BLUEBERRY SITES AND SOILS 



The selection of a good site and a good soil for cultivated blueberries is an 

 exceedingly important step in establishing a successful planting. Both must 

 receive proper considerations-,. To overemphasize one at the expense of the other 

 can be a costly mistake. For example, one grovrer looked over considerable terri- 

 tory to find an ideal blueberry soil. He fihally located a peat bog and set his 

 plants. The site was entirely surrounded by hills and proved to be a bad frost 

 pocket. Now he has a serious problem protecting his bushes from frost during the 

 blooming season. It would be equally bad to choose a site on a hillside -for good 

 air drainage and then find later that the soil is too dry. The ideal site is 

 located so that excessive amounts of cold air do not drain down through it from 

 bare areas above, and has sufficient air drainage so that cold air does not accumu- 

 late around the bushes. That is, the ideal site has natural protection against 

 both winter injury and spring frosts. It must also include a good soil. 



The ideal, blueberry soil has an adequate and continuous supply of moisture, 

 plenty of organic matter, and is acid. The importance of good moisture conditions 

 cannot be overemphasized. The highbush blueberry requires a good supply of 

 moisture throughout the growing season. Even short periods of soil moisture 

 shortage can affect the plants adversely. On the other hand, excessive soil water 

 is undesirable. The bushes v;ill tolerate flooding during the dormant season but 

 during the growing season the roots must be out of water so that they can get air. 

 Another disadvantage of a waterlogged soil is that the freezing and thawing of the 

 soil in fall and spring may heave the plants out of the ground, thus breaking off 

 many of their roots. 



It has been stated that the water, table (that depth in the soil ^vhere free 

 water will be fcjnd) should be 18 to 2U inches from the surface. 'iVhile such a 

 high water table is necessary to provide adequate moisture in the root zone in some 

 of the light sandy soils on which blueberries are often planted, it is not 

 necessarily so for heavier soils where water in sufficient quantity will rise from 

 lower levels. The important thing is that the soil be kept moist. The height of 

 water table required to do this will depend on soil type and amount and distribu- 

 tion of rainfall. 



IVhere the soil tends to be a bit dry during the summer, mulches can be used 

 to conserve moisture and will go a long way tovrard overcoming this difficulty. 

 A number of mulches may be used such as sawdust, shavings, pine needles, r/aste 

 hay, dried leaves,- and peat. A dry situation can be impr<>ved, particularly for 

 small plants, by digging a large planting hole and putting in the bottom a geneiruc. 

 quantity, up to a half bushel or more, of peat, rotten sav/dust, rotten, crumbly 

 wood or same similar material. Dry peat will need to be well wetted before use, 

 otherviise it may take water away from the roots of the plants and cause them to 

 suffer from lack of moisture, 



^.Vhile it is true that blueberries will grow in pure sand if plenty of moisturt 

 and mineral nutrients are supplied, experience has shown that under natural condi- 

 tions they grow much better in a soil well supplied vri.th organic matter, parti- 

 cularly if this is of a peaty nature. The minimum needs v/-ill depend on the type 

 of soil and have not been adequately determined. Certainly very sandy soils 

 require more than heavier soils. There appears to be no upper limit, at least 

 as far as acid peats are concerned, since the bushes will thrive on pure peat. 



