Blueberries are a crop that tolerates pruning very well. Gardeners remove excess shoots even in summer. A bush growing on its own produces a lot of small berries, and as a result of formation and thinning, it produces the same number of kilograms of fruit, but they are large, which means they contain more juicy and tasty pulp.
- 2 When to prune blueberries
- 3 How to prune a seedling in a container
- 4 Pruning blueberries in the first 2 years after planting
4.1 Video: summer pruning of young blueberries
- 6.1 Video: rules for pruning fruiting blueberries
Do blueberries need pruning?
Removing old, diseased, broken, thickening shoots is a must for any fruit crop. Without pruning, blueberries run wild: they become overgrown with many weak branches, juices are spent on their growth, as a result, the berries grow small and tasteless. In addition, in thickened, wind-resistant plantings with a mass of dead wood, pathogenic fungi accumulate, which lead to rotting of leaves, shoots and roots.
Blueberries without pruning: a lot of dry, bare branches, signs of fungal disease are visible on the leaves
Features of preparation for winter by region
The Moscow region is recognized as an ideal area for cultivating blueberries in our country. But even there, winters can be quite harsh, so shelter should not be neglected. You need to wrap the bush in burlap and bend it to the soil, tying it with ropes. Instead of shelter, pine spruce branches are also suitable. Then the branches are first bent to the ground, and then covered with a large amount of spruce branches.
In Siberia and the Urals, special varieties of blueberries are grown, obtained specifically for these areas. Hybrid varieties of swamp blueberries are recognized as a good option: Canadian Nectar, Divnaya, Taiga Beauty. Their bushes stretch up to 80 cm and are characterized by good resistance to cold. All preparatory work for them is carried out in the usual manner, but they do not provide shelter for the winter. The large amount of snow that usually falls in these regions is quite enough for them.
The climate of the Volga region is not suitable for cultivating blueberries. Therefore, this crop is not grown here, but is content with imported berries.
How to prune a seedling in a container
Pruning in a container is necessary if the volume of the above-ground part clearly exceeds the volume of the clod of earth in the container, that is, the roots do not have time and do not have the opportunity to grow in proportion to the crown. If you bought such a bush, then before planting, remove all the short branched growths that come out of the ground.
The seedling at the bottom has grown bushy growths that need to be removed
Only powerful vertically directed shoots should remain. They need to be shortened by a third or even half. In this way you will achieve a balance between the aboveground and underground parts of the bush. After planting, the trimmed crown will take a minimum of juices, the root system will begin to actively develop and produce new strong branches.
Proper blueberry seedlings: 2 strong vertical shoots plus small growth without branching; the root and aerial part are developed proportionally
Rubric for gardeners “Questions and answers”
Question No. 1. Do you have to prune blueberries every year?
Preferably starting from the second year. Pruning at a young age forms the crown and promotes the formation of flower buds, that is, it affects the amount of harvest.
Question No. 2. Why prune blueberries in the fall?
This crop bears fruit on the shoots of the second year. When they have fulfilled their function, they are removed to improve the regrowth of young shoots.
Question No. 3. Do blueberries need to be covered for the winter?
If the selected varieties tolerate frost in a given area, then blueberries do not need shelter. Protection is necessary if low temperatures exceed the plants' resistance to their extreme conditions.
Question No. 4. Our bushes are already 10 years old. The harvest has decreased significantly. Is it possible to resume it?
It is necessary to carry out complete rejuvenation, cutting the bush completely to the ground. A new crown will grow over the summer, but the harvest will appear only in the third year.
Question No. 5. Do I need to trim blueberry roots when planting?
No, blueberry roots are very delicate, you just need to straighten them, freeing them from the compacted lump of soil.
Pruning blueberries in the first 2 years after planting
Before entering fruiting, blueberries are pruned in order to speed up the formation of a powerful bush. If you leave the seedlings unattended for 1–2 years, many short and branchy shoots will grow from the ground, and flower buds will form on the tops of the tall and strong ones. All juices will be used to form the first fruits. But a bush thickened with weak and short branches will produce a very modest harvest. In addition, it will not be able to resist diseases, frosts, and pests.
