What to do with long shoots on Blueberry bushes?

Gailstephens

In early spring, mid March, zone 6b, I pruned my 7 blueberry bushes.  They are about 20 years old.  I took out inside branches and topped off the tall ones to about 5 feet.  Subsequently, they grew very long shoots (24-36 inches).  Blueberry crop was good, but not as good as last year.

The bushes are now way over my head.  Should I cut the shoots off completely or just trim by one-half?

I want to keep them at about 5 feet if possible.

ALSO, should I allow the ground shoots to grow?  Will they make more bushes?

Ground shoots from mother plant

MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Gailstephens. It's sensational to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about blueberry bushes.

Your blueberry bushes are showing great vigour with those long new shoots, and that’s actually a positive sign. Since it’s almost spring, now is the right time to prune them. Rather than cutting the shoots off completely, it’s best to keep them and shorten them by about one-third to one-half, which will help maintain your preferred height of around five feet while also encouraging the growth of side branches where most of the fruit will eventually form. Keep in mind that in their first year, these new shoots usually don’t fruit heavily. They are mainly focused on growing tall and establishing structure, which is likely why your crop was lighter this past season — the vigorous new growth has been overshadowing some of the older, more productive canes. Blueberries typically fruit best on one- to three-year-old wood, so it’s in the second and third years that these shoots will start producing well, once they have developed enough lateral side branches. To avoid overcrowding and shading that reduces yields, it’s a good idea to thin out weaker or excess shoots now and open up the canopy, leaving a balance of older, fruiting wood alongside the strongest young canes. 

For the ground shoots, keep a few of the strongest ones to act as replacements for ageing canes, but remove the rest to prevent congestion. Shoots that sprout away from the crown can sometimes be dug and transplanted to create new bushes. With this approach, you’ll strike a balance between maintaining good crops now and setting the stage for heavy harvests in the years ahead.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell