There is nothing quite like picking a few ripe blueberries, popping a warm berry into your mouth, and enjoying the distinct, sweet, sun-ripened, homegrown flavor as it bursts onto your tongue.
As you read this, it’s possible that your mouth is watering.
However, the idea of growing your own blueberries may seem out of reach for those who only have a balcony or a small patio, the wrong kind of soil, or garden plots that are already overflowing.
Up to now! Blueberries will develop, sprout, and yield natural product cheerfully in a holder.
To assist you in finding relevant products, we provide links to vendors. We may be compensated if you make a purchase through one of our links.
All you need to do is know how to treat them well. Your container-grown plant will reward you with an abundance of delicious fruit.
Everything you need to know about growing these delicious berries in containers in any outdoor space you have is provided below.
Here’s what’s to come:
How to Get Started When looking for a bush to put in a container, you will probably come across a number of different varieties of blueberries.
The rabbiteye, V. virgatum (also known as V. ashei), is native to the southeastern United States, while the lowbush or wild blueberry, Vaccinium angustifolium, is native to Canada and the northeastern United States.
However, the highbush is the variety that is grown in containers the most frequently.
The northern highbush, V. corymbosum, is the species that is planted the most frequently worldwide.
The southern highbush is a hybrid of V. darrowii, a native to the southeastern United States, and northern highbush.
We’ll talk about some of the best dwarf highbush cultivars in the Cultivars to Choose section below, which was created specifically for growing in containers.
While picking either northern and southern highbushes for your own deck, you want to remember that blueberries have explicit chill prerequisites.
This implies they require a specific number of chill hours (or the quantity of hours out of every year with temperatures of 45°F or beneath) for the shrub to leaf out, blossom, and natural product appropriately.
Northern highbushes require more than 600 chill hours, whereas southern highbushes are regarded as “low chill” and may only require 150 to 500 chill hours, depending on the cultivar.
Low-chill varieties are ideal if you live in a warmer climate, such as Zone 9 or higher!
Why use containers to grow?
If you want to grow a green (berry-stained) thumb but don’t have enough room in your garden, only on your patio, or on a balcony, this is your reason!
It’s simpler to control and control both the dampness and pH level of the preparing medium in compartments than it is in the ground, key elements in developing blueberries since they are fastidious about having acidic soil, and are delicate to wet or dry circumstances excessively.
If you struggle with waterlogged soil or don’t have naturally acidic soil, growing in containers is another good option.
In addition, ripe berries that are secured on a patio are less likely to be targeted by birds than berries that are growing in a quiet garden.
Blueberry bushes are beautiful ornamental plants in addition to their delicious berries. Consider a riot of red or orange foliage in the fall, sweet white-pink blooms in abundance in the spring, green foliage and purple-dusty blue fruit in the summer, and
When selecting a container for your blueberry bush, the most important factors are drainage and the appropriate container size.
Choose one that is weatherproof and has drainage holes. A large wooden barrel, for instance, is an excellent planter.
However, keep in mind that moving the container will be more challenging the larger and heavier it is. Choose a smaller pot that will be easier to move when necessary or a perfect permanent location.
The average container size for mature cultivars is 24 to 30 inches wide and 24 to 24 inches deep. You can start with a smaller pot and plan to repot it as it grows if you buy a younger plant.
Is there no more room on the balcony or patio? It is not as crazy as it may sound to try a dwarf variety in a hanging basket. This will be discussed in the cultivar section that follows.
Planting Plant your bushes or repot them in the latter part of the summer or the beginning of the fall so that the roots have time to develop and spread into the new soil before the winter.
Fill your container to the top with a 50/50 mix of peat moss and azalea or hydrangea potting soil. Completely wet.
In the potting medium, drill a hole twice as big as the original pot. If your shrub is stuck in a pot, gently pry out the roots to help them adapt to the new environment.
Plant so that the soil surface on the stem is the same depth as before. Make sure to water thoroughly and on a regular basis as needed as your plant gets established.
How to Grow Blueberries, in contrast to most plants, do not have root hairs, which increase the surface area of the roots. Because of this, they are extremely receptive to shifting water and soil conditions.
These shrubberies need acidic soil, with a pH of 4.3-5.5. Since these plants are particularly sensitive to changes, you might want to think about testing the soil once a year to track pH.
