Growing Blueberries In The Garden - 2

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

"Black berry" of your garden

The chemical and biological composition of American blueberry berries is simply impressive. Compared to ordinary marsh blueberries, American berries contain 30-50% more solids and sugars. Sugars and acids, together with pectin and tannins, determine the excellent taste of the berries. They also stimulate appetite and improve the functioning of the digestive tract.

Substances and compounds contained in blueberry berries have an antioxidant effect, which is very effective in atherosclerosis, hypertension, rheumatism, sore throat. They have a capillary-strengthening, anti-inflammatory, choleretic and diuretic effect. Its berries also contain vitamins and microelements that affect oxidative processes, the work of digestive tract enzymes and blood clotting.

The pectins contained in blueberry fruits contribute to the elimination of heavy metals and radionucleides (lead, strontium, cobalt, cesium and others) from the body. In addition, it itself does not accumulate in its fruits these dangerous elements - products of human industrial activity. These properties of tall blueberries are very important and effective in our harsh environmental conditions and in areas exposed to radioactive and chemical contamination. To improve metabolism, memory and coordination of movements, it is enough to eat half a cup of tall blueberries a day.

There are a number of other fruits that help, for example, improve memory, prevent cell aging, but none of them gives such a complex positive effect on the whole body, as in the case of consuming garden blueberries. The antioxidants contained in blueberries and a complex of a number of vitamins and minerals improve visual acuity, the functioning of the digestive tract, endocrine glands, reduce allergic reactions of the human body to drugs, food and other adverse factors. She herself almost never causes allergic reactions, and it can be given even to children with hypersensitivity and a tendency to diathesis and allergies.

Berries of varietal blueberries in Germany and other European countries are in almost a rush. Many people in Germany consider it necessary to have at least a couple of tall blueberry bushes. The entire crop of berries grown on plantations is sold out very quickly, despite very high prices, which exceed even the prices for the most exotic fruits. In Russia, berries of tall blueberries are extremely rare on sale, and only in single stores are they sold at a very high price. In general, the cultivation of this crop is a very promising event.

American Blueberry Agricultural Engineering

Based on the growing conditions, its agricultural technology is very simple and, we can say that blueberries are a plant for the lazy. Garden blueberries begin to bear fruit at the age of 3-5 years, and with appropriate care and pruning, its bushes give good yields up to 50-70 years. For its cultivation, various types of soils are suitable - peat, loamy, sandy loam and sandy, but the reaction should be acidic (pH 3.5-4.5). On peat bogs, it is advisable to cover the soil around the bushes with a layer of sand up to 10 cm. peat soils take a very long time to warm up in spring, and on them the growing season of blueberries ends much later than on ordinary soils, which can cause partial freezing of shoots by early autumn frosts and severe winter frosts. On sandy soils, blueberries often lack nutrients and moisture,therefore, it is important to ensure timely fertilization and irrigation on such soils.

They plant blueberries in well-lit, warm places, introducing organic fertilizers (peat, humus, forest litter) into the soil at the rate of 2-3 buckets per 1 m², as well as complex mineral and organomineral fertilizers 20-30 g / m² (the best Finnish Kemira- station wagon, but you can ekofosku, Universal, etc.). It is categorically impossible to add deoxidizers, lime materials (lime, dolomite flour, chalk) or fertilizers that have an alkaline reaction (potash) to the soil, because these substances can kill blueberries. It is also contraindicated for tall blueberries to use chlorine-containing fertilizers, such as potassium chloride, potassium salt and others, because the chlorine contained in them also does not tolerate blueberries and dies. If the soil is neutral or alkaline,then it is necessary to add high-quality uncoated peat and sawdust to increase the acidity of the soil.