That is why in professional gardens, where berries are grown for sale, that is, large and beautiful, formative pruning is carried out from the first year of planting. To do this, remove all bushy growths and second-order branches so that up to knee height (30–40 cm above the ground) there is no branching, but only smooth vertical stems. And they also trim the tops of strong shoots to remove parts of the plant with flower buds.
There are two types of buds on the branches of fruit crops: small ones, from which leaves grow, and larger ones - flower or fruit ones, usually located at the tops of the shoots.
As a result of such pruning, fruiting in young seedlings is delayed and a strong bush is formed, consisting exclusively of powerful and productive stems.
Video: summer pruning of young blueberries
General care recommendations
Caring for blueberries in the fall is necessary for good growth of the bush.
This is impossible without proper watering. At the beginning of July, the bush is moistened abundantly, since this is when the formation of fruit buds for the next growing season occurs. With the onset of autumn, the intensity of watering is reduced. If the weather is rainy, then irrigation is stopped completely. Important! One of the main stages of autumn care is mulching.
This procedure promotes better moisture retention. Suitable materials for mulch are rotted sawdust, bark or spruce branches of coniferous plants. Blueberries are fed exclusively with mineral complexes, since they do not tolerate organic matter. In summer, fertilizers are applied twice. In the fall, it is enough to add potassium and superphosphate to the soil once. Mineral deficiency causes leaves to wilt and dry out.
In the fall, sanitary pruning of bushes is performed. To do this, remove broken, dried or diseased branches. Those parts of the plant that have been infected with parasites must also be pruned.
In areas with harsh, frosty winters, blueberries must be covered. To do this, the shoots are attached to ropes stretched between the supports. They are covered with spruce branches on top. If temperatures in the region do not fall below -25 degrees in winter, it is not necessary to close blueberries for the winter.
Phytosanitary pruning of blueberries
The event is held regularly throughout the season and with blueberries of any age. In the spring, the frozen tops are removed, in the summer - young, still green growths damaged by insects and hail. Pruning is carried out, capturing 1–2 cm of a healthy area. Any wound on a plant is a gateway to various diseases. Fungi grow inside soft and succulent tissues and cannot gain a foothold on smooth, undamaged branches. By pruning problem parts of the plant, you destroy pockets of infection and give the bush the strength to form new and healthy stems and branches.
Hail damage on a grape shoot: soft tissues are exposed, the leaf receives little nutrition, signs of disease are visible
Before and after pruning, disinfect your tools by wiping the blades with alcohol. Treat the entire plant with a fungicide, for example, Bordeaux mixture, Skor and others. During the fruiting period, you can spray with Fitosporin.
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Autumn feeding
Having removed all unnecessary shoots, the cut areas on the bush are treated with garden varnish or RunNet. This measure will protect the plant from penetration of insects into tissues and infection. After this, the blueberries are well watered and fertilized. In autumn, mineral complexes enriched with phosphorus and potassium are used. Nitrogen fertilizers are not used so as not to provoke the growth of the green part.
Blueberries begin to be fertilized at the age of two. For young specimens, less feeding is required than for overgrown, large plants. In July, urea or ammonium sulfate is added so that mineral complexes do not get on the leaves. It is convenient to dilute the granules in water in the amount of 40 g per bucket of water and pour this solution over the soil, retreating 15 cm per bush.
Important!
To improve the quality of the soil, in mid-August it is acidified with acetic acid. To do this, dilute 65 ml of the drug in 10 liters of water and water the area with this solution.
To increase disease resistance and reduce the likelihood of pest attacks, fertilizers with potassium and phosphorus are applied in the fall. This fertilizing makes the berries taste much better. For each adult plant, use 40 g of potassium and superphosphate.
