Blueberry is a resident of taiga glades and swamps. But modern agricultural technology allows many forest crops to be successfully grown on personal plots. Especially loved by gardeners Blueberry Blucrop. The description of the variety that we give with the maximum details will save you from the slightest doubt that this wonderful berry must be purchased and planted in your garden. Why should you grow blueberries, and why Blucrop? First things first.
Habitat
When planning to plant any plant on your site, it is important to find out where it comes from. This helps to understand what features a new green pet will require. About the heroine of our article it would be more correct to say "American Blueberry Bluecrop."
The description of the variety necessarily notes that it was bred by American breeders, and in industrial use it has been known since 1952. In the United States, Blucrop is a reference; it is actively grown throughout North America. And in nature, blueberries can be found in all regions where it is not hot in summer and cold enough in winter.
In Russia, it is cultivated in all areas with a temperate climate, including the Moscow Region, the Leningrad Region, the Far East, the Trans-Urals, and Western Siberia.
It should be noted that the variety Blucrop is often called simply American blueberries or American blueberries, because the fruits of these two closely related berry crops are very similar. But there are significant differences in them, mainly concerning productivity and taste. Therefore, when purchasing a seedling, make sure that it is Blueberry Blueberry. The description of the variety, or rather its external characteristics, will help to make the right choice.
What does the Blucrop variety look like?
All plants of the Blueberry species are members of the Heather family and are deciduous shrubs. In the spring, ovate pointed leaves of saturated green tones appear on their branches. All summer even without berries bushes are very aesthetic. But they become especially beautiful in the fall, when the green color of the foliage changes to red-raspberry-orange-purple. This is what Blueberry looks like.
We decided to start the description of the variety, a photo of which is better than words showing its attractiveness, precisely from the crown, so that those who want to plant the plant in question in their own area make the best use of its landscape highlights. Blueberry Bluecrop, like other representatives of the species, is a long-liver and, with proper care, pleases with its beauty up to 100 years. At the same time, the height of a lush but compact bush, reaching 1.7-2.1 meters due to it, no longer increases.
It is very important for proper care to know what features of the root system have Blueberry blueberries. The variety description will be incomplete if you do not indicate that the roots of this berry are small, fibrous, located at a depth of not more than 40 cm from the surface of the earth. There are no villi on them, so they get food due to the hyphae of special mushrooms that braid their surface and penetrate inside. The roots of blueberries begin their growth with swelling of the kidneys, stop it from about May and again resume it during the ripening period of the berries. As soon as the air temperature stably drops to +5, the roots fall asleep until spring.
Blueberry flowers outwardly resemble barrels without a lid or bells, in which the petals are almost not bent. Their color can be white or pink, and the length reaches 1 cm. Blueberry blooms in May, pollinated by insects.
Description of berries
No matter how beautiful the bush is, it is for the sake of delicious, fragrant and very healthy berries that Blueberry is cultivated. The description of the variety, the photo of the fruits of which is seduced from the pages of gardening magazines, is inconceivable without a story about what kind of harvest awaits all who properly care for their pet. This variety is mid-season, so the berries ripen in late July. Harvesting is delayed until the end of August, as the ripening is uneven. In general, during the season, the bush gives 7-8, and sometimes even more kilograms, and the berries are large (up to 2 cm in diameter and up to 20 grams in weight), tight, with a strong skin, do not crumple, do not crush and do not crack, but on branches can stay until winter.
Round, slightly flattened berries of a dark blue, almost black color. A blue tint gives them a peculiar plaque that gave the name to the species. They are collected in relatively large clusters, thanks to which Blueberry Blueberry looks so appetizing. The description of the variety always portends that the taste of the berries will be sweet, with a peculiar sourness. However, some gardeners note that they only turned sour berries. This suggests that the harvest started too early or plants are grown without following the rules.
Choosing a landing place
Some believe that Blueberry is not capricious at all. The description of the variety, the cultivation of which has important features, will help to decide whether it is easy to grow it on the site or not. The first thing that every gardener who wants to get blueberries to start with is the right choice of place. It must be a sunny corner open to the winds, because in the shade this plant bears fruit much weaker.
