Bluecrop Blueberries: How to Grow This Reliable Variety at Home

There's something very good for you about growing your own food, and it isn't only the vitamins. Getting your hands in the dirt, spending time outside and picking a handful of berries you grew yourself is a small, steady joy. Bluecrop is one of the friendliest blueberries to start with.

What makes Bluecrop popular

Bluecrop is a northern highbush blueberry developed by the US Department of Agriculture. It's been a standard variety for decades because it's dependable. It produces heavy crops of medium-to-large, light blue berries in midseason, usually around July in many northern areas.

Mature bushes typically grow about 4 to 6 feet tall. In fall the leaves turn red, so it earns its spot in the yard even after the harvest.

Climate

Bluecrop is a cold-hardy variety. It generally does well in USDA hardiness zones 4 through 7. Like other northern highbush blueberries, it needs a cold winter to fruit well, so it struggles in hot climates with mild winters. If you live somewhere warm, look at southern highbush or rabbiteye varieties instead.

Soil: the part most people get wrong

Blueberries need acidic soil, with a pH of roughly 4.5 to 5.5. Most garden soil is less acidic than that. If your blueberries have yellow leaves with green veins, the soil pH is a likely culprit.

1. Test your soil first. Inexpensive kits work, and many local cooperative extension offices offer soil testing.
2. Lower the pH if needed. Garden sulfur is the usual fix, but it works slowly, so add it months before planting if you can.
3. Add organic matter. Mixing in peat moss or composted pine bark helps both acidity and drainage.
4. Or use containers. A large pot filled with a mix made for acid-loving plants is the easiest route if your soil is a poor match.

Planting

• Choose a spot with full sun, at least 6 to 8 hours a day. More sun means more berries.
• Plant in early spring or fall.
• Space bushes about 4 to 6 feet apart.
• Plant at the same depth the bush grew in its pot.
• Spread 2 to 4 inches of pine bark or pine needle mulch around the base to hold moisture and keep roots cool.

Highbush blueberries can produce fruit on their own, but planting a second variety nearby usually means bigger berries and a better harvest.

Watering and feeding

Blueberry roots are shallow, so they dry out quickly. Aim for about an inch of water a week, more in hot, dry spells, and water at the base rather than over the leaves. Rainwater is ideal if you collect it.

Use a fertilizer labeled for acid-loving plants (the kind made for azaleas and rhododendrons) in early spring. Go easy, because blueberries are sensitive to too much fertilizer.

Pruning

For the first two years, pick off the flowers. It feels wrong, but it lets the plant put its energy into roots and branches, which pays off with bigger harvests later.

After that, prune in late winter while the bush is dormant:

• Remove dead, damaged or crossing branches.
• Cut out a few of the oldest, thickest canes at the base each year.
• Keep the center open so light and air can get in.

Harvest

Wait until berries are fully blue all over, then wait a few more days. They get sweeter after they first turn blue. Ripe berries roll off into your hand with a gentle touch. Expect a light crop in the first few years and much more once the bush is mature.

Netting is worth it. The birds know exactly when your berries are ripe.