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Can you grow blueberries from seed


Blueberry Bush Seed Propagation - How To Grow Blueberries From Seeds

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Blueberries

By: Amy Grant

Image by JosefHanus

Blueberries are heralded as a super food– extremely nutritious, but also high in flavanoids which have been shown to reduce the damaging effects of oxidation and inflammation, allowing the body to fight off disease. Most home growers purchase cuttings, but did you know that blueberry seed planting will result in a plant as well?

How to Grow Blueberries from Seeds

First, is a blueberry a seed? No, the seeds are inside the fruit, and it takes a little work to separate them from the pulp. You can use fruit from an existing bush or from those purchased at the grocers, but the results may be poor or non-existent. Blueberries do not self pollinate, which means they are rather unpredictable and their offspring do not duplicate the parent. It is better to purchase viable blueberry seeds for planting from a nursery, but if you would like to experiment, here is how to prepare blueberry seeds for planting.

To prepare blueberry seeds for planting, the fruit will need to be macerated. This can be done in a food processor, blender, or mashed in a bowl. Add a little water to the berries as you do this. Once the fruit is mashed, remove the floating pulp. Seeds will sink to the bottom. You may need to add water several times to remove the pulp completely.

Once you have gathered the blueberry bush seeds, they must be scarified. Place them in some damp paper towels and put them in the freezer for 90 days. Cold stratification will break the seeds’ rest period so they are ready for planting.

Blueberry Seed Planting

Once the 90 days have elapsed, the seeds can be used immediately or kept in the freezer until you are ready to plant them. Blueberry seed planting should commence in the fall in warm climates and in the spring in more northerly climes.

Plant the seed in dampened sphagnum peat moss in seed trays and cover them with ¼ inch (6 mm.) of soil. Keep the medium consistently moist. Be patient; blueberry seed planting may take six to eight weeks to germinate, some not for three months. The hybrid high bush seeds germinate more unreliably than their wild low bush relatives.

Keep the seeds in a warm, sunny area of 60 to 70 degrees F. (15-21 C.). If lacking in sunlight, suspend a fluorescent light about 14 inches (36 cm.) above the seedlings. The resulting seedling from the growing blueberry seeds will look like grass with a few tiny leaves atop. During the first year of blueberry seed planting, the seedlings may get no taller than 5 or 6 inches (13-15 cm.) in height.

Once the blueberry bush seed plants are big enough to transplant, move them into pots in a sunny, warm area and keep moist. The growing blueberry seed plants can be fertilized with a liquid fertilizer after two to three weeks in their pots. The resulting blueberry bush seed plants will bear fruit during year two when the plant is 1 to 2 feet (31-61 cm.) tall.

It may take several years when growing blueberries from seed before the plant will produce any significant amount of fruit. So, again, be patient, but once established, the plant will keep you supplied with this super food for decades to come.

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Growing Blueberries From Seed

Blueberries can be grown from seed very easily, but you do need to follow these instructions very closely. Best results are obtained if started inside in late winter or early spring, but they will germinate anytime of the year provided they are given ample light and warmth. Plant the seeds in a flat or tray of Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss, or the Premium Concentrated Seed Starting Mix we offer, either will work fine, but we do not recommend using anything else. Make sure the tray is at 3 inches deep for root development. Sprinkle the seed onto the top of the peat moss, and barely cover seeds with a very light ( 1/8-1/4 inch ) sprinkle of peat moss. The tray should be placed in an area that is warm, with bright light and the peat moss must be kept moist. If fungus develops on the surface of the moss, spray with any type of garden fungicide to control it.

Blueberry seeds are slow germinators, the first seeds will probably start to germinate in about a month, and finish germinating over the next 2-3 months. Leave the new seedlings in the peat moss until they are about 3 inches tall, then transplant into individual pots, being very careful not to damage the tiny root systems. Feed young plants with a weak solution of Miracle Gro Acid Plant Food, feed monthly and raise them in small pots until they are about 8 inches tall, then transplant into one gallon pots. Transplant 1-2 year old seedlings outside in the fall.

