How to revive an old (very old) blueberry patch

[Piston]

There is a small area on some land I'm getting that still has blueberries growing, in what used to be a muli acre blueberry field, now it is only about a 50'x20' section.
It is family land, and my father and his brothers tell me about how they used to fill 5 gallon buckets with blueberries and sell them. I hear stories about my grandmother picking blueberries in the morning and baking fresh muffins for them for breakfast......these stories make me want BLUEBERRIES!

A lot of the 'old field' is now grown in with brush and small pines. I'm wondering if I cleared this area, will the blueberry bushes come back?

Once I get rid of the small trees and brush, what would be the best way to get the blueberries to grow better? I know they used to burn the fields and still do up the road, but at this point it seems like all the blueberries are gone for the most part, and there is hardly anything left.

Are they the type of plants that go dormant for a long time and then once the sun hits them or they get agitated again they start growing again??

Would a Ratchet Rake be good for disturbing the soil? Assuming that is even what I want to do?

help me get some blueberries back please

 

[Petroman1]

Hey Piston,
I am no expert but in Down East Maine they have been clearing out the big rocks and leveling the fields so that they can use machinery to harvest. The plants will spread if the area is not overgrown. I searched and there is a ton of info on the net. Here is just one I found.
Will Blueberry Plants Spread? | eHow.com
Good Luck with this project!

 

[KTurner]

My wife's grandparents had blueberry bushes as part of their large garden/orchard. I think they stopped in about 1995 due to her grandfather's health. There's a strip of plants out behind our house, where the garden was, which hadn't been mowed for years due to some unknown stumps. I mowed it to the ground summer before last. Yesterday, for the first time in years, blueberries were picked from those plants. It was only about 3/4 of a cup, but there's lots more berries to ripen.

Based on my limited experience, it doesn't take much to bring them back. There was so much grown up, I didn't realize there were still viable blueberry bushes in there, so I wasn't even trying to bring them back. There's probably better ways than mine, but this worked. I do need to work on getting rid of the other plants/weeds that are mixed in, before they take over again.

Keith

 

[Brad_Blazer]

I have some wild blueberries on my place and they seem to get spread by the birds. When I bush-hogged I looked out for new bushes and there were several. The plants are easy to identify. If you don't see plants they aren't there. It might work to spread some berries. Of course plants are not too expensive to buy either. They like acidic soil.
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/HO-65.pdf

For personal use I would think a 50' by 20' section would be more than plenty. My plants really load up with berries.

 

[Egon]

First get a soil test. Then apply whatever is indicated for good blueberry growth.

Then cut the area about 5--6 in. ??? tall in the spring. This makes the plant bush out rather than one stem.

Note: this is hearsay from a fellow who was trying to develop a patch for commercial harvesting.

 

[pat32rf]

First of all, there are many strains of blueberries (in our area). Some grow best in full sun, others under the pines and ferns. All like acid soil (pine needles). I have been told that there MUST be two varieties for pollination to occur. Most patches have this naturally.
Our local blueberry farm will run the bush hog up the rows every fall or so. This duplicates the action of the snow which breaks the branches causing more growth.

In your case, I'd get rid of the competing growth, and trim half of them down to half their height in the fall . Then fertilize in the early spring...
I've no suggestions for controlling the birds and chipmunks however

 

[bstrom]

We burned a section of our land (under safe wet conditions) where low bush blueberries were starting. They came in with a vengeance after that. I thought it was an old wives tale but it worked. Not sure about doing that down in MA with all the restrictions down there though.

 

[Piston]

Haha, your right, there are certainly a lot of restrictions down here! The blueberry field is up on some family land in NH though but I'm not sure about their laws for burning either. Maybe a series of small 'brush fires' will do the trick after clearing the brush and trees

Thanks for the links guys and I'll check them out now. The soil sample is a good reminder because I've been meaning to do that for years now.
This might be a stupid question, but how do I submit a soil sample and to where?

I want to take samples from around different areas of the 50 acres and see if they differ anywhere.
I'll try brush hogging the heck out of it and maybe burn some of it as well. Ideally I would love a huge blueberry field more for the wildlife than anything. I know there are black bears in the area and it would be great for the birds and probably all small wildlife.
In fact, last week my grandfather watched a black bear walk off with his bird feeder! I wish he got a pic of it!

The lot next door is a few hundred acres and used to have a lot of blueberries back in the day, like over 25 yrs ago because I never remember it being blueberries. There is actually still a sign on the land that has been rotting away that says something about blueberries. Across the street is 2 large fields that up until 10 yrs ago they were still producing blueberries. I imagine the soil is about perfect the way it is since they are so prolific.

My dad used to get paid a very small amount to go up to the field a few times a day in the summer and light off a small cannon, supposedly to scare the birds away. Him and his brothers used to get paid by the land owner for every 5 gallon bucket they collected. :thumbsup:

 

[Rustyiron]

For a soil test, check with the county? extension agent.

 

[dave1949]

Yep, extension agents are a good resource. You can also buy soil test kits at the hardware store. From inexpensive to pricey. If you are mainly interested in the ph of the soil and nitrogen levels, the cheap kits are fine.
Dave.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

I have lots of blueberries on my property.

