How To Grow Blueberries In Missouri

Blueberry Council of Missouri Newsletter

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Confession of a neophyte grower

By Howard Thompson
Apr 2011

PLANTING

And then I heard you wanted to grow blueberries. Anyone can go to the local box habitation comeback store, buy a plant, dig a whole, spotter the constitute die past the end of its first flavor and then come to conclusion that information technology is non possible to grow blueberries. Well, the determination was wrong because blueberries are not snap dragons or even close to blackberries. Blueberries usually need at least a yr of soil training before even thinking well-nigh planting. From a soil signal of view, blueberries are closer to azaleas and rhododendrons which are the other members of the Ericaceae family along with cranberries. Due to the shallow root system, they need very regular water during that first year which tin can exist decreased past fall planting to allow the roots to get a caput start.

Blueberries require a soil pH of iv.5 to five.0 and an organic matter content of more than then 3%. To give you some prospective about pH which is a logarithmic scale that measure the hydrogen ion concentration (acidity) run across table 1 and ii. Translating that data about pH to agriculture, the Ministry of Agronomics and Rural Development in Albert states the optimal pH for virtually constitute is between half dozen.5 and 7.0. This means for most soils, the pH is not optimal to grow blueberries. (Tabular array ii and Fig 1)

Particular	pH
Bombardment acid	0.3
Lime juice	2.25
Cider vingner	3.1
Beloved	four.0
Orange Juice	4
Boric acid	5.0
H2o & soybean milk	7.0
Tea	7.2
Blood	vii.iv
Baking soda	8.4
Milk of magnesia	x.two
Bleach	12

Denomination	pH range
Ultra acrid	<3.v
Extremely acid	3.5 - iv.four
Very strongly acid	four.v - 5.0
Strongly acid	five.i - 5.5
Moderately acid	5.vi -6.0
Slightly acrid	6.1 -6.v
Neutral	half-dozen.6 - 7.three
Slightly element of group i	7.4 - vii.8
Moderately element of group i	7.9 - 8.4
Strongly element of group i	viii.5 -9.0
Strongly alkaline	>9.0

If the pH is above 5.1, soil acidifying with elemental sulfur will be required (450 to 900 lb sulfur per acre) to lower the pH one unit to a goal of 4.v to 5.0. Higher rates will be needed in heavier loam soils high in organic matter and lower rates on low-cal sandy soils low in organic content. According to Michigan State, it is usually not economically practical to acidify organic soils with a pH higher than five.v or 6.0. In Missouri where most of the pH are above the desired range, given a LOT of patience information technology is possible to titrate the soil pH. From a applied point of view I accept washed so afterwards making the major mistake of adding mushroom compost(highly limed) to the soil.

Fig. ane Soil pH beyond the Midwest

If you lot are simply putting three-5 plants in the ground with the plant normally spaced every 3-4 anxiety, working in a 3.8cu.ft of peat moss which has been well hydrated into the soil should get yous a practiced start. If you are planning a larger plot you need to detect yourself a sawmill since you accept to work into the soil two-3 inches of decomposable sawdust (the older the meliorate) a year before planting. After the soil has sat for half dozen month to a year you demand to bank check the soil pH, preferable 6-12inch down and then accommodate as higher up with sulfur.