While feeding the plant, acidic fertilizer can help maintain a low soil pH and provide the plant with nutrients. However, if you choose a blended fertilizer, the source of nitrogen and other components that make up that NPK ratio can also have an impact.
Because urea fertilizer is half as acidic as ammonium sulfate, urea-based products should be used when the soil pH is below 5.0.
Arbico Organics sells a fertilizer called blood meal (12-0-0), which is also a good option.
Avoid fertilizers containing nitrogen, such as potassium nitrate or ammonium nitrate, that are high in chlorides or nitrates.
Fertilize when the leaves are just starting to emerge in the early spring. Follow the directions on the package when applying fertilizers. Granular fertilizers can be spread on the surface or worked into the medium’s surface.
Be careful not to over-fertilize because doing so could cause the roots and foliage to burn, weaken the plant, make it more vulnerable to insect and disease damage, and encourage the growth of leaves instead of fruit.
Blueberries thrive in full sun, but in hot climates, providing some shade in the late afternoon is a good idea. Place it in a sunny garden spot or on a balcony or patio.
Maintain soil moisture without allowing it to become soaked. While container soil tends to dry out more quickly than ground-based shrubs, you should keep an eye on ground-based shrubs.
Growing Instructions: For best results, place your containers in full sun.
Use acidic soil to plant.
Maintain soil moisture without overwatering.
Pruning and Upkeep
Prune mature plants in late February or Walk to keep up with the ideal shape and wanted size. Take out any twigs and branches that are diseased or dead.
To maintain the required low soil pH, you can scrape out a third of the old potting soil every two to three years and replace it with fresh acidic potting soil or compost, in addition to the fertilization discussed above.
In the fall, cover pots with two inches of an acidic mulch, like bark chips, conifer wood chips, or pine needles, to keep the soil moist and protect the roots through the winter.
The stem should be two inches away from the mulch.
Cultivars to Choose If you only want one patio blueberry, make sure the cultivar you buy is self-pollinating before you buy it.
Despite the fact that the majority of northern highbush and some southern highbush cultivars are self-fertile, placing another variety that blooms at the same time nearby facilitates cross pollination. Typically, this leads to larger fruits and greater harvests.
Although dwarf varieties are ideal for use as patio and balcony container plants, taller varieties are also suitable for use as a hedge or screen if you have a little more space.
Jelly Bean’s Bushel and BerryTM collection of berry cultivars are self-pollinating and compact, making them excellent choices for containers.
“Jelly Bean®,” a dwarf northern highbush cultivar that grows to one by two feet and is hardy in Zones 4 to 8, is named for the fruit that tastes sweet. However, it needs more than 1,000 chill hours.
‘Jam Bean’
From the Bushel and Berry™ series, ‘Jam Bean®’ (otherwise known as V. corymbosum ‘ZF06-179’) creates exceptional returns and elements all year foliage.
At Nature Hills Nursery, plants in one- or three-gallon pots are available.
Midnight Cascade: Do you remember that crazy idea for a hanging basket I talked about earlier?
Another northern highbush selection from the Bushel and BerryTM series, “Midnight Cascade,” also known as V. corymbosum “FC12-187,” is the ideal cultivar for it.
It only grows to one and a half to two feet wide and has a distinctive trailing and spilling habit.
The cultivar known as “Midnight Cascade” is hardy in Zones 5 to 9, requires 450 chill hours, and produces a lot of fruit.
Find yours in a one-gallon crate at Nature Slopes Nursery.
This hybrid of V. corymbosum and the wild lowbush V. angustifolium, Northsky, is extremely cold-hardy and will thrive in Zones 3 to 7.
“Northsky” requires more than 800 chill hours to grow two to four feet tall and wide.
The flavor of these berries is comparable to that of the wild variety, despite the fact that yields can be quite low.
At Nature Hills Nursery, “Northsky” is available in one-gallon containers.
Patriot is a popular choice for both in-ground and container plantings of another northern highbush variety. It has a width of three to five feet and a height of four to eight feet.
Additionally, “Patriot” requires 800 to 1,000 chill hours to be hardy in Zones 3 to 7. It will give you a lot of delicious berries.
Nature Hills Nursery has live plants as well as dormant bare roots in three- or six-gallon containers.
