How to plant blueberries seeds

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.

This article was last updated on 04/21/21

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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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Reproduction of blueberries by seeds - a method of reproduction.

CategoriesGrowing blueberries By golubika.by

Propagation of blueberries by seeds is practiced for breeding purposes when developing new varieties.

When propagating blueberries with seeds at home, you will have to select the most promising ones from the grown seedlings and discard those unsuitable for cultivation, as breeders do.

This type of breeding will take you many years of work.

If you still decide to use this method, we have made a description for you.

Seeds for propagation should be removed from well-ripened berries.

To extract the seeds from the berries, you need to crush them with your hands, then rinse the resulting mass with water.

Collect only the seeds that remain at the bottom of the container.

The collected seeds should be slightly dried on filter paper.

Seeds can then be sown immediately or dried and stored in paper bags. In this state, the seeds will remain viable for 10 years or more.

Stratification

Dried seeds must be stratified before sowing — the technological process of preparing seeds for germination. To do this, the seeds are placed in moist sand or moss and kept for 3 months at a temperature of 3-5 °C.

Sowing seeds

Sowing is carried out with freshly harvested seeds at the end of summer ; stratified seeds - in spring.

Seed should be sown in pots, boxes or other containers filled with high-moor peat.

Seeds should be scattered over the surface of the substrate without burying them in the soil, and then sprinkled with sand in a layer of 2-3 mm, or covered with crushed moss in a layer up to 50 mm and be sure to water.

Then cover the container with glass and place in a warm, well-lit place.

Regularly water and aerate the substrate with seeds. If mold appears, treat the substrate with fungicides.

After 2-4 weeks, when shoots appear, the glass should be removed and the plants should continue to be watered.

When young seedlings have 3-5 true leaves, they should be transplanted into small containers or into a growing room.

Plants should be planted at a distance of 10 centimeters from each other.

Nursing takes place in the greenhouse for a year.

Seedling fertilizer.

During the growing of seedlings in a greenhouse or greenhouse, you need to regularly water and feed them with a solution of mineral fertilizers. To feed seedlings, take 1 tablespoon of Kemira-universal fertilizer and dilute them in 10 liters of water. The consumption of the solution is - 1 liter per 1 m2.

After fertilizing , the fertilizer solution must be washed off the leaves with water .

The number of plant feedings - 1 time in 2 weeks from April to mid-July .

In August, the shelter should be removed from the greenhouse, and at the end of October, the bed with seedlings should be mulched with peat with a layer of 5-7 centimeters and covered with 1-2 layers of spunbond. In this form, young plants will overwinter.

In the spring, the spunbond should be removed and the plants transplanted into a seedling school, where they should be grown for 1-2 years.

After one- and two-year-old blueberry seedlings are planted in a permanent place of growth.

In the 3rd-4th year you will get the first harvest of berries, which will allow you to evaluate your seedlings by the taste of the berries and their size.

For 6-7 years it will be possible to determine the productivity of the obtained seedlings and select the most suitable seedlings for planting in the garden for growing berries.

planting and growing at home

Content:

Features of blueberry

As the description of blueberry in the scientific literature makes clear, the plant belongs to the Heather family. The optimum environment for this plant is a marsh environment with a low pH.

The blueberry bush begins to bear fruit approximately 3-4 years after planting. The plant has many varieties that differ in height, size and taste of berries, flowering and fruiting period. The bush begins to grow as soon as the air temperature rises to 7 degrees Celsius. If the street is more than 18 degrees with a plus sign, during the period of active growth, it can increase by 1 mm in just one night.

The root system of the crop may be skeletal or overgrowing. The plant is resistant to frost, but very sensitive to fluctuations in soil moisture.

Growing blueberries at home

Note: Blueberries have a high content of useful trace elements (iron, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, sodium), vitamins (groups B, E, P, C, A) . That is why blueberries are often recommended for various diseases of the blood, digestive, urinary, vascular systems.

What blueberry planting material looks like

How to grow blueberries from seeds at home

Answering the question: what do all blueberry seeds look like, it is worth saying that outwardly they are very similar to buckwheat, however, they are very small in size. They have the same uneven, round or oval shape. The seeds are brown. Breeding of the plant can only take place if the seeds themselves are ripe. Therefore, they are taken out of overripe berries, the flesh of which is more like gruel. Planting material (seeds) is lightly washed and dried in a natural way.

Important! Their shelf life is 10 years. For long-term storage, blueberry seeds are placed in paper bags.

Propagation methods

How to grow thuja from seeds at home

Blueberry seeds can be planted immediately after harvest and proper preparation, in August. You can also use stratification technology. This is a simple procedure aimed at the most successful preparation of seeds for planting. Planting material should be placed in a container filled with wet sand or moss. So the seeds are aged for 3 months at a temperature of 3-5 degrees Celsius. Stratified seeds can be planted in the spring.