If you take a problem finding a saw manufacturing plant, several years of light-green manuring will increase the organic affair and loosen the soil. The green manure procedure can start early in the spring every bit shortly as you lot can get a turn and tiller into the field. The first crop in is buckwheat. It is a warm season crop. It volition reseed itself 2-3 times that spring and summer. It is drought tolerant and has a very deep root organisation which volition aid to break up the soil. Come up late August/ early on September, the stand up of buckwheat needs to be mowed and turned under. About 2 weeks later afterwards the buckwheat has started to dry, it needs to exist tilled for the planting of hairy vetch with or without rapeseed and with or without annual rhy grass. The concluding 2 plants will give a nice fall and winter cover crop. They will have spent their energy by 1 May the adjacent jump. At that fourth dimension they need to be mowed, plowed nether and tilled for the next planting which is Sogham/sudan. This plant volition get half dozen-8 feet high if not cut around the 4th of July when it is 3-4 high. Beside the large amount of organic matter that will go into the soil, the shear acme of the constitute shade shade out the nasty Bermuda grass. The Sorghum/Sudan is turned nether in August in preparation for buckwheat and hair vetch. The annual cycle of Sorgham/sudan with buckwheat and pilus vetch needs to be done for 2-3 years to convert dead pan packed pasture into workable soil. Once you have command of the bad grasses and the organic matter is where it should be, the soil needs to rest and level out but is still needs a productive cover crop of white clover and possibly annual grasses. During this long drawn out process, it would be beneficial to go a soil sample so if the pH is higher the five.v, yous can showtime to walk information technology down slowly.

Fig. 2 Terminal prepped row with 6x6x9 plant container in rut

Fig. iii Final prepped row with institute location marked

Blueberries crave regular watering just practise not like having fifty-fifty their toes moisture to say anything well-nigh their feet and ankles wet. This means ii things; 1) y'all accept to program for irrigation and two) they should not be planted on flat ground but on berms or raised bed. I have gotten very practiced at plowing downward i side of the row turning the soil toward the middle of the row and them coming dorsum on the other side of the row again turning the soil to the eye which created a rough berm. In one case this rough berm has stale, I heart my tractor with a tiller in the row so the tractor wheels balance in the bottom of the oestrus left from the plow. This results in a nice berm, if you have non high-centered the tractor. I take carried this process to the extreme. For the finally tilling I accept added restrictor plates to the tiller so the outfeed from a five foot tiller is narrowed downward to two-three feet. The finish product is a berm that is half dozen-eight� at least above the original footing level and if you mensurate from the bottom of the turn oestrus it is 12-18�. (Fig 2&3)

This berm creation procedure can be done from dead pan pasture but information technology will still accept 1-two years of repeated tilling, plowing and some green manure(hair vetch and buckwheat) to interruption up the soil and till downward the bad grasses. This leaves a grass ally between the rows. Since yous are concentrating on just the 5 pes section where the plants will somewhen go, information technology decreases the corporeality of sulfur that may be needed if you lot tin can locate a side discharge fertilizer spreader.

Soil training is by far the almost import step in planting blueberries. In one case the institute is in the ground, it is very difficult to adjust the soil. A step as equally as important is irrigation. In good parts of Missouri the rains stop on the quaternary of July and don�t come back until after Labor Twenty-four hours. This means you Accept to find a means of supplying water to the found later harvest. This is when the institute is putting on new growth for the following year. The rule of thumb is an inch of h2o a week and more than when it gets to 100F. The adequacy of the irrigation can be actually measured with a tensiometer or you can pick upward the soil Beneath the mulch. If you can make a mudball that barely holds together, information technology is about time to water. If you desire to become into the specifics of well chapters and organisation blueprint, I have to refer yous to the hydrologist with the county extensions or with some the irrigation supply companies.

When I started looking into irrigation, now almost 10 years ago, I talked with an irrigation supplier out of Michigan in the eye of the blueberry fields. He told me that the growers at that place use a Unmarried drip irrigation line with 0.5gph emitters every 2 anxiety with the plants placed every 3 -3.5 anxiety. So my exam rows and first planting was washed with a single line. I was not happy about the soil wet even if I ran the arrangement for 36 hours. I only ended up with puddle in the ruts and dry out spots between emitters. About this fourth dimension I tried to grow watermelon (trounced by the deer). I created the berm for the watermelons and use the same irrigation tubing that I was using for the blueberries because that is what I had. This solidified my opinion that 2 pes spacing was non correct in my climate. This time I had blank soil (not mulch covered soil) and then it was easier to run across the drip line and the big dry spaces between the emitters even 6-8 inches downwardly.