The second condition is soil moisture. Since wetlands are the natural habitat for blueberries, you can understand that she loves moisture. Ideally, if she was found a place where there is underground water, and they lie at a depth of 45 to 60 cm. In this case, they will maintain the humidity necessary for blueberries. If groundwater runs too close to the surface, they can create stagnation of water, which is not good. First, the bush will begin to hurt, and then it may die at all. If you have just such a site, before planting blueberries you need to make a quality drainage. Slightly better when the groundwater is deeper than necessary. In this case, the plant will not die, but it will be necessary to monitor the whole summer so that the humidity is sufficient for it.
There is a third, perhaps the most important condition, without which Blueberry Blueberry will not grow. The description of the variety, the cultivation features of which consist in following the above rules, indicates that this plant needs only strongly acidic (pH no more than 4) and light soils. In heavy loams, blueberries are unlikely to grow, on alkaline and even neutral soils it will start to hurt and eventually disappear. Even at pH 5-6, this plant does not have a beautiful appearance and bears very poor fruiting. Therefore, if the soil has normal acidity on the plot of land, it must be artificially lowered, and only then blueberries should be planted.
Check the pH of the soil in the laboratory. A rough picture can be obtained by plants, such as mosses, sorrel, mint, buttercups, heather, which like acidity. But if wheatgrass, ankle, euphorbia prevail on the site, the acidity for blueberries must be done by ourselves. How? To increase it, help rotted sawdust and acid peat, which must be added to the planting hole and mixed with soil. In this way, soil relief is also achieved. Some gardeners advise reducing the pH with citric, malic, or acetic acid, and lightening the soil by adding sand and peat to it in a ratio of 3: 1.
Propagation by cuttings and layering
Mostly vegetative methods propagate Blueberry Blucrop. The description of the variety, whose advantages are so numerous, certainly indicates that it is better and easier to propagate blueberries with layering. To do this, you need to tilt the twig to the surface of the earth (it is important that the substrate in this place consist of peat and must have sand), press with something and sprinkle the touch point with the same substrate. Many gardeners additionally cover this design with a film. If you do this in early spring, the cuttings will start roots by autumn, but you need to separate it from the bush only next spring.
The second method of propagation of blueberries - cuttings. To do this, shoots are cut in late autumn, the bark of which is already lignified. They are wrapped and stored in a cool place until spring. Around the end of March, cuttings of 20-25 cm long were cut from them, placed in a box with a substrate of peat and sand, watered and all the time making sure that the soil was moist. The box is put in a greenhouse or just pull a film over it. Petiole roots should form by the end of summer. Then they are transplanted to permanent residence.
Seed propagation
Not everyone knows that blueberry Blucrop propagates by seed. Description of the variety (a tall beauty will surely appeal to many gardeners) sometimes offers this method, which, of course, is more time-consuming, but in the end it will be possible to get many seedlings at once. How to grow blueberries from seeds? It is better to sow them in the winter, when it is already cold, but the frost has not yet begun. If you transfer the process to spring, the seeds will have to be stratified in the refrigerator all winter.
Before sowing, holes or grooves are prepared. They are compacted, sour peat, sawdust, needles and sand are poured there, which should be 3 times more than other components. Seeds are placed on top, they are covered with about 1 cm of the same substrate, watered. In spring, they must germinate. Further care consists in weeding and loosening the soil around seedlings, watering and fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers. This is done so that the seedlings begin to build up their power faster. At the sowing place, young blueberries grow 2 years. During this period, gardeners can reject weak and least promising plants. The remaining for the third year are planted at the place chosen for them.
Care
If everything is done correctly, blueberry Blucrop will deliver very little trouble. The description of the variety, the care of which requires some knowledge, places a special place on how to grow it. It has already been noted above that blueberries require acidic light soils and sufficient moisture. These are the most important components of success. If the soil on the garden does not have a pH sufficient for blueberries, you need to dig holes for planting about half a meter deep and about a meter in diameter, lay the walls with boards, film or tin sheets, fill the resulting structures with acid peat with sand. You can also use rotted sawdust, needles, even earth from coniferous forests, but be sure to check its pH. We remind you that the indicator should be within 3-4. The Bluecrop blueberries are placed in the holes prepared in this way (even seedlings bought in the nursery, even cuttings or cuttings that have taken root, even bushes grown from seeds).
Having planted a plant, the earth around it is mulched with sawdust or needles, sprinkling a layer of about 12 cm. This will help to achieve the desired humidity. With further watering, and especially when loosening the soil, one should not forget that the root system of the shrub is very close to the surface of the earth.