Half a month before harvesting, the bushes are sprayed with Kristalon. This fertilizer is a mixture of useful minerals and does not contain chlorine. It is safe for all types of berries, vegetables and fruits. The drug in an amount of 20 g is dissolved in a bucket of water and sprayed on the bush during hours when there is no active sun. It enhances growth, increases pest resistance and improves crop quality.
Pruning an adult bush
3–4 years after planting, the following is removed from a formed and fruit-bearing bush:
- all horizontal branches up to the first strong shoot growing vertically upward;
- branches of the second order, growing down and deep into the crown;
- tops damaged by frost, diseases and pests;
- all bushy low shoots and branches of the second order on the main fruit-bearing stems below knee level.
To prevent vertical shoots from turning into horizontal ones under the weight of berries, tie them to stakes. This is especially true for tall varieties.
In addition to such thinning pruning, it is necessary to organize a fruit conveyor. To do this, old woody branches with cracked bark are cut out, and the same number of strong and young ones that grow from the root are left to replace them. A fruiting blueberry bush consists of 10–15 skeletal branches, and a neglected one that grows without pruning has 20 or more.
Video: rules for pruning fruiting blueberries
Shelter for the winter
Blueberries are a relatively frost-resistant crop. It is able to successfully overwinter if the air temperature in winter does not drop below -22 degrees. In other cases, the bushes are insulated to prepare blueberries for winter. In frosty but snowless weather, the survival rate of blueberries is significantly reduced. In this regard, in our country blueberries are always covered for the winter.
Insulation of shrubs in autumn is carried out in stages:
- Before the arrival of severe cold, the shoots are straightened and bent towards the ground. To prevent them from rising, they are secured with special restraining arches or tied with twine.
- When the first winter frosts hit, the blueberries are covered with agrofibre or regular burlap. You cannot use film for this. There is a high probability that the plant will rot and become infected with fungus.
- When snow falls, it is thrown over a covered bush. Such additional insulation will protect against the destructive effects of cold.
- With the arrival of spring, the covering is removed. Then they inspect the blueberries and cut off the ends of branches damaged by frost. Possible frosts do not pose a danger to blueberries. Its buds and flowers can withstand temperatures down to -8 degrees.
When should blueberries be pruned?
There are three situations when it is necessary to trim the entire bush to ground level:
- We need to save the drying bush. It was hot, you didn’t water the blueberries, they dried out. Cut off all shoots and provide constant moisture to the remaining root. Not immediately, but within 2–3 years a new bush will grow from it.
- The blueberries have been abandoned, gone wild, and have not been pruned for 5-6 years or more.
- After a long period of fruiting, many stems have formed, the berries are small and there are few of them. Experienced gardeners recommend cutting bushes “to zero” (rejuvenating) without waiting for a decline in yield, that is, after 2-3 years of abundant fruiting. In order not to be left completely without berries, grow several blueberry bushes and rejuvenate them one by one.
Follow the rules for pruning blueberries, and they will delight you with an excellent harvest.
Dates
When pruning, you need to take into account the climatic conditions of a particular area. In warm regions, pruning is done in early spring, in cold regions - closer to May. After wintering, young healthy branches rise easily, so it is not difficult to find old branches that need to be disposed of. Remove branches that remain on the ground.
Branches containing rot and damage should not only be cut off, but also burned. This is necessary to prevent the spread of infection.
In summer, pruning of blueberry bushes is done extremely rarely. This procedure is carried out in the summer only when you need to get rid of broken branches. Before winter, it is customary to prune rough branches that cannot be bent down.
What fertilizers are applied?
Blueberries are fed with minerals. You can determine which microelements the bush lacks by external signs:
- calcium - deformation and yellowing of foliage at the edges;
- phosphorus - leaf blades turn red;
- potassium - the tops of young shoots die off;
- bora - the leaves become bluish;
- sulfur - the bush turns white;
- iron - fresh foliage turns yellow between the veins.
Important! Nitrogen should not be added in the fall. Organic fertilizers are also contraindicated for blueberries.
