Growing Blueberries in North Central Florida can be very easy to do. You can enjoy several months of blueberry harvest, as long as you keep a few things in mind while choosing your blueberries, planting them, and cultivating them.
When purchasing blueberries keep in mind that many species require a pollinator to produce fruit. If you are just starting out, we recommend purchasing two or more varieties for cross pollination. If you already have a blueberry bush established, try finding a pollinator blueberry that is different from the one you already have. This will ensure that your blueberry bushes will produce fruit each year. It is ideal to find a blueberry species that pollinates at the same time of year as your does!
When planting blueberries find an area with full sun and acidic soil. Full sun is considered five or more hours of direct sun. Plant your two or more blueberry bushes no more than six feet apart; this is important to ensure that your blueberries will pollinate each other. When placing them in the ground, mix in lots of Canadian peat moss to make sure your soil has good drainage. Blueberries don’t like to have their feet wet. The last step would be to fertilize with azalea food (this is also good for lots of plants). To keep your blueberries healthy throughout the year, you can continue to fertilize with azalea food at least three times per year.
Here at Garden Gate Nursery we carry several varieties of blueberries over the course of the year. Below is a list of particular species we usually keep in stock:
Darrow’s Blueberry (Vaccinum sp.)
‘Brightwell’ Blueberry
‘Vernon’ Blueberry (Vaccinum Ashei ‘Vernon’)
Woodard Rabbiteye
Premier Blueberry
‘Alapaha’ Blueberry (Vaccinum Ashei ‘Alapaha’)
Austin Blueberry – Rabbiteye
‘Climax’ Blueberry (Vaccinium Ashei ‘Climax’)
Powder Blue – Rabbiteye
Blue Gem – Rabbiteye
Stop on by any day of the week and see of Blueberry Collection.
Our Entire Collection is 20% Off this Week!