The Latest Blueberry Cultivation Techniques and Methods Tutorial

Blueberry belongs to the genus Vaccinium in the family Ericaceae and is a berry-type shrub. The blueberry anthocyanins and other substances unique to its fruit have effects such as improving eyesight, resisting aging and preventing cancer, and it is hailed as the “functional health berry of the 21st century” and the “queen of fruits”, and has been listed by the International Food and Agriculture Organization as one of the five major health foods for mankind, and in recent years it has swept across Europe, America and Japan. Because blueberry has unique nutritional and health functions, the demand on the international market is extremely large, and the selling price is high, with products in short supply.

Variety Characteristics of Blueberry

Blueberry fruit is similar in size to a cherry, blue and bright blue in color, with a sweet-and-sour flavor and a special aroma, and an excellent taste. Blueberry seeds are extremely small and almost imperceptible in the mouth, and there are no inedible parts such as the fruit stalk and seed found in cherries, making it very convenient to eat.

The blueberry plant is classified as the collective name for plants of the genus Vaccinium in the family Ericaceae, and it is called blueberry because its fruit is blue, and it is mainly distributed in North America and Europe. The tree height is 1-2 m, it prefers acidic soil, and it is not tolerant of drought. At present, there are nearly 200 cultivated varieties worldwide worth promoting, and they can be divided according to different climatic characteristics into:

1. Lowbush blueberry and northern highbush blueberry, suitable for the colder regions of the north;

2. Southern highbush blueberry, suitable for the warm temperate regions of the south;

3. Rabbiteye blueberry, suitable for the southern regions, etc.

Among these, northern highbush blueberry is better than the other two types in both flavor and blueberry anthocyanin content, and has the largest demand on the international market.

Blueberry is a perennial deciduous or evergreen shrub, with blue, nearly round fruit, a single fruit weight of 0.5-2.5 grams, and extremely small seeds. The flesh is delicate, moderately sweet and sour, and aromatic. It can be eaten fresh, and can also be processed into jam, juice, fruit wine, etc. Blueberry cultivation first began in the United States, and almost all of China's original blueberry varieties are wild and not suitable for cultivation. More than 20 years ago, China began to introduce excellent foreign varieties, and to date more than 20 varieties have been introduced, but a large-scale production capacity has not yet been formed.

Orchard Site Construction for Blueberry Cultivation

1. Site Selection

Blueberry has a relatively wide cultivation range, and suitable varieties can be selected according to the local climate, but the northern regions that are dry with little snow and prone to frost damage are not suitable for development. The slope of the selected site should be small, not exceeding 10 degrees; the soil pH should be 4.0-5.5, with the most suitable range being 4.3-4.8; the soil organic matter content should be no less than 5%; the soil should be loose, well aerated, moist but not waterlogged.

2. Site Preparation

After the site is selected, in the year before planting, deep plowing should be carried out together with green manure incorporation, with a depth of 20-25 cm being appropriate, and the land should be leveled after deep plowing and maturation. Before planting, the soil that does not fully meet the requirements must also be improved to facilitate blueberry growth.

3. Planting

Blueberry can be planted in both spring and autumn, with autumn planting giving a higher survival rate, while spring planting should be early rather than late. For plant and row spacing, rabbiteye blueberry commonly uses 2 m × 2 m or 1.5 m × 3 m, highbush blueberry uses 1.2 m × 2 m, and lowbush blueberry uses 0.5-1 m × 1 m. Rabbiteye blueberry is self-unfruitful, so it is best to configure highbush blueberry as a pollinator variety. Highbush and lowbush blueberry have relatively high fruit set with self-pollination, but configuring pollinator trees can improve fruit quality and yield. The configuration ratio of the main variety to the pollinator variety is 1:1 or 1:2.