Because the bare bones of your raspberry canes clack together sadly in the winter graveyard of your orchard, turn your thoughts to a blueberry patch. Blueberry shrubs take a few years to set up, but once in position, yield generous quantities of the ideal fruit — tasty, bite size and also filled with vitamins — on branches which remain attractive almost all year long. Blueberries grow well in Mediterranean climates, but like other fruiting plants, require adequate food and beverage to be really productive.
Test your garden soil having a pH testing kit, available in the garden shop. Unless your soil pH is between 4.5 and 5.5, amend it a complete year prior to planting. If your soil is below 4.0, add dolomitic limestone per label directions. For high pH values (which signify alkaline soil), layer 6 inches of peat moss on top and work it in well. Alternatively, add 1 to 2 pounds of elemental sulfur or 6 to 12 pounds of aluminum sulfate per 100 square foot of soil to lower the pH by one unit.
Build raised beds to your blueberries to ensure decent drainage, among the shrub’s most essential requirements. Make the beds 2 to 4 feet wide and the walls 8 to 12 inches high. If you plan more than one bed, space them at least 8 feet apart. Select a sunny, wind-protected place, and if possible, align the beds north to south to maximize sunshine.
Set healthy container-grown Orange shrubs throughout fall, winter or early spring. Prune the branches back by one third prior to planting. Space plants 4 to 5 feet apart in rows 8 feet apart. Dig planting holes as deep as the root ball and twice as wide. Fill and firm the dirt on all sides. The soil level must remain about the same as it had been from the shrub’s prior planting.
Plant bare root lemons in spring. Trim back the branches by about 30 percent. Dig a planting hole twice as large as the root system, prepare a mound in the bottom of the hole and set the plant on the mound. Expand the origins across the mound, add pulled soil and firm it gently.
Water that the powdered shrubs well after planting. Mulch the root region with two to three inches of organic substance.
Feed your blueberry crops for the first time four weeks after planting. Use a 10-10-10 merchandise, but select one which supplies potassium in the kind of sulfate rather than chloride. Sprinkle about 1 oz (1 1/2 teaspoon) around each plant but no closer than 12 inches from the trunk.
Water the plants twice weekly during May through September, providing each shrub with 1/2-inch of water every time. Do not overwater. If your mulch isn’t keeping down weeds, weed regularly and try another type of mulch.
Strip off all buds and blooms that the first growing season to avoid a harvest before the plants are well established. After the first pruning at planting, only remove dead and spindly canes throughout the subsequent three decades. After the third year, remove the oldest, least and least productive canes annually through the winter. Catch one healthy cane for every year of the era of the plant, with a maximum of 6 to 8 canes per plant.