Propagating Blueberries: Successful Professional Tips
Blueberries from a self-propagated bush taste even better. We show how you can successfully propagate your blueberry bush yourself.
Blueberries can be found in many gardens, no wonder because they not only taste good but also produce a decent harvest with the right care. If you would like to harvest even more sweet, blue blueberries (Vaccinium ) from your own garden, you can easily propagate the berry bush yourself. We’ll show you how best to multiply.
The most popular methods for blueberries are propagation using sinkers and cuttings. You will soon have turned a blueberry bush into many blueberry bushes and you can enjoy a rich harvest. We introduce you to how you proceed with the propagation and what else you have to consider.
Propagate blueberries by lowering
The propagation via subsidence can take place during the growing season. For this purpose, longer, young shoots are pressed down near the ground and covered with soil. The tip of the shoot should protrude from the ground. So that the shoot does not bend back up, you should also anchor it with a hook or simply weigh it down with a stone. When the blueberry’s sinker has developed enough roots after a few months, you can separate it from the mother plant and transplant it.
This is how you proceed with the propagation via subsidence:
1.) Bend young shoots down
2.) Cover the middle part with earth
3.) Weight down with a stone or anchor with a hook
4.) After the roots have formed, separate and transplant
Propagate blueberries with cuttings
Propagation by leafy shoots is a very simple and popular method for blueberries. In August, cut vigorous annual shoots into pieces about 10 cm long and remove the lower leaves so that only the top two or three leaves remain. Then the cuttings are placed deep in a pot with a loose, acidic substrate and poured abundantly. It is best to place the pots in a bright, warm place. In the first few weeks after plugging, the pots can be covered with cling film to prevent the substrate from drying out.
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Now you have to be patient because it can easily take two to three months for the first roots to show up. As soon as the plucking test (pulling gently on the cutting) shows that there are new roots, you can remove the foil. When the cuttings have formed enough roots, they can be transferred to a larger planter, in which they are usually wintered cold (down to -5 ° C). In spring, the plants then begin to sprout and can be planted outdoors from June.
This is how you proceed with propagation via cuttings:
1.) Cut off annual shoots
2.) Divide into pieces about 10 cm long
3.) Remove the lower leaves
4.) Put the cutting into the acidic substrate
5.) Water abundantly and cover with foil for a few weeks
6.) After sufficient root formation, transfer to larger vessels
Tip: Blueberries have high demands on their soil. A suitable growing medium should have a low pH value of 4 to 5.
Propagate blueberries by sowing
In principle, it would be possible to propagate blueberries via seeds. However, it is of little importance in gardening practice. Cultivated blueberries ( Vaccinium corymbosum ) were bred to develop as few kernels as possible. The fruits of wild blueberry bushes ( Vaccinium myrtillus ) are more likely to be found.
If you want to try growing your own seedlings, you should be patient, because blueberries develop very slowly. To be able to reproduce true to the variety and to maintain the fruit properties of the cultivar, however, propagation via cuttings or sinkers is usually preferred.
Tip: Not only do we humans taste the blueberries very well, but birds also sometimes target the sweet fruits. Protect your blueberry bushes from uninvited guests early enough with bird protection nets.