My next set of plants was ordered from Autumn Creek Plant nursery. In their catalog there are pictures of a field being prepped for blueberries. The two things that caught my eye was a trellis and TWO baste line system per row. However beingness penny-wise and pound foolish, I planted the second and tertiary fix of plants with a Single line while I investigated (a little slow on the uptake). With my experience with the watermelons and my discussions with the Fall Creek staff, I am convinced that we should be using DOUBLE line systems primarily due to how the blueberry plants roots grow. The roots are in the offset six-8 inches of soil so running the irrigation longer only drives the water deeper not wider (recollect of cone), thereby leaving a dry spot between emitters in the root zone.

In a 2 line system, each line still has a 0.5gph emitter spaced 2 feet apart. When the lines are laid down, the emitters are off set and so the actual linear spacing is ane human foot. These lines are place on either side of the constitute so as the found grows and its root zone spreads the lines move laterally with the plants growth, at to the lowest degree in theory. (Fig four &five)

Fig. 4 wetting pattern: unmarried drip line

Fig. 5 wetting pattern: double drip line

At present that years of prep work has been completed, the soil pH has exist adapted to 4.five to 5.0, and yous have made the determination on the cultivars to be planted, information technology is actually time to get downwardly to planting. Blueberries can be planted 2-6 feet autonomously in the row. The 2 foot spacing will outcome in a hedge which is very productive but keep people under control. Using a half dozen foot spacing will allow to picking completely around the establish. To go the near bang for you cadet in an acre the optimal spacing is 3-three.five feet within the row. (Fig 3) For years the recommendation for between row spacing was ten anxiety but near of us cannot get the tractor down that row to care for the ally betwixt the plants and now days to spray the plants. For my tractor which is 5 feet wide, I take found xi foot between row spacing works the best. 3x xi pes spacing translates to approximate 1300 plants per A.

As noted in Fig 2 and 3, the irrigation lines are in place every bit shortly every bit the berms are created. Since when it comes to the subcontract, it is a me, myself and I operation. I as the supervisor have figure out that myself tin can go about 600 plants in the ground while me misses but ane week of a paying job. This means trying to assembly line the planting. As noted in Fig 3, all the institute location take been marked. Beside beingness 3 feet and optimal institute spacing, it come up out optimal for earthworks holes. There is simply plenty space between the holes for the dirt that came out of the hole without filling in the adjacent hole. As noted in Fig 6, the hole is at least twice the diameter of the plant container but only virtually the same depth as the container is tall. This hole is filled with sopping Moisture peat moss. Even though I spend better than half of my planting time re hydrating peat moss I know that dry peat moss will act every bit a sponge and suck the water and life out of the baby plants. Usually i big scoop using the coal shovel will do or 3 scoops with the digging shovel. This means one 3.8 cu ft of peat moss which fills my forepart end loader and will be enough for 9 to 11 plants. (Fig vii) This peat moss in mixed with the clay that came out of the hole and hole big enough for the institute is created. The vegetative part of the establish is pruned to balance the plant (fig 8&9) the root ball is stretched and spreaded to create a hollow at the base of the ball. The plant is placed into the hole so the peat moss and soil mixture fill that hollow and the crown of the plants volition be 1-2� proud. By leaving the crown of the constitute sticking above the adjacent soil, this will minimize the hazard of their roots from beingness affected by fungi. (Fig 4 &10 ) This surface area of the institute is nicely covered by four-vi� of mulch. (Fig 10)

Fig. 6 minimum size whole

Fig. seven Found container, spade, dry out peat moss, �coal shovel� sitting in reconstituted (wet) peat moss

Fig. 8 pre-pruned

Fig. 9 Post pruned

Fig. x final planting: before and after mulching to a depth of 6� ( the stick is three�)

REFERENCES
http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex6607
http://www.canr.msu.edu/vanburen/e-2066.htm
http://www.orientaldetox.com/ph-of-foods.html
http://www.bioworldusa.com/household/ph-calibration-comparisons
The Natural Resources Conservation Service, formerly Soil Conservation Service classifies soil pH ranges.

Source: http://agebb.missouri.edu/hort/blueberry/newsletter/archives/2011/apr.htm

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