Growing blueberries

Blueberries make superb container plants. After my first year of growing them, I'm convinced every home with a need for a lawn/landscaping/shrubbery should include blueberry bushes. Even if you live in a condo with a cement patio for a garden area, that's no excuse not to grow them! They're easy, forgiving and good-looking. I purchased mine at a bigbox home improvement store for $9.99. Worth every penny. The plants were big enough to produce berries that first year, which may appeal to you if you enjoy a quick payoff. 

When selecting blueberry bushes, be sure to choose at least 2 different varieties which will help with cross-pollination. This means more flowers get pollinated and more berries for you. I read somewhere that a gardener should grow 2 blueberry bushes per person in the household. Keep in mind some of the berries may be lost to bird-thieves who get up earlier than you do. My first year I grew two bushes. While we had berries all summer long, it was never enough. I added three more this year. If I had more outdoor space I would add even more. 

A good potting soil I can recommend is Fox Farm Ocean Forest potting soil. When planting your bushes, choose a big container. If you don't have one, you can always transplant later. But I prefer to go big right off the bat and then not have to worry about it. With the help of craigslist, I acquired several inexpensive large plastic pots. Leave several inches of bare space at the top. Some sites recommend 2 to 3 inches of a drop between the top of the pot and the dirt. If your container is big, you can and should get away with more than that. Maybe 3 to 4 inches. This will leave you for plenty of room to dump your coffee grounds.

That's right, dump your coffee grounds not in the trash but directly on your pots. Blueberries like acidic soil. When I first read this I wasn't sure I wanted the hassle of dealing with pH's in my lazy container gardening. But the blueberries are not going to whine about it. Both my mom and grandma don't do anything special for their lone blueberry bushes and that's fine too. My husband has been adding his daily coffee grounds to the pots for months now and the pH is still on the higher side of their preferred pH range (4-6ish). 

A few more notes about growing blueberries - the leaves turn a beautiful red color in the fall and will survive a winter in Michigan (zone 5) if left outside. No need to bring them indoors.