When do blueberries produce fruit

Prune young plants during the dormant season and immediately after harvest with older plants. If plants become too tall to harvest easily, selectively remove about one-third of the older canes in the winter. Generally up to seven canes are left each year after pruning mature rabbiteyes, with the oldest or largest cane removed each winter beginning in the fifth year. These selective cuts should be made to open up the center of the plant to improve light penetration and to allow new canes to develop to replace old canes.

Southern highbush blueberries require annual pruning to prevent overbearing and to maintain vigor. Prune during the dormant season; late winter is most desirable, especially in the mountains. If the flower buds were removed after planting, little pruning will be required the second year except to remove all flower buds and any weak, damaged or diseased growth.

After two growing seasons, leave some flower buds on vigorous shoots to produce a small crop in the third year. To prune bearing-age plants, remove low spreading branches and branches growing through the center of the bush, especially weak and older branches.

Cut back extremely vigorous 1-year-old shoots and remove most small slender branches. If earliness is important, remember that berries produced on small slender laterals will usually be the first to ripen, so this should be taken into account in determining the number of these shoots to remove.

Also, long-fruiting lateral shoots need to be tipped back so that no more than four to six flower buds remain. Highbush blueberry plants generally reach their peak production between 8 and 10 years of age.

To maintain bush vigor with the continued production of high-quality fruit, renewal pruning must be practiced. Begin the renewal process when the bushes are about 6 years old. First, remove any weak or diseased canes entirely. Among the remaining canes starting with the older ones, cut back about two per year either to strong lateral branches or to within 1 foot of the ground.

New strong lateral branches will usually develop below the cut. Through renewal pruning, a new upright framework can be developed over a four- to five-year period. Blueberries may be troubled by fungal leaf spots, fruit rots, root rot and gray mold.

The primary insect problems are cranberry fruitworm which ties berry clusters together with silk , Oberea stem borer the larva bores down the stem resulting in stem death , Japanese beetles, and yellownecked caterpillars. The latter two insect pests feed on blueberry foliage.

The yellownecked caterpillars Datana ministra feed in groups and can quickly strip all of the foliage from blueberry stems. Bird Protection: Birds also harvest blueberries, often the complete crop from a small planting. Plastic or cloth netting draped over the bushes or supported on a framework is the only practical control. Frequency: Southern highbush blueberries have the best quality when picked every five to seven days depending on temperature.

Rabbiteye flavor improves if berries are picked less often, about every 10 days, which allows for maximum flavor with few soft overripe fruit. Important stages in the development of fruit and vegetative growth in blueberries: A dormant stage after leaf drop showing one flower bud; B blooming stage that shows the cluster of flowers and vegetative shoot that developed from the top two buds of the dormant stage; C fruit set stage where pollinated flowers begin developing into small fruits; D fruit development stage that extends from fruit set to mature fruit.

Both flower and vegetative buds for the next season are often easily recognized on vegetative shoots at the time fruit ripens. This information is supplied with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement of brand names or registered trademarks by the Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service is implied, nor is any discrimination intended by the exclusion of products or manufacturers not named.

All recommendations are for South Carolina conditions and may not apply to other areas. Use pesticides only according to the directions on the label. All recommendations for pesticide use are for South Carolina only and were legal at the time of publication, but the status of registration and use patterns are subject to change by action of state and federal regulatory agencies.

Follow all directions, precautions and restrictions that are listed. Join our mailing list to receive the latest updates from HGIC. More Information » Close message window. Was this helpful? Yes No. Climate also plays a role in the amount of time it takes for these plants to produce berries. Blueberry bushes grow best in U.

Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 8. A blueberry bush is at least two or three years old before it is mature and established enough to bear fruit.

During the first one or two growing seasons, you should pull off any flowers that appear on the bush to encourage your blueberry plant to concentrate its growth on its foliage and root system.

After your blueberry bush has become established, the time of year it bears fruit will depend on the type planted. Blueberry bushes may require between and chilling hours in the winter. A chilling hour is an hour between 32 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit 0 to 7 degrees Celsius. If a blueberry bush does not get enough chilling hours, it will not break dormancy in the spring. This will lead to a complete lack of flowers and fruit that year. One other hazard to your blueberry harvest is a late spring frost.

A cold snap after a blueberry bush breaks dormancy in the spring can kill all of the flowers on the bush. If the bush flowers too early during a mild winter, a late spring frost can kill all of the flowers and destroy any chance of a blueberry harvest that year. Before purchasing blueberry bushes, make sure that your climate gets enough chilling hours in the winter to produce fruit, while also staying warm enough to keep the tree alive.

Avoid letting the soil get too dry for too long, especially if you have young blueberry bushes. Blueberry bushes are shallow rooted, so they need more water than most other fruits. If you have a problem with dry soil, check out my article on preventing dry soil.

On the other hand, over watering can spell death for your blueberry bush, due to root rot or fungal diseases. For more information, check out my article on over watering.

Before you plant a blueberry bush, add some compost to your soil. It will provide organic material and nutrients for your bush as it grows. The best part is that you can make compost yourself from ordinary yard and kitchen waste! For more information, check out my article on how to make your own compost. It may be necessary to use fertilizers as a supplement to compost, in order to provide extra nutrients if you soil is lacking.

The best way to tell if you need fertilizer is with a soil test. For more information, check out my article on soil testing. If you do decide to fertilize, do so in the early spring, when your blueberry bush breaks dormancy. The plants do not grow true from seed, so may not resemble the parent plant, but that makes it a fun experiment as you might just propagate a uniquely delicious variety. For best results, buy reliable seeds from a nursery.

However, you can extract them from blueberries with a little effort, and sow them indoors at any time of year. Unless you have acidic soil, you will need to grow blueberries in pots filled with ericaceous compost. They make a valuable addition to container vegetable garden ideas.

Blueberries tend to be compact bushes and grow very well in pots. You will need a pot with a diameter of at least 12 inches, which should accommodate the plant for at least a couple of years. Add broken crockery at the bottom of the container to enable drainage. Blueberries are fairly low-maintenance plants, but do require regular watering and occasional feeding — around once a month for container plants, and times a year for those grown in the ground.

Where possible use rainwater to water your blueberries, as tap water will raise the pH level of the soil. Blueberries require little pruning, but need an occasional trim after they are a couple of years old. Remove a quarter of the oldest growth of mature plants to rejuvenate the plant. Mulch blueberry plants in the spring using composted bracken, pine needles or leaf mould, or use ericaceous compost. Blueberries don't tend to struggle with pests or disease, but get rid of aphids and keep an eye out for powdery mildew.

You can harvest blueberries in mid to late summer, once the berries have turned from green to a deep blue-purple. The fruit should easily pull away when ripe with a gentle tug and twist. The best way to grow blueberries is to plant young shrubs in acidic soil in either the ground or containers.