We all want more blueberries, and a straightforward way to get the healthiest plants and the biggest harvests is to feed your blueberry bushes. In this quick and simple guide, I show you exactly how and when you want to feed your blueberries.
When To Feed
The best time for feeding blueberries is in early spring, as they are just beginning to open their buds and begin growing again.
Feeding them at this stage gives them a nice kick start to the growing season, helping you achieve the best harvest possible.
It is then also a good idea to give them a repeat feed roughly 6 weeks later, this helps the plants as they are getting ready to produce those tasty berries.
You can also feed them once again after they have finished fruiting. This is when they will be mainly putting their effort into root development and green growth. A good growth spurt here will set them up well for the following year.
What To Feed With
Blueberries are acid-loving plants, so you will need to use an acidic fertiliser. You can buy special blueberry fertilisers, but Azalea, Camellia and Rhododendron feeds work well and are much easier to find.
I use this specialist Elixir Gardener Blueberry fertliser.
- A COMPLETE FEED - Made to provide a complete soluble NPK feed for container or soil grown Blueberries, especially where the irrigation water contains more than 150ppm bicarbonates.
- MAXIMISE YOUR YIELD - Elixir Ericaceous feed contains a balanced range of micro and macro nutrients to maximise your yield! Chelated micronutrients ensure they are fully available to the crop.
- EXTREMELY POTENT - Use as little as 0.5g per litre of water to apply! Making your money go further with our cost-effective feed. 1kg makes up 2000 litres of liquid feed!
I usually try to garden organically, and this is not an organic fertiliser. But I have it, so I use it. I'm just pointing this out as a lot of people seem to get very wedded to a single idea, be it organic vs non-organic, dig vs no-dig. I find a pragmatic approach is often your best bet. My blueberries are in pots, so need a lot of feeding. Also, as they are in pots, I don't need to worry about the health of the soil as much, and then finally, I have a whole heap of this fertiliser, so I might as well use it rather than buying new!
If you want to use an organic fertiliser, then here is one that will work well with blueberries.
- For acid loving plants such as azaleas, camelia and rhododendrons
- With added iron for greener leaves
- Contains magnesium to prevent leaf yellowing
- Child, pet and bee friendly
- Ready to use
How To Feed Blueberries
The Elixir Gardens feed is a water soluble feed, so you need a watering can and some water. You want the water to be rain water if possible and not tap water. This is because tap water is alkaline - the exact opposite of what your blueberries need!
If tap water is all you have, then fill the watering can and leave it out for 24 hours, this will allow the chlorine to off-gas. As chlorine is alkaline, this will help drop the pH of your water. Obviously, it won't change the fundamental level of your pH, but it can help. If you live in a hard water area, then be particularly careful when using tap water on acidic plants, as the normal pH of your water will be high.
This is what I will be using to feed my blueberries, my trusty 10L watering can and my blueberry fertiliser.
This is a very strong fertiliser and you really don't need much at all. The cup above is all I need for the entire 10L watering can! You can see why this is going to last me a while.
I am going with the lower dose here, which is 0.5g per litre; you can go up to 2g per litre at the max dose. So I have 5g of fertiliser to dissolve in my 10L watering can.
I am going with a weak formulation because this is the first feed of the year. I don't want to overdo it! I will increase the dose to a maximum of 2g when I feed them again in 6 weeks.
I add the fertiliser to my can and then fill it from my water butt. This just helps ensure the feed is properly dissolved by the time the can is full.
After that, all there is to do is to feed the plant, just give it a good watering as you would normally, and you're done!
Yvonne says
Can I feed my blueberry plant tomato plant food
Daniel says
yes 🙂 It will work well but just wont have the soil acidifier that specialist blueberry feeds have
Lynette McQuaid says
I gave mine coffee grains and miracle grow fertilizer also acid soil .. have I killed them as I have 2 plants, but they seem to be doing well, do they like alot of sun or should I put them in a shady spot.
Daniel says
they sound like they are doing just fine and nothing you have done will kill them. They like being in the sun but can tolerate a bit of shade