Planting and crop management for blueberry
Case 1 Pruning - 1
Start from the Crop Selection button Tap Crop Selection for questions such as a planting and harvest calendar, varieties for your market and harvest window, or crops that fit a plot’s soil, water and climate. For pruning and fruit set, type your question. For blueberry For pruning and pollination, type your question with the variety, planting date and harvest window. ORTH used all three in its answers. - 2
Prune after harvest, keep 6 to 8 canes We asked when and how to prune Ventura, planted in January 2023 and harvested from mid-February to mid-June. The main prune comes right after the last harvest, from mid-June to early July. In November most wood for the coming crop already carries flower buds, so ORTH advised only a light sanitation pass: dead, broken and diseased wood, weak shoots and crossing canes. Keep 6 strong canes per plant, up to 8 where the plant stays open and well lit. ORTH rated it four stars. - 3
Renew one or two canes a year At the June prune, take out the least productive old canes first, usually one or two per plant a season, keep the best new canes from the base and thin twiggy, shaded wood. ORTH warned against a hard prune combined with a lot of nitrogen after harvest, which gives dense, soft growth. Case 2 Pollination and fruit set - 4
Hives by bloom, not by date For 1.82 ha, ORTH worked out 15 standard bumblebee hives, 8 per hectare. Ten go in at 5 to 10% open flowers, likely in early December, and five more at 25 to 30% bloom, 5 to 7 days later. Spread them as five stations of three, shaded, dry and raised. Confirm the colony strength with the supplier first. - 5
Check fruit set by zone For better fruit set, ORTH suggested cross-pollen from another southern highbush that flowers at the same time, ventilating the tunnel against condensation and heat, even root-zone moisture and conservative nitrogen during flowering. To check it, tag 50 shoots across five tunnel zones, count the flowers and later the berries that stay, and watch bee visits twice a week.
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