There is another way to create soil with the right acidity for blueberries. It consists in adding sulfur powder (250 grams per cubic meter) or mineral fertilizers, such as urea, nitroammophoska, ammonium nitrate, to the earth a year or two before planting the bush. Important: organic blueberries cannot be fertilized.
The sun is another condition that must be observed in order to give the delicious fruits of Blueberry Blueberry. The description of the variety North Tall contains an indication that much less is tied in the shade of berries, they ripen later, and their taste is obtained with a rather noticeable sourness.
Contributes to an increase in Blueberry crop blueberries and annual pruning. It must be carried out in late February - early March. Basically, pruning is done prophylactically (diseased, damaged shoots are removed) and rejuvenating (old branches are removed at ground level). Pruning is also carried out, as on any fruit tree or bush, in order to thin out the crown.
Summing up all the above, it can be noted that growing Bluecrop blueberries is not such an easy thing, but tasty and healthy berries are worth the effort.
Blueberry Bluecrop. Description of the variety. Northern tall species
Some authors distinguish this variety, although this is not entirely true, since the northern tall one is a type of blueberry, the main sign of which is the height of the plant. Some of its representatives can stretch up to 4 meters, but on average grow to 2-2.2 meters. The birthplace of the species are Canada and the northern states of America. Here, each bush is capable of producing up to 10 kg of berries, but in Russia in our country the figure is much lower.
Varieties in this species, there are several dozen. The main criterion for their selection is the fruiting period (early ripe blueberries, mid-ripening, late ripe) and the size of the berries. Among the first are the varieties Patriot, Liberty, Aurora, Bluetta. All of them ripen by the beginning of July. The mid-season varieties include Chandler (the largest berries), Bluecrop, Bluejay, Duke, Hardyblue, Reka (a very productive variety) and many others. They begin to pick berries from mid-July. The late-ripening crops, which produce crops in August, include the varieties Jersey, Elizabeth, Bluegold.
Blueberry Bluecrop. Description of the variety. Undersized beauty
There is a swamp (or marsh) and stunted blueberries. Swamp and swamp can also be attributed to undersized species, since the height of their bushes does not exceed 0.8-1 meters. They are attractive in that they are able to grow on swampy soils and in mountainous areas, as well as in partial shade, but their yield is low, only 2-4 kg of berries per bush. The berries themselves are slightly smaller than the tall varieties, and there is more acidity in them. Russian breeders have bred such varieties of marshmallow blueberries - Taiga beauty, Iksinskaya, Blue placer.
According to the rules of cultivation and care, low-growing blueberries practically do not differ from tall ones, they only grow up to half a meter, less often - up to 1-1.2 meters. Therefore, she gives a yield slightly less, and her berries are smaller, but also very tasty and healthy. Another difference is less moodiness of stunted blueberries. So, it is less demanding on the acidity of the soil and can grow well at pH 5-6, and if the soil is not light enough, this wonderful plant will also not pick and choose. From one bush of undersized blueberries, only 3 kg of berries are harvested per season, but since it can be planted more densely on the plot, the average yield is the same as that of tall species. Popular varieties: Northblue, North Country, Northland.
Undeniable advantages
To date, the market of seedlings and seeds offers a variety of varieties of blueberries, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages. Among all the varieties, Bluecrop blueberries are in special demand. The description of the variety, the characteristics of all its indicators are given in detail above. As you can see, this berry requires attention, but it is valuable due to its high yield, excellent quality of berries, and wonderful decorative appearance. Another feature useful for gardeners is its immunity to diseases of fruit crops and high frost resistance. Without shelter, Blucrop calmly withstands temperatures up to -34 degrees Celsius if there is snow cover.
To many summer residents and homeowners like Blueberry Blueberry. Description of the variety of reviews of people fully confirm. In particular, it is noted that it is unusually fruitful, only a lot of berries are not obtained immediately, but only for the 4-5th year after planting seedlings. If you grow blueberries from seeds, the harvest will have to wait even longer. Another important advantage of the variety is called its frost resistance, but if there is no snow in a harsh winter, individual branches of the plant may suffer. As a lack of culture, some gardeners note its pickiness to the soil and generally to the place on the site.