Peach Sorbet is a northern highbush cultivar from Bushel and BerryTM with pastel-colored leaves. It is hardy in Zones 5-10, requires 300 chill hours or less, and produces a lot of fruit.
Nature Hills Nursery has “Peach Sorbet®” available in one-gallon pots.
Another northern highbush variety from the Bushel and BerryTM series, “Pink Icing®” (also known as “ZF06-079”), is hardy in Zones 5-10 and requires 500 chill hours. It will grow three feet tall and four feet wide.
It has vibrant foliage with pink streaks in the spring for added ornamental value and produces a moderate yield.
You can find ‘Pink Icing®’ in one-gallon compartments accessible at Nature Slopes Nursery.
Sunshine Blue is a southern highbush cultivar that is hardy in Zones 5-10 and only requires 150 chill hours, which is the opposite of “Northsky.” It has moderate yields and grows three to four feet in width.
Also known as “Sunshine Blue,” “Sunshine Blue” enjoys the heat and sun of southern California, making it an excellent choice for areas with warm climates!
At Nature Hills Nursery, you can buy “Sunshine Blue” in one- or two-gallon pots.
Managing Disease and Pests Blueberry bushes are extremely resilient, and even when pests do appear, it typically takes between five and eight years for populations to reach a level where they can cause significant damage.
The pests that can harm your container blueberries are listed below.
Birds Admired for their love of berries, birds cause commercial growers to completely cover their patches in bird netting.
These feathered berry gobblers are adept at spotting ripe fruit and consuming it before you can.
It might be enough to keep the birds away from your valuable fruit if you put containers where they get a lot of traffic, like on a front porch.
Shiny silver tape that flutters in the breeze and is wrapped around plant stems can also help keep away birds.
In our guide, you can find out more about how to keep birds away from your blueberries.
Insects Check your container blueberries for the following insects:
Aphids Aphids’ honeydew exudates can feed sooty mold on fruit and leaves, cause leaves to curl and become deformed, and they can transmit viruses.
This product can be used up until harvest and is safe for humans, pets, pollinators, and beneficial insects.
Spotted Wing Drosophila, also known as SWD, is a serious problem for farmers who grow fruit. This tiny vinegar fly, also known as a fruit fly, lays its eggs inside fruit.
The larvae feed inside the fruit, causing it to become mushy, and oviposition leaves scars on the fruit’s surface. Additionally, this makes one more susceptible to fungal and bacterial infections.
Disease In container-grown shrubs, water is the primary cause of disease.
Phytophthora Root Decay
Overwatering and unfortunate seepage can bring about the water form (oomycete), Phytophthora cinnamomi getting the advantage in the roots.
It may take years for symptoms like reduced new growth, leaf yellowing or reddening, eventual leaf drop, reddening of the crown and root, and necrosis to become apparent.
A more inconspicuous yet prompt indication of root decay can be decreased life during hot periods.
Root rot symptoms may resemble iron deficiency, also known as chlorosis, which causes leaf yellowing. When the soil’s pH is too high, iron deficiency is common.
Do a soil test to see if root rot is the cause of the symptoms or if nutrient deficiencies could be a problem before treating or fertilizing.
Because it lives in the soil, Phytophthora cinnamomi only becomes a problem when the moisture in the soil is high enough for specialized spores to swim to the roots and infect them.
Make sure the potting medium drains well and that the container has drainage holes to avoid this problem.
Set pots on some bricks or risers instead of on hard, smooth surfaces that might make it hard for the water to drain. Avoid watering the soil when it is hot.
Best Purposes
What are the best purposes for compartment developed blueberries? Eating! I only need to say that, right? However, I won’t stop there.
It’s time for edible landscaping. When it comes to where to plant your blueberry bushes, growing them in containers opens up a world of possibilities.
They are easy to grow on a sunny balcony, patio, or porch, where you can just reach out the door or window for a tasty snack.
Besides the fact that they produce scrumptious treats, they are additionally exceptionally elaborate. These potted shrubs can add color and interest to your sitting area throughout the seasons.
They are a delight to look at thanks to their small, pretty blooms in the spring, luscious berries in the summer, and bright red foliage in the fall. Even through the winter, some cultivars will keep their leaves.
