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Wednesday, April 14, 2021

Invest In Your Health By Growing Blueberries!

Home Gardening: Rabbiteye Blueberries - Alabama Cooperative Extension System

Blueberries are one of the healthiest garden planting options. Not only are they highly nutritious, they rank #1 in antioxidant activity (neutralizing harmful metabolic by-products that can lead to cancer and age-related diseases), slow loss of mental capacity with age, reduce cholesterol build-up, prevent infections, improve eyesight, and provide numerous other health and even cosmetic benefits.

Growing this superfood successfully in Idaho does however require a fair amount of effort in planning, preparation, and maintenance

  • Select a site with full sun exposure to develop good fruit flavor and high yields. 

  • Cool, moist, well-drained sandy loam or silt loam soils with about 3% organic matter and an acidic pH between 4.5 and 5.2 are best. Since alkaline soils are common in southern Idaho, soil acidification with sulfur 1 to 2 years before planting may be necessary. A soil test will tell what you’ll need to do or not do – add limestone to increase the pH or elemental sulfur to decrease the pH and if you need to increase magnesium concentration with potassium magnesium or magnesium sulfate. 

  • Highbush varieties can grow 10 feet tall and 6 feet wide and should be spaced 4 to 5 feet apart. Select early, mid, and late season cultivars for optimal yields throughout the growing season. Yields for different cultivars vary from 2 to 20+ pounds per bush so determining how many bushes you’ll need is an important part of planning. On average, 1 pound of frozen blueberries yields 1 pint. I eat ½ pint/day 5 days/week – that math works out to 130 pounds annually for just my breakfast.

  • Blueberries are intolerant of standing water and drought conditions so irrigation needs to be installed and operational before planting. 

  • For the first two springs after planting, strip off all blossoms to establish healthy canes and increase long-term yields. Afterwards, yearly, moderate pruning in late winter or early spring will maintain health and productivity. Older, dead, or diseased wood should be removed. 

  • Organic mulch should be applied to control weeds with any that thrive under the mulch removed by hand or eradicated with glyphosate herbicide. 

  • Blueberries are heavy feeders and prefer ammonium sulfate (21% N) fertilization because it not only adds nitrogen but acidifies the soil. Alkaline irrigation water makes regular fertilization even more critical.

After the planning, preparation, and maintenance effort, it will take 2 to 3 years to get harvestable fruit and 6 to 8 years to reach maximum production, so patience is also required.


Once your bushes are established and productive, preserve your health and harvest off-season by individually quick freezing your blueberry bounty. This and other easy preservation techniques will keep you supplied with superfood all year long. Here's a great jam recipe to try.

No matter how you like to prepare or eat them, invest in your health by making the effort to grow blueberries.