In recent years, cultivated blueberries for the garden have become a popular substitute for the rather arduous task of collecting wild blueberries in the forest during the summer.

Plants with special needs

Basically, the cultivated blueberries offered for the garden in specialist shops are only very distantly related to their native counterparts in the moor forests. This is noticeable not only in the height of the bushes, but also in the fruits. These are larger and juicier in cultivated blueberries, but have white flesh and do not stain fingers and tongues blue. What both plant families have in common, however, is that they need rather acidic and lime-free soil at their location to thrive.

Create the necessary conditions in the garden

Peaty and acidic soil is not present in most gardens. Before planting the blueberries, the right soil must first be created. This is usually easier to do with a culture in a pot, where only the planter has to be filled with rhododendron or azalea soil or peat. When growing in rows, cultivated blueberries can either be sunk into the ground together with the pots, or they can be planted in an exchanged substrate. When replacing the soil, however, care must be taken that blueberries root more widely than deeply.

Acidic soil for sweet fruits

The commercially available peat should not be fertilized too much for the cultivation of blueberries, but it should be mixed with a little sand. If you do not want to use milled peat from bog mining for ecological reasons, you will have to use other tools to make the soil acidic. In addition to a loose soil material with as little clay and lime content as possible, you need the following materials:

  • Compost from spruce needles
  • Sawdust without artificial additives
  • Humus made from composted leaves and tree bark

By incorporating these substances, you can slightly acidify a normal garden soil. With an appropriate set for soil samples from the trade, you can determine the exact pH value and, if necessary, take further measures.

tips and tricks

When planting cultivated blueberries on a rather calcareous plot, a slightly raised wall should be created for the plants with the acidified soil. In this way, lime from surrounding areas cannot reach the roots of the blueberries with the rainwater.

Category:

Vegetable garden