Secrets to Growing Blueberries | California Gardening Hacks

Blueberries can be tricky to farm in California. While they are native to the far North and happily grow in climates as low as Zone 0, they're heat sensitive and not always at home in Southern latitudes. Despite numerous breeding attempts to break through that, few blueberries seem to produce once you get as far South as L.A. 

However with some light shade and specialty garden bed construction, there is always a chance, scroll down for how-to...

Blueberries naturally grow in bogs all over parts of the deep Northeast continent. Floating on rafts of rotten logs or at the edges of seeps, blueberries are particular in that they like to have the toes of their roots wet, but not their root's crowns. 

Canada is known for its blueberry farms. When I lived there I once visited an old-growth blueberry farm that had bushes nearly 10 feet high and wide. It was set on a bench with high water table just off of a river where plants could reach their roots down to drink while their tops sat in sandy / loamy soils on top. 

Wild gardening with blueberries means we try to recreate their natural growing conditions as much as possible. Bogs have lots of rotting wood and high acidity. They're most commonly growing at the margins of forest made of maple spruce and pine. So how do we recreate that in a garden?  

Peat

Bogs are one of the planet's major carbon sinks. And the producers of one of the gardening industry's most mainstay growing media: peat. Peat moss forms in bogs over thousands of years and is a highly absorbent, soft squishy material. Blueberries love having a high content of peat moss in their planting soil. 

Pine Logs & Mulch

Pine logs are a particularly well-suited as a companion mulch to your blueberry plants. You can mix needles into the top few inches of dirt. Or take it to the next level and bury  half rotten pine logs underneath your blueberry planting holes. This works particularly well if your garden bed is at the edge of a naturally damp spot. 

How does buried wood help Blueberries? 

The rotting process helps build and retain moisture underground and aerate soil overtime. Even if the soil top dries out. Choosing cedar or pine also reallllly amps up acidity for the plants. Just don't over do it! Blueberries can't grow in a straight pile of logs without a good amount of healthy soil and spongy drainage media around them. 

Part Shade

Some shade (or a naturally low-lying spot where cool air collects) is important if you're growing blueberries in Southern California. Once you get into Santa Barbara county and North coastal regions do not require such shelter, but hot inland ones may. Commercial farmers typically use shade cloth. 

Fertilizer

Cottonseed fertilizer is a blueberry fav for upping fruit production. 

Companion Plants