The Plants

The blueberry varieties that we grow are suited to our Texas weather. We grow two basic varieties; Southern highbush and Rabbiteye. Within each of those varieties are several different cultivars. This ensures that the plants cross pollinate and will produce a good yield.

Blueberry Nutrition

Nutrition Facts. Source: USDA

Amount Per 50 berries (68 g)100 grams1 cup (148 g)1 cup (148 g)

Calories 85

Total Fat 0.5 g

Saturated fat 0 g; Polyunsaturated fat 0.2 g; Monounsaturated fat 0.1 g

Cholesterol 0 mg

Sodium 1 mg

Potassium 114 mg

Total Carbohydrate 21 g

Dietary fiber 3.6 g

Sugar 15 g

Protein 1.1 g

Vitamin A 1% Vitamin C 24% Calcium0% Iron2% Vitamin D0%

Vitamin B-65% Magnesium 2%

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Health Benefits

From an article within the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information):

“Blueberries are flowering plants of the genus Vaccinium with dark-purple berries, whose anthocyanins are considered to be nature’s most potent antioxidants and have demonstrated properties that extend well beyond suppressing free radicals (Srivastava et al., 2007). Consumption of blueberries may alleviate the cognitive decline occurring in Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions of aging (Krikorian et al., 2010). Blueberries also help maintain healthy blood flow via several mechanisms including healthy low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation, normal platelet aggregation, and maintenance of endothelial function (Kalt et al., 2008; Shaughnessy et al., 2009).”

Growing Requirements:

If you would like to grow blueberries yourself, the first step is to test your soil where the plants are going to reside. A sample sent to Texas A&M (see: https://agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/solutions/soil-testing/) only cost a few dollars and can tell you a great deal about the soil conditions for your crop. You are looking for acidic soil, ideally in the 5.2 to 5.4 pH range. If you are slightly north of ideal, say around 6.0-6.2, it may be possible to amend your soil with peat moss and sulfur. However, if your soil is too far outside of this, your blueberry plants will not do well. If this is the case, an alternative is to grow plants in large pots and use rose or azalea soil. Also, the soil needs to be well drained. Sandy soil is ideal.

Water:

Blueberry plants need to be watered every day. A 2 or 3 year old plant will need between 0.5 and 1 gallon of water per day, and up to 5 gallons per day once mature. They can have less water in the fall and winter, but they will still need to be watered daily. This is because the roots of the blueberry plant rely on a symbiotic fungus that aids the plant to take up nutrients from the soil. Without the moist environment, the fungus would not survive, and without the fungus the plant itself would not survive.

Mulch:

The best mulch for blueberry plants is an aged pine bark mulch. This type of mulch gives both nutrition and yields acidity to the soil. Note that most of the mulch found at big box stores are either hard wood mulch, or so-called pine mulch that is actually recycled boards that have been shredded and not aged. These types of mulch may help with appearance and keeping the soil temperature regulated, but are not ideal. The other function of a good mulch is weed control.

Weed Control:

Blueberry plants are relatively poor competitors for soil nutrition. That is why weed control is imperative to growing healthy plants, especially the first 3 to 5 years. Mulch is your first line defense against weeds; however, this may not be enough. We have found that weeds can and do grow up into the mulch. A weed barrier placed between the ground and mulch layer is a waste of time and money. Many weeds grow on top the the weed barrier and into the mulch and may root through the plastic. When these weeds are pulled, the plastic is pulled up with it and eventually creates a mess. A commercial weed fabric placed OVER the mulch layer works much better.

Fertilizer:

Blueberry plants would prefer poor nutrition rather than too much nutrition. A teaspoon of fertilizer around the base of the plant every 3 weeks from April through August is usually adequate.

Pruning:

Blueberry plants need to be pruned annually. Your next seasons berries will mostly be on new growth limbs or shoots. Pruning allows most of the plants energy to be concentrated on new fruit production the following year. We typically prune around September. See Video.

Varieties:

There are several varieties of blueberry plants. Within each variety there are several cultivars. The varieties that grow well in the Texas climate are Southern Highbush and Rabbiteye. The Southern Highbush plants fruit somewhat earlier than the Rabbiteyes. The Rabbiteye variety is more tolerant of imperfect soil pH and moisture, and has better disease resistance than the Highbush. If you are going to choose the Rabbiteye variety, you will need at least 2 cultivars that overlap in the timing of fruit production in order for cross polination to occur. On our farm we have 4 cultivars of Rabbiteye and 3 cultivars of Highbush.

What to Do with Blueberries?

Recipes

Freeze

Dehydrate