Blueberries
Scientific Classification & Quick Facts
| Common name | Blueberry |
| Scientific name | Vaccinium (formerly Cyanococcus) |
| Kingdom | Plantae |
| Phylum | Tracheophyta |
| Class | Magnoliopsida |
| Order | Ericales |
| Family | Ericaceae |
| Type | Shrub bearing blue berries; relative of cranberries |
| Native range | North America |
| Size | Berries 5–16 mm across |
| Colours | Deep purple berries; white, pink or red flowers |
| Height | 10 cm to 4 m |
| Edible parts | Berries, picked ripe and fully blue |
| Special feature | Berries have a powdery wax coat called bloom |
Blueberries are a perennial type of flowering plants and its berry has an indigo color. They are of the group Cyanococcus that belongs to the variety Vaccinium, a genus that also includes cranberries and bilberries. The blueberry of today is a late development of the 20th century. Prior to the 1900s, if you wanted to relish blueberries, you had to go to the wild and find them.Like all berries, their color pigments offer good antioxidant properties.
Anatomy
Blueberries are normally upright shrubs. Some are prostrate, and they differ in height from 10 cm (3.9”) to 4 m (13’). In the market, we find two kinds of blueberries; the little ones called ‘low-bush’ berries (like to that in the wild), and the bigger ones they call “high-bush blueberries”. The bell-shaped flowers come in red, pale pink or white and at times they have a greenish tinge. This berry fruit has a diameter 5-16 mm (0.20 – 0.63”). It has at its end a flared crown; the crown is initially faint greenish in color, and gradually turns reddish to purple, and finally when ripe it becomes deep purple. A coating of powdery epicuticular wax, locally called “bloom”, shields the raw berries.
Habitat
These blueberries are habitants of Northern America (until the 1930s no one brought the high-bush berries cultivated for trade, in Europe). Washington, New Jersey, British Columbia, North Carolina, Mary land, Michigan and Western Oregon account for the notable cultivation of the high-bush blueberries.
Soil and Planting
Photo by: Gordana Adamovic-Mladenovic
Blueberries need soil of a different composition when compared to the other garden plants. For blueberries to grow in great quantity they need a properly aerated soil with a great content of humus, moist and most of all highly acidic. A soil test determines the level of acidification. An option is to have a pH value of 4 – 5.5 that you can achieve by adding sulfur. The dosage of sulfur varies depending on the pH value of your soil’s texture; usually it is 7 pounds per 100 sq. Feet. For the complete seasoned root zone, add them into the surface soil to a depth of 6 inches.
Planting
Sow your rabbit eyes and high-bush berries 4 to 6 feet from each other and low-bush berries two feet apart. For sustaining acidity and for a regular supply of humus, augment your soil in every hole you plant your berries by adding a full bucket of pine needles or composed leaves. This optimizes the nutrition, moisture content and aeration. Soon after you plant them in the soil deposit 3 inches of biodegradable mulch on the ground. The mulch maintains the roots moist, cool and prevents the growth of weeds.
Watering
The year you plant the blueberries, watering the soil becomes a must to keep the soil moist in all seasons.
Flowering and Maturing
As your blueberries need proper drainage of the soil, make arrangements for the drainage before your planting. Blueberries never prefer rich soil, however, if the yearly growth is less than four inches for low-bush berries and one foot for high-bush berries, add biodegradable manure. This is best for blueberries as they offer nitrogen in a form most suitable to them, as a result of which, the plant’s young roots will stand less chance of burning.
Harvest Month and Storage
Fresh raw blueberries get their complete fragrance and distinctive taste only some days after they become blue. In case you require the sweetest berries among them tickle the bunch of blueberries, then the ripe dead ones will drop into your hands.
Take any surplus blueberries each season, spread them out on freezer pans, after an hour pack them into plastic freezer bags and freeze them. This helps you to enjoy fresh ripe blueberries all year round.
Varieties
Half high blueberries, high-bush blueberries, rabbiteye blueberries and low-bush blueberries.
Recent varieties such as ‘climax’ and ‘Bonita’ cross-pollinate one another successfully and has a delicious Flavor.
Blueberry FAQs
Where do blueberries come from?
Blueberries are native to North America. People mostly picked them wild until the 1900s, and high-bush blueberries were not grown for trade in Europe until the 1930s.
What soil do blueberries need?
Blueberries need very acidic soil that is moist, airy and full of humus. The best pH is about 4 to 5.5, which you can get by adding sulfur.
How tall do blueberry bushes grow?
It depends on the type. Low-bush blueberries are about 10 centimetres tall, while high-bush blueberries can reach 4 metres.
How do you know when blueberries are ripe?
Ripe blueberries are deep purple-blue and drop into your hand when you tickle the bunch. They get their full taste and smell a few days after they turn blue.
What is the white powder on blueberries?
It is a natural wax called bloom. It covers the berries and protects them while they grow.
Randi Jones is the owner and founder of the Nature Gift Store, an online retailer specializing in nature-themed gifts, educational science projects, live animal nature kits and real butterfly artwork. A biology graduate who fell in love with insects, she founded the company in 2001 to make active learning about nature fun, accessible and engaging for children and adults. Her store offers real butterfly frames, home and garden decor and educational live animal kits, including ant farms, worm farms, tadpoles, ladybugs and hermit crabs, and she runs a bug museum in Washington featuring live animals like Eddie the Iguana alongside other reptiles and insects.
