How to plant blueberries on your site

From time immemorial, the peoples of the North have preferred two wild berries: lingonberries And blueberries, considering the latter the most delicious berry on the planet. It is not surprising that blueberries began to be cultivated and grown in household plots. True, it needs to create appropriate conditions. However, thanks to the successes of modern selection, a magnificent gift was made for gardeners. It consists of two varieties of blueberries intended for growing in the garden:

• highbush blueberry;
• bog blueberry.

Content:

• History with geography
• Features of cultivation
• Basic landing rules
• Popular varieties

History with geography

Highbush blueberries were recently brought to Russia from the American continent. Since then, it has gained particular popularity both among small farmers and large agricultural industrialists.

But science never stands still. New varieties are appearing more and more often, and blueberries are rapidly spreading across household plots, leaving the familiar Northern District. She has already begun her march through the gardens and vegetable gardens, standing next to currants or raspberries - permanent inhabitants of our gardens.

The popularity of blueberries storehouse of macro and microelements, including the vitamin complex, is growing every year. Internet queries “How to plant blueberries in your garden?” come from the southern regions of our region.

Features of cultivation

Blueberries' closest relatives are lingonberries, blueberries and cranberries. Typical representatives of those types of berries that grow on Siberian marshy soils.

Blueberries prefer acidic soil with moderate moisture and good drainage. The area should be well lit by the sun. This is the key to a rich berry harvest. The plant practically does not require the application of organic fertilizers.

There are two types of blueberries, most suitable for cultivation in personal plots. This is a type of marsh blueberry, represented by shrubby forms, up to half a meter high. The distribution area is the north of the Non-Black Earth zone of Russia and Siberia. It grows in peat bogs, as well as in damp deciduous and coniferous forests.

And a type of highbush blueberry. Its parameters differ significantly from its counterpart. The highbush blueberry reaches a height of just over one and a half meters and bears a large fruit with an intense blue skin color. It tastes like a very sweet berry. The juice, on the contrary, has a faint color.

Basic landing rules

For that to get a quality blueberry harvest in the conditions of a personal plot, you must adhere to 4 basic rules:

1. It is necessary to know the acidity level of the soil in your garden plot. The pH level should be between 4.0 and 5.5, which indicates that the soil is quite acidic and suitable for planting blueberries. If the soil is insufficiently acidic, it can be acidified by using a weak solution of sulfuric acid. It can be obtained by draining the electrolyte from an acid battery. Add 1 ml of electrolyte to 1 liter of oxen and water the plants at the rate of 1 time every 10-12 days.
2. It is necessary to take into account the composition of the soil.Peat-bog or peat-sandy soils with high water permeability and moisture holding capacity are ideal for growing blueberries. This category includes raised peat bogs containing organic matter. As a rule, it is extremely rare to find household plots with such soil characteristics. Therefore, appropriate conditions are artificially created for planting blueberries. A hole is dug under each bush to a depth of about 40 cm. Its diameter should be at least 80 cm. The bottom of the hole is lined with mulch film, where several through cuts are first made to drain excess moisture. The pit is filled with a mixture of sand and top peat in a 1:1 ratio. When adding organic fertilizers, such as compost or humus, add 100 grams of sulfur to each bucket, after thoroughly grinding the sulfur with sand. The mixture is applied at the rate of 1 bucket per planting hole. The pits are prepared one and a half to two months before planting the blueberries.
3. It is necessary to ensure the roots breathe. To do this, mulch the ground with sawdust around each blueberry bush.
4. Maintaining temperature conditions. Blueberries are very sensitive to temperature changes. It cannot withstand drought and strong winds. The plant cannot be planted in low-lying parts of the terrain, where cold air masses accumulate in winter, since at a temperature of -20C the surface part of the plant freezes. Highbush blueberries need protection from the wind and regular watering during the growing season.

Popular varieties

Blueberry varieties, which are very popular among gardeners, despite their reduced frost resistance:

• Bluecrop;
• Bluray;
• Bluetta;
• Nordland;
• Patriot.

In the northern regions of Russia, blueberry varieties imported from Poland are successfully cultivated. Their distinguishing feature is frost resistance. These are the mid-season “Herbert” variety and the late-season “Coville” variety with very tasty berries.

As a conclusion, it should be noted that over the past few years, the Novosibirsk Central Botanical Garden has included 8 varieties of frost-resistant highbush blueberries in the state register of registration of breeding research, recommended for cultivation on personal plots:

• Nectar;
• Marvelous;
• Graceful;
• Blue scattering;
• Yurkovskaya;
• Taiga beauty;
• Shegarskaya;
• Iksinskaya.

All new introduced varieties have a high yield - up to 1.5 kg per bush. It is recommended to grow paired numbers of varietal bushes of the same degree of ripeness on the site.