Growing Blueberries

Who doesn’t love delicious blueberries?! With a little knowledge they are wonderfully easy to grow.

Blueberries make fantastic additions to the family garden as they fruit rapidly and can be picked and eaten fresh from the bush.

Step 1 - choose the right variety for your climate. In subtropical regions low-chill varieties do best and the nicest of these include: Misty, Biloxi, Sunshine Blue and Gulf Coast.

Step 2 - choose whether you are going to plant into the ground or into a pot. Blueberries are fantastically pot-friendly and can produce an abundance of fruit whether in a pot or in the ground. If choosing a pot, ensure that it has good drainage.

Step 3 - plant into a mix with a PH of 4.5-5.5. To keep things simple we suggest using Azalea and Camellia potting mix as it has the same PH requirements as blueberries. Fill your pot with potting mix or, if planting into the ground, mix the soil you are planting into with the potting mix.

Step 4 - carefully place your blueberry bushes into a prepared hole and tamp down gently around them. Water thoroughly.

Step 5 - keep up with regular watering or ensure they are included in your home irrigation system. Blueberries produce larger fruit and more abundant harvest with consistent watering.

Top Tips and things to know

Growing two different varieties of these blueberry varieties will increase your harvest as cross-pollination will create more opportunity for fruit set.

Blueberry plants can be deciduous, semi-deciduous and sometimes evergreen. This all depends on the specific variety plus also weather, sunlight and care.