Blueberry is a wild fruit resource with great development and utilization value. Its fruits can be eaten and used as medicine. The fruits are large and have high nutritional value. They are easy to reproduce, so they are often cultivated as medicinal plants. Blueberries are mainly distributed in provinces such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui in China, and they grow in mountainous areas at an altitude of 700m-1350m. They bloom and die quickly after flowering and fruiting from May to July, so the harvest time is short. Now let's take a closer look at the cultivation techniques of blueberries.
1. Land preparation
Land preparation refers to tillage, weed removal, land leveling, and fertilization.
① Blueberries can be planted in both spring and autumn. It is best to plant them in early April in spring and before the arrival of frost in autumn when the branches stop growing.
② The main focus of fertilization is on basal fertilizer, and the amount of application depends on the fertility of the soil. Under normal circumstances, 10-20 tons of organic fertilizer per hectare is applied and turned into the soil. Phosphorus fertilizer is applied 30-45 days before planting, with a dosage of 180-240 kg per hectare, and potassium fertilizer is applied at a dosage of 120 kg per hectare, raked into the soil. Lime is applied to acidic soil to improve it.
③ The row spacing for planting blueberries is 2.5-3 meters, and the plant spacing is 0.5-0.75 meters. If there is sufficient seedlings, the plant spacing can be reduced to 0.25-0.35 meters. It has been proved that with a plant spacing of 0.5-0.75 meters, it takes 3-4 years for blueberries to completely fill the rows, while with a plant spacing of 0.25-0.35 meters, blueberries can fill the rows in the second year and bear fruit and be harvested in the third year.
2. Cultivation
① Cultivation mainly includes loosening the soil and weeding. In spring, loosening the soil between rows and weeding within rows should be done once. In summer, land preparation should be carried out according to the degree of soil compaction and the growth of weeds. Generally, soil loosening should be done 2-3 times before fruit harvesting. After fruit harvesting, soil loosening and intermediate cultivation should be done once, as the soil between rows is severely compacted and weeds are overgrown during berry harvesting. In early summer, weak and damaged rhizomes should be removed, and excess branches should be pruned to prevent overcrowding.
② Prune the two-year-old branches that have already borne fruit. This work must be done immediately after fruit harvesting, and at the same time, remove the excess, broken, and diseased one-year-old branches.
② Trellising is also an important part of blueberry field management. Trellising means using supports to keep the blueberry stems upright and avoid serious bending after fruiting. Trellising can effectively improve the quality and yield of fruits.
3. Harvest
Blueberries should be picked at the right time, neither too early nor too late. Generally, they should be picked one or two days after ripening. When picking berries, it is best to leave the fruit stalk and part of the fruit pedicel. The harvested berries are best stored in a refrigerator at a temperature close to 0 degrees Celsius and a relative humidity of around 90%. Under such temperature and humidity conditions, they can be preserved for about a week. Cold storage facilities such as cold storage can be used to achieve long-term preservation of blueberries.
The cultivation of blueberries is relatively complex. It requires timely tasks such as loosening the soil, weeding, and fertilization within the specified time. It also requires the use of trellising techniques to improve the quality and yield of fruits. The harvesting process should also be carried out at the right time. From the cultivation of blueberries, we can see how valuable they are.