Plants will start producing berries when about 2 years old, but will not mature and offer maximum berry yield until they are about seven years old. In order for blueberry plants to produce berries the soil pH needs to be between 4.5 - 5.2. Soils not within the range of pH acceptability for blueberry plant growth must be prepared before planting. If the pH is too high, the growth of the plant is slowed and the foliage turns yellow. If the pH is too high for an extended period of time, the plants will die. When several plants are to be grown together, more satisfactory results will be obtained if an entire bed is prepared rather than digging holes for individual plants. With the lowest soil pH requirement of all berries, blueberries grow in the same acidic conditions that please other native shrubs such as rhododendron and azaleas. If the pH of the soil is between 5.5 and 7.0 and the texture is sandy to sandy loam, the following method can be used. Mix 4 to 6 inches of acid peat into the top 6 to 8 inches of soil. In addition to acidifying the soil, the peat increases the soil organic matter content. In addition to adding peat, you can also add pine needles or untreated pine wood shavings or bark to the soil. The pine needles and wood shaving are very acidic and will assist in lowering the pH level of the soil.

Soils with a pH greater than 7.0 will require higher rates of acidifying amendments and are not recommended for blueberries. If your soil pH is higher than 7.0 consider planting blueberries in a raised bed or a large container. Planting blueberry plants in a raised bed allows you to instantly achieve the correct soil pH by the amendments that you add.

Blueberries require adequate water, especially the first year that they are planted, to properly establish a good root system. During the growing season, blueberry plants typically require 1" of water per week

Seeds

FDR97 Highbush Blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum

A deciduous medium to large multi-stemmed sized shrub that can grow to 10 feet tall, but normally in the 7-9 feet range. The flowers bloom from May to June. The blooms are typically numerous and somewhat showy. The highbush blueberry fruits are small (1/3 inch), dark blue and covered with a white film. The berry ripens in mid to late summer. The fruits are sweet and delicious. For this tree the ideal soil is moist, high in organic matter and well-drained. It prefers an acidic soil (4.5 to 5.5). The blueberry tree likes to have mulch around the roots and full sun to partial shade. More sun translates into more into more blooms, more fruit and enhanced fall foliage color. Hardiness zones: 3-9 Pre-stratified seeds need to be planted immediately upon receipt.

  50mg Package ( about 100 ) seeds $5.95

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Blueberries from seeds at home: planting and growing berries

Contents:

Everyone knows that blueberries are good for health. Its berries contain a large amount of vitamins and minerals. The plant prefers to grow in coniferous forests. But many gardeners want to plant this plant in their area. In order for it to grow and develop, it is necessary to create the conditions familiar to it. It is very simple to grow blueberries in the backyard, the main thing is to know all the intricacies of planting and caring for the plant.

Despite the fact that blueberries require that a person constantly be in an inclined position when picking berries, everyone wants to eat berries. Blueberries are a plant that is not afraid of either frost or heat. It grows in most cases in the middle lane, but sometimes it happens to meet this plant beyond the Arctic Circle. Since she likes to coexist with coniferous trees, it follows from this that she loves fairly wet places with high acidity of the soil.

Thus, before growing blueberries from seeds at home, in order for the plant to feel good, develop and bear fruit, it needs to create an environment similar to natural. Despite the fact that a garden type of shrub will be grown, its growth conditions should not differ in any way from the growth conditions of a wild plant. When planting blueberries, you should not make the mistake of planting them in the shade of trees. This shrub loves lighting, so the area where it will grow should have partial shade and a small body of water nearby. These conditions can be created artificially, for which the shrub will thank with a generous harvest.

Bilberry in a pot

How to propagate blueberries

Bilberry is a shrub that produces long shoots and grows up to eighty meters high. The shrub belongs to the Heather family. The berries are black with a purple tint, inside of which there are many seeds. In order to plant blueberries in your area, you must, first of all, choose the right soil and place for planting. It should be taken into account that the soil should have high acidity. In addition, you need to grow a plant in places where there is a constant shade. These can be fences or shade from large trees with a dense spreading crown.

The shrub is propagated in three ways:

In order to plant blueberries using cuttings, they must first be prepared correctly. To do this, cuttings are cut at least six centimeters long. They are added dropwise in a greenhouse or box in order to form a root system. Only after that, young blanks of blueberry bushes are planted in open soil. This breeding method is only suitable for the summer period. In order to plant blueberries with cuttings, you need to choose only lignified shoots.

The cut of the handle must be straight. In order for moisture to evaporate less, the lower leaves are completely removed, and the upper ones are shortened. The lower edge of the cutting must be treated with a root formation stimulator.

A layer of peat or peat humus is poured into the box. The ball must be at least six to eight centimeters. River sand is poured on top, a layer of two to three centimeters. The cuttings are planted in the sand, but in such a way that they do not come into contact with peat. Otherwise, the peat layer can provoke rotting of the cuttings.