Blueberries come in 2 main forms: low bush and high bush. Both types love acid soil. Both types need a good amount of water, but don't want to be drowning in it. Both types evolved to mainly be pollinated by bumblebees; so you actually want to promote nests of them fairly close by. Both types need a lot of sunlight. A little shade they can handle, heavy shade kills them.

Sounds like you have the low bush variety. They don't normally grow more than a foot high. These are the kind that you get down on your hands and knees, or sit in a clear space and pick. They should be cut to about half their height every couple of years to promote new growth. Low bush tend to be fairly small in size. I've heard some people burning to remove the dead twigs; but fire is a very dangerous tool. Contact your local fire department and have a meeting to discuss those options if you're thinking of burning.

High bush grow to as tall as 8 feet if you let them. Berries are double the size of low bush or even larger. Uncultivated, they only produce large crops every other year. 2 year old stems produce; so if you cut back a third to a half of the older stems each year, you can get a good, steady crop each year.

Heavy rains during blooming season can ruin your crop as it beats down the blossoms and keeps the bees from flying.

There is a variety of tent caterpillar that likes to eat high bush blueberry leaves. Either spray with bug spray, or as I have occasionally, WD-40. (Oil suffocates the little buggers.) I suppose you could try a vegetable based oil which should be more environmentally friendly; but you want to get it inside the nests to reach all the wigglers.

If you have high bush within 100 feet of water, they are in danger from BEAVERS. The bark tastes good to them, and the branches make good dam material. I lost more than 50% of all my bushes by the stream that runs through my property over the past few years. Fencing only slows the rodents down, it doesn't stop them. Trapping or shooting only removes those particular animals, more move into the vacuum; so this is a constant maintenance/management process, not a final solution. Check with your state Fish and Game Departments for regulations on dealing with problem beavers as they are a regulated fur-bearing species in most states.

A tractor with a hoe can clean out a dam in a few minutes. A hoe works good for digging up and transplanting bushes if you're intending to consolidate them. An auger works okay for digging new holes for planting. You can use either a finishing mower, or a hog on low bush plants. Just don't set the cutters too low or you'll scalp them. And if you have 3pt sprayer, you can fertilize and bug kill.

 

[jonyyuma]

I raise several varietys of domestic blueberries here. They have shallow roots, and can be spread by pinning branches to the ground and covering with pine needles. I limit my plants to 6 foot tall, as the birds eat a lot..They like acid liquid food, and need a lot of water and bees...to have a big crop...

 

[american legend]

This has been a great read guys very helpful. I have just joined up. raised up on a Tenn. farm I now find myself in Md. and have taken on the responsibility of helping a wonderful family in bringing back the old family farm. It hasn't been worked in years but has great potential established but neglected grapes, the same with the blueberries. the ground hasn't been touched in years and not a lick of fence. needless to say an adventure but one I'm already enjoying thoroughly. hope to be able to pick all yall's brains as I go thanks again.

 

[/pine]

This has been a great read guys very helpful. I have just joined up. raised up on a Tenn. farm I now find myself in Md. and have taken on the responsibility of helping a wonderful family in bringing back the old family farm. It hasn't been worked in years but has great potential established but neglected grapes, the same with the blueberries. the ground hasn't been touched in years and not a lick of fence. needless to say an adventure but one I'm already enjoying thoroughly. hope to be able to pick all yall's brains as I go thanks again.

First off...welcome to a great place...!
secondly...don't let the fact that you posted to an old thread make a difference...good information is still good information regardless...(there a few folks here that seem to make a deal out of replying to an older thread...)

BTW...If there are more than 5 stalks/canes on the blueberry plants...cut them back to 3 and let 5 come back...

 

[jeff9366]

Blueberries are most productive in FULL SUN but can take a tad of shade.

I have been told there MUST be two varieties for pollination to occur.

Blueberries come in Early, Mid and Late season varieties. For adequate pollination you need two varieties (or more) of SAME SEASON blueberries planted together. If you plant one variety of Early season and one variety of Late season pollination will be poor in most years, because Early/Late flower weeks apart.

We plant Blueberries in 8' X 8' spacing. When plants are mature we can just get a 48" wide sub-compact tractor, with a 3-Pt. mounted Danish S-tine Cultivator, down the alleys in both directions.

We grow organically, so a lot of cultivation in lieu of weed control sprays is required.

For precision around the bushes, a Korean Hoe is particularly good.

http://cdn3.bigcommerce.com/s-9r2bn...n_Hoe_z_3__60265.1439654724.1280.1280.jpg?c=2


Grapes require FULL SUN. If grapes are shaded yield will be disappointing and vines prone to fungal disease.

 

[CalG]

To revive High bush, follow the advice given previously to cut back the bigger stalks. and by cut back, I mean cut off at the ground. anything bigger than your thumb needs to be cut out.

Even if that leaves only a few stalks to "revive".

Let in the sun, In NH, don't worry about the soil, they will be fine.