Outdoors

As soon as the snow melts outside and the ground is ready for the birth of new plants, blueberry seeds can be sown. If such a gardener collected in August-September last year, then they can be stored in the refrigerator at a temperature of 0 to +5 ℃. They are planted immediately in a permanent place, to a depth of about 1-1.5 cm. You can count on the appearance of sprouts as early as May-June.

First blueberry sprouts

Important! Blueberry seeds should be sown according to the needs of the variety. A mandatory process is the mulching of the earth with a mixture of peat or leaves, sawdust.

Greenhouse

Home grown blueberries grow fast from seeds. For the plant, you need to prepare suitable containers filled with earth. Seeds can simply be spread out on the surface of the earth, and covered with a thin layer of sand (up to 2 mm) or sawdust (4 mm) on top. After planting, the ground must be watered, and then covered with plastic wrap to ensure the greenhouse effect. Another option is to cover with glass and put in a sunny place.

Seedlings should appear in about 2-4 weeks. Noticing them, the film must be removed immediately. From time to time, seedlings need to be aired and watered. It is allowed to transplant a plant when at least 5-6 leaves appear on it. A plant can be planted for a permanent place of "residence" 2 years after sowing.

For which varieties is this reproduction

Growing raspberries from seeds at home

You can grow a blueberry bush with the help of seeds of the following varieties:

Blueberry Canadian Nectar – fairly tall bush (1.8-2 m), with large blue round berries that usually ripen in late August; Canadian blueberries can grow up to 2 m in height;
Airlie Blue - sprawling bush up to 1.6-1.7 m high; characterized by rapid growth, large light blue berries, up to 18 mm in diameter, which ripen in early June;
Blue placer - a variety created by collecting bushes of local populations, it has good frost resistance; gives berries with a mass of 0.6 g and a sweet-sour taste;
Patriot is a tall bush, withstands up to 30 degrees of frost and gives humanity its harvest in the second half of June;
Forest Treasure - tall variety (up to 2. 2 m), has long-term fruiting;
Elizabeth - suitable for the eastern parts, as it can withstand severe frosts; berries ripen at the end of summer;
Blue Crop is a tall shrub that reaches 2 meters in height, has medium sized berries and can withstand frost well.
Blueberries in a pot

Soil preparation

Those who are thinking about how to grow blueberries from seeds at home should first of all take care of the right choice of soil. If the area is swampy, then the blueberry roots will quickly take root. The best option for blueberries, which will help them grow quickly, is a mixture of sand and peat.

At the bottom of the pit, where the seedlings will eventually fit, sprigs of conifers or wood chips fall asleep. Then spread a layer of peat with sawdust.

For mulching (filling the top layer) are perfect:

humus;
rotted sawdust;
needles.

Important! It is forbidden to sprinkle blueberries with ashes, because such material lowers the acidity, so the plant will not give the desired yield and will grow very slowly.

Germination

To make planting blueberries easier and germinate faster, some growers offer seed germination. To do this, the seeds of the plant are placed on a clean, damp cloth and kept there until they germinate.

After planting the plant, the container with it (greenhouse) is placed on the windowsill. Shoots from seeds at home appear after 1 month.

Agrotechnics

Important! The best result can be expected if blueberries are planted in accordance with the basic agrotechnical conditions. Like all blueberries, blueberries do best in acidic, moist soil.

The optimal size of the planting hole for a permanent place is 60 by 60 cm. The distance between the rows cannot be less than 2 m. roots and place the plant vertically in the hole.

Planting blueberries

It is allowed to cover the hole with soil brought from the forest or marshland. If necessary, you can slightly acidify the soil. For this purpose, vinegar dissolved with water (1 cup per 10 liters of water) or citric acid (3 tsp per 10 liters of water) is added to the pit.

The berries will be big if the bush is in a sunny place.

Care

Unlike forest blueberries, garden blueberries require proper care. A seedling never goes without watering. You also need to “water” the plant in case of dry weather, as well as during the period when berries appear.

Mulching should take place every spring. A layer of sawdust is best suited for this purpose. You can fertilize the plant with nitrogenous top dressings, however, not with organic fertilizers. Cultivation of the land around the bush is mandatory during the first 3-4 years of blueberry life.

Please note! Plant care will be incomplete if it is not systematically pruned. For a successful harvest, you need to do such work in the fall, when all the leaves from the bush have already fallen off. Old shoots are best removed when the plant is 6-7 years old.

Growing seedlings

Planting ordinary seedlings can take place almost throughout the growing season.