Planting And Caring For Blueberries Correctly
You can plant seeds, but you should not forget that in this case it can take up to 4 years for them to bear fruit. It’s best to use an offshoot or buy a shrub.
If you want to plant blueberries properly , we recommend reading our article today.
Blueberries are not only delicious, they are also a wonderful gift from nature for our health.
The small berries have a strong antioxidant effect and provide important vitamins and minerals that are very important in the prevention or treatment of various diseases.
It can be used to prevent cancer or premature aging, for example. Regular consumption of blueberries also helps with high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and urinary tract infections.
Plant blueberries properly
Planting blueberries is very easy, all you need is a little patience. Obviously, if you buy a shrub, the process is significantly faster than if you use seeds.
1. Where can you plant blueberries correctly?
Blueberries need enough space, so you should choose the location carefully.
In nature, blueberries grow on moist bog meadows and in the undergrowth of moist forests, it is advisable to take this into account when choosing a location so that the plant receives sufficient water.
If you don’t have a garden, you can also plant the blueberries in a large flower pot or container.
If you’ve decided to start with the seeds, you’ll need to plant them in a seed bed first and move them as soon as the plants start growing.
- If you buy a young shrub, you will need a large flower pot or container (20 L), but you will have to move the blueberries later so that the plant has enough space. We recommend a pot with a capacity of 70 – 80 liters.
2. Plant blueberries correctly: prepare the soil
The subsoil should have an acidic pH value (4.5 to 5), so the soil usually has to be prepared so that the plant can grow well.
You can achieve acidic soil with the following materials:
- Cottonseed flour
- Compost made from pine needles
- Sawdust without additives
- Humus from composted leaves or tree bark
- Milled peat from the quarrying of moors
The earth material should contain as little lime and clay as possible.
3. Which variety?
Cultivated blueberries taste excellent and grow relatively large.
Almost all blueberries are self-pollinating, but it is still advisable to plant two different varieties side by side.
Self-pollination increases the yield and you can also choose varieties that ripen at different times in order to benefit from the berries for longer.
4. Proper care of the blueberries
Blueberries need a lot of sun and enough water, but they do not grow optimally in a too humid area. Watering is important, however, as blueberries need an evenly moist soil.
Water the plant regularly. If you’re growing them in a pot or bucket, don’t forget to make sure the water can drain properly. When waterlogged, the berries are susceptible to rot and disease.
It is best to use rainwater for watering, because blueberries do not tolerate lime.
You can also use stale tap water, because if the water has stood for a week, the lime will settle on the bottom.
Recipes with blueberries
As soon as your plant bears fruit, you can use it to prepare wonderful recipes: mixed drinks, desserts or cakes with blueberries taste great!
We’ll then explain how you can make delicious muffins with blueberries and lemon. These taste great for breakfast or in between.
ingredients
- 2 ½ cups of flour (300 g)
- 1 cup of white sugar (200 g)
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder (7 g)
- 1 teaspoon salt (5 g)
- ¼ cup natural yogurt (60 g)
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup (low-fat) milk (250 ml)
- ¼ cup melted butter (50 g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence (5 ml)
- 1 cup blueberries (180 g)
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest (10 g)
preparation
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
- You can already prepare the paper muffin cases on the baking sheet.
- Mix the sifted flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
- Prepare all the liquid ingredients in another bowl: yogurt, eggs, milk, melted butter, and vanilla essence.
- Then the dry and liquid ingredients are mixed together until a homogeneous dough is formed.
- Finally add the blueberries and lemon zest.
- Fill the molds three-quarters full so that the batter doesn’t overflow during baking.
- After 15 to 20 minutes of baking, you can do the stick test to see if the muffins are ready.
- After that you let it cool down, then you can enjoy it.