The cultivated blueberries specially bred for the garden also place special demands on the soil of the respective location. Growing in pots can therefore be a good choice in some gardens.

Sweet fruits on sour soil

Cultivated blueberries as an actual North American variant of the wild blueberries that can be collected in the forest in this country are a little less aromatic, but significantly larger and juicier than their native relatives. In nature, blueberries grow primarily in the clearings of loose bog forests, as they thrive best in acidic soil with a pH of 4.0 to 5.0. The blueberry varieties offered by specialist retailers for cultivation in the garden also require a rather acidic and largely lime-free soil. This can sometimes be achieved on soils that are not too loamy by acidifying with the following materials:

  • bark mulch
  • Mulch (€239.00) made from spruce and fir needles
  • Conifer and lawn cuttings

The pot as the simpler variant

In most home gardens, you will have to replace a large part of the soil at the planned location for the cultivation of blueberries. Since blueberries tend to have shallow roots, the cuboid that is dug out does not have to be very deep, but it does have to be relatively wide. In order to prevent lime from penetrating from the side with the irrigation water, it is usually necessary to add a larger amount of rhododendron or azalea soil and peat. Cultivating blueberries in pots avoids this problem, as only the pot itself has to be filled with a lime-free and acidic soil substrate.

Caring for the blueberries in the pot properly

In principle, cultivated blueberries tolerate a sunnier location than native wild blueberries in the forest. However, when cultivating in a pot, you have to pay much more attention to an adequate water supply, since the substrate in the pot dries out much faster due to wind and sun than a garden bed. The bushes need a lot of water, especially during the blueberry harvest season in July and August, in order to be able to develop juicy and fully ripe fruits on the branches. Blueberries in tubs should be checked and watered particularly regularly during dry periods.

tips and tricks

Peat from the mining of moors no longer correspond to the concept of environmentally friendly garden design. However, composting companies often also offer soil substrates acidified by mulched bark components for sale.

Category:

Vegetable garden