How to grow and care for blueberry plants?

sling7799

I just purchased a blueberry plant a few weeks ago and it has blueberries growing on it already and some flowers, but the plant is less than 12 months old, how and when should I prune it?  I live on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.

I also planted a blueberry plant about 5 years ago and its never really produced any fruit, what should I do.

It is currently the end of September.

Both blueberry bushes 5yo & less than 1yo bush5yo blueberry bush (never really produced much fruit)Less than one year old blueberry bush 

MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @sling7799. It's sensational to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about blueberry care.

Since your younger blueberry is already flowering and fruiting, I’d suggest leaving any pruning until late summer or winter once it’s finished fruiting. At this stage, just focus on keeping it healthy and letting it establish a strong framework of branches. As the plant matures, you’ll want to prune to remove weak or crossing branches and encourage an open shape that allows good air and light flow.

For your older blueberry, poor fruiting is often linked to either soil pH, or nutrition. Blueberries need acidic soil (ideally around pH 4.5–5.5), so if the soil isn’t quite right, they’ll struggle. We have pH testing kits if you'd like to check. They also respond really well to fertilisers made for acid-loving plants, like those used for azaleas and camellias. These have the right balance of nutrients without being too alkaline.

It might be worth checking what sort of fertilising regime you’ve been using so far on both bushes. Have you been feeding them regularly, and if so, with what product? The right feed, along with a mulch of pine bark to help maintain soil acidity, should give your 5-year-old plant a much-needed boost.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell