attention to prevention first and comprehensive control, protect and utilize all kinds of natural enemies, maintain the ecological balance in the blueberry farm, give priority to physical control and biological control, and adopt chemical control when necessary, but use low toxic, safe or Biogenic Pesticides, and pay attention to safe drug interval.
If you want growing blueberries in pots, you can choose our plastic plant pots: plastic gallon pots, plastic terracotta pots, fabric grow bags and so on.