The box is covered with foil or glass. In the process of formation of the root system, it is necessary to monitor the condition of the soil. It must be constantly moist. For this, spraying is carried out periodically. In addition, young seedlings need airing.

Seedlings grown from cuttings do not need to be disturbed until spring. In winter, they are covered with spruce branches, and only after the snow melts and it becomes warm, can the strongest plants be transplanted to a permanent place.

Propagated by cuttings from shrubs

In autumn, blueberries can be propagated by dividing the bush. In this case, the mother bush is dug out of the ground and divided into several bushes. But at the same time, it is necessary to ensure that the kidneys are not damaged during division.

The most popular is still the seed method of reproduction. But at the same time, you can use the seeds from both fresh ripened blueberries and frozen ones. In addition, ready-made seed can be purchased at the seed shop.

When planting blueberries on your plot, you need to be able to determine where the wild blueberries are and where the garden blueberries are. Bushes of garden blueberries grow to a height of at least one and a half meters, while the berries do not have bitterness, although the aroma is weakly expressed, compared to wild ones.

Garden blueberries: propagating from seeds of mature berries

How to grow blueberries from seeds at home

In order to collect blueberries at home, you need to crush a few berries in a glass and pour plenty of water. Since the blueberry seed is still heavier than water, the seeds will sink to the bottom, while the peel and pulp will float to the surface. Water must be carefully drained. The procedure is carried out several times in a row, until the water becomes completely clear. The seeds are taken out of the glass, laid out on a napkin and dried. After that, it is necessary to fill pots, boxes or other containers with peat and sow the seed in a thin layer.

A few weeks after sowing, the first shoots will appear. Before the frosts, the seedlings must be taken to a warm room, in which it is necessary to maintain the air temperature in the range of five to ten degrees. In the spring, the seedlings are picked, and they are grown to a certain age throughout the year. Only after that they can be transferred to a permanent place.

Blueberries grown at home are very tasty

You can sow seeds directly in the garden, but in this case the bed must be covered with foil or glass. It is necessary to carefully monitor the state of soil moisture and moisten it as necessary. It is necessary to take into account the fact that seedlings grow and develop very slowly. Over the entire summer, they can grow by only one centimeter. But, nevertheless, the seedlings are planted in a permanent place for the growth of blueberry bushes in the fall. With the onset of the first frost, they need to be covered with spruce branches. Indeed, despite the fact that blueberries are not afraid of severe frosts, young seedlings are quite fragile and may not overwinter.

The seed method can also be grown in other ways. To do this, ripe berries are added dropwise in the chosen place, without collecting seeds from them. In the spring you need to wait for shoots. Planting blueberries in this way brings little effect. In addition, seedlings are not formed in the same way. In this case, blueberries can germinate for several years.

Planting material can also be obtained from frozen berries. Berries are frozen at home or bought in a store. You need to get seeds from the berries, treat them with a Zircon solution and a growth stimulator. Only after that you can sow the seeds in the prepared container.

The soil is prepared in such a way that it is the same as in the garden. To do this, take peat, add sand, tree bark, sawdust, fallen leaves to it. Since blueberries love acidic soil, one hundred grams of sulfur must be added to the mixture.

Note! When planting seedlings in open soil, oxidation must be done. To do this, the soil is watered with water with the addition of citric or oxalic acid. If these acids are not at hand, then you can use acetic or malic. At the same time, one hundred grams of acid is diluted per ten liters of water.

If you sow the seeds correctly and follow the step-by-step instructions, they will sprout in a month, but you will be able to enjoy the fruits only after three years.

Recommendations for growing blueberries

How to grow thuja from seeds at home

Before planting blueberries, you need to choose an area. In the place where water stands for a long time during rains, sowing is not recommended, as this indicates that groundwater is close to the surface.

Proper plant care is as follows:

  1. When buying planting material, you need to remember that blueberry sprouts should be in a pot, but not with an open root system. Before planting, it is dipped in water and only after that it is planted in the ground;
  2. Blueberry bushes should be placed one meter apart;
  3. After planting, the soil must be mulched and weeds removed from time to time;
  4. Blueberries should be watered at least twice a week, and at least two buckets of water should be poured under one bush;
  5. In the spring it is necessary to do pruning, during which all diseased and dry branches are removed, then the bush will look neat and well-groomed;
  6. Revitalize bushes once a year, do it in spring or autumn.

At the same time, mineral fertilizers must be applied under the blueberry bush every three or four years. To do this, you can use complex fertilizers that are used for heather plants. To scare away birds that like to feast on blueberries, you need to use a net or tinsel left after the celebration of the new year. Since garden blueberries are very demanding on growing conditions, they must be constantly looked after.