Planting garden blueberries

It is recommended to plant it in a hole (depth 60 cm, diameter 60-80 cm) filled with a mixture of high-moor peat and sand in a ratio of 3: 1. If the soil on the site is moderately or insufficiently moistened, then the bushes are planted 5-10 cm below ground level. During hot dry weather, it is imperative to control the saturation of the soil with water. If the soil is clayey or the groundwater is very close, and the water sometimes stagnates there, then blueberries are planted on mounds 15-20 cm high. It is very important to control the water regime, because this crop requires a good supply of moisture, but does not at all tolerate long-term flooding or groundwater stagnant waters very close to the surface. The best conditions for the growth and fruiting of blueberries are created when soil moisture is within 60-70% of the total field moisture capacity. This is determined by squeezing a handful of earth into a lump. If the sandy loam soil does not form into a lump, although it seems that it is moist, then watering is necessary.

On light loamy soils, watering is necessary when the soil rolls into a lump, but falls apart without any pressure. Peat soil is considered insufficiently moistened if, after compression, the lump easily crumbles. Although blueberries are self-fertile, for better pollination and good fruiting, planting at least 2-3 different varieties at a distance of 1.2-1.5 meters from each other will be most optimal. This distance between the bushes ensures normal development and good illumination. After planting, the plants must be shed well, and it is advisable to mulch the soil surface around the bushes with sawdust. With high stagnant groundwater (up to 10 cm from the surface), blueberries grow very poorly, so they are planted on hills and provide good drainage.

Due to the above properties of the root system, seedlings must be purchased in containers or plastic bags. In this case, it is advisable to make sure that the seedlings were grown in containers, and not dug up and covered with fresh soil. With open roots, blueberries are practically impossible to transport, and most of these seedlings die. Moreover, as practice has shown, in 90% of cases, plants with open roots turned out to be ordinary marsh blueberries, dug out in the forest, and had nothing to do with varietal tall blueberries.

You can plant blueberries grown in containers all summer long, but for greater confidence in the results, it is better to do this immediately after the soil has warmed up and the frost ends. Until the moment of planting, seedlings in containers can be placed on a glazed loggia or balcony, in a greenhouse or at the southern wall of the house, providing them with protection from frost and sufficient watering, and at least once every two weeks or a month, feeding with weak solutions of chlorine-free complex mineral fertilizers (Kemira-lux, Kemira-kombi, Ideal) according to the recommendations on the packaging or organic fertilizers

Care

In the conditions of our North-West region, I did not observe any diseases or pests on garden blueberries, so there was no need for treatment with chemicals. Feeding plants is also very simple - for this, complex fertilizers are applied annually (in spring) under it (Kemira-universal, Ekofoska). The dose of fertilizer applied depends on the age of the plant: 1 tbsp is applied under a two-year-old bush. spoon, under a three-year-old - 2 spoons. Further, the rate doubles every year, i.e. 16 tablespoons of fertilizer are applied under a six-year-old bush. In the future, regardless of age, 16 tablespoons of fertilizer are applied annually. The fertilizer can be prepared by yourself by mixing 1 part ammonium sulfate, 2 parts superphosphate, 1 part potassium sulfate, as well as adding some trace elements, for example, chlorine-free, nitrogen-free AVA fertilizer. You can apply the entire dose of fertilizers once at the end of April - early May, or you can divide it into two parts, making the first part (2/3 of the volume) at the end of April - early May, and the second (1/3 of the volume) at the end of May - early June.

After fertilization, the plants must be well watered. Further care is to form a bush. It is necessary to ensure that plants have 4-5 strong shoots of formation and a sufficient number of branching shoots with fruit buds. In blueberries, first of all, diseased and weak branches, small bushy growths at the base of the bush and branches, leading to a strong thickening, are removed. If the cultivated variety has a tendency to form a large number of renewal and branching shoots, leading to thickening of the bush, then such pruning is carried out annually, but if the variety does not have such a feature, then the bush is pruned once every two to three years.

On old bushes, pruning is aimed at increasing yields and enlarging berries, because 8-10 year old branches become unproductive. Therefore, they remove all old branches, achieving the growth of new shoots of formation. After such pruning, old bushes reduce yields for 1-2 years, but then again bear fruit abundantly. Bushes with erect stems are thinned out in the center, and in spreading plants the lower drooping branches are cut off. Cut the blueberries in the fall after the leaves fall or in early spring before the sap flow begins.