Bilberry is a very whimsical plant, but with proper care of it, the gardener will get an excellent harvest of tasty, and at the same time healthy berries. To do this, you need to make maximum efforts and patience.

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Ivan Fedorovich Khromtsov

How to grow blueberries from seeds at home

Author: Yuki | Comments: 0

Blueberries are a very healthy berry, which contains a large amount of vitamins and minerals. A shrub grows mainly in coniferous forests and shady places. In order for blueberries to take root in the beds, it needs to create comfortable conditions. It is not difficult to grow a berry at home, the main thing is to know how to properly plant and care for it.

Contents:

Blueberry propagation methods

Blueberries belong to the Heather family. It is a shrub with numerous shoots. In height, it can reach up to 80 cm. Blueberries have black-purple flesh, inside which there are a large number of seeds. When planting blueberries in a summer cottage, you should take into account the composition of the soil and choose a suitable place. Shrubs grow well in acidic soils. It is better to choose shady places for placement: along the fences, next to outbuildings or under the crowns of trees.

There are 3 ways to grow blueberries:

Propagation by cuttings is carried out as follows: in summer, cut cuttings 60 mm long. Then root in the greenhouse and after a while plant it in the garden. The division is carried out in the fall with the growth of the mother bush. It should be dug up and divided into partial bushes. This is a rather laborious procedure. It is important that about 5 intact buds remain on the divided bushes. The most common way to propagate blueberries is by seed. You can separate the seeds from both ripe and frozen berries.

Ready-made planting material can be purchased from specialist dealers. It is necessary to distinguish garden blueberries from wild ones. Garden blueberries are much higher than those berries that grow in the forest. The length in height can reach 1.5 m. The aroma of garden blueberries is weaker than wild. The garden berry does not taste bitter.

Garden blueberries: propagation from seeds of mature berries

To obtain seeds, berries should be mashed in a glass and a large amount of water should be added. After the seeds float, remove the skin with pulp and drain the water. This must be done several times to keep the water clean. Dry the resulting seeds: remove from the glass and put on napkins. Fill boxes, pots or other containers with peat. Seed material can be planted with a paper layer.

The first shoots will appear in a few weeks. Before the onset of cold weather, seedlings are transferred to a warm room, where the temperature should reach 5-10 degrees. In the spring, a pick is made and the plant is grown. Seedlings are planted in the allotted place the following year. You can grow blueberries in another way: in the allotted area, dig in the berries without separating the seeds. After that, they are waiting for spring shoots. This method of reproduction is unproductive, due to the heterogeneous formation of seedlings.

The germination process can take up to 3 years. It is easy to grow blueberries from frozen berry seeds. You can buy them at the store or make your own. Since the berries are stored in the freezer, they do not need to be stratified.

Separate seeds from frozen berries, leave to soak for a day in Zircon solution. You can use a similar growth stimulant. After that, sow in shkolku.

It is important that the soil environment is as close to natural as possible. For the substrate, you can use peat in combination with sand, bark, sawdust, fallen leaves. For acidification, 100 g of sulfur can be added to the peat mixture. Also, when planting, the soil is watered with not strongly acidified water. Add a teaspoon of citric or oxalic acid to 3 liters of water. You can use malic, acetic acid: 100 ml of food acid per 10 liters of water. With a competent approach and compliance with all growing conditions, the emergence of seedlings from stratified seeds can be seen in a month. After sowing the seeds, the first berries appear in the third season.

Blueberry growing advice

  1. Plants should be spaced one meter apart.
  2. If water constantly stagnates on the site, this indicates a high level of groundwater. It is not recommended to plant seeds in these places.
  3. It is undesirable to plant blueberries with an open root system. The bush must be in a pot. After the purchase, the seedling must be lowered for half an hour into the water, and then planted in the ground.
  4. Don't forget to mulch the soil and remove weeds.
  5. When planting bushes in open ground, water 2 times a week. For one bush you will need 2 buckets of water.
  6. Pruning is done in spring. If there are diseased, dried branches, they must be removed.
  7. Mineral fertilizers are applied in March or November.

It is also worth noting that blueberry bushes should be fed with mineral fertilizers every 3-4 years. You can use a complex fertilizer designed for heather. Birds often love to eat delicious ripe blueberries. To scare them away, you can use a net or New Year's tinsel. Homemade blueberries require constant attention, so after planting the seeds and the first shoots appear, it is important to properly care for them.

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