Blueberries lend themselves well to pruning, so gardeners remove excess shoots not only in spring, but also in summer. Pruning for blueberries is a necessary measure that allows you to maintain the quality of the crop, since on densely growing bushes the fruits grow small in size and have a sour taste. The plant spends a large amount of energy on old branches that do not bear fruit, so they should be disposed of in a timely manner.
Features of the berry garden
Blueberry is a bush with oval green leaves, reaching a height of one to two and a half meters. The berries are blue, 1-2 centimeters in diameter.
The blueberry bush contains shoots of different ages. The branches on the sides of branches older than two years have the highest yield. Old branches that are more than four or five years old bear much less fruit than two or three year old branches.
Young stems have smooth, brightly colored bark and no branches. More mature stems are characterized by strong branches and produce the richest harvest. In order to achieve a rich harvest in plantations, it is customary to leave a dozen fruit-bearing branches on the bushes.
In summer cottages, gardeners, as a rule, leave blueberries thicker, getting a larger amount of harvest from the bush, but the berries grow smaller.
Do blueberries need pruning?
Any fruit crop has a need to get rid of old shoots. Blueberries, if not pruned, begin to grow weak branches and spend a significant amount of energy on their development. As a result, there is not enough juice for the berries, and they grow small and have poor taste. In addition, thickened plantings are poorly blown by the wind, fungi accumulate in them, due to which the plant begins to rot.
Dates
When pruning, you need to take into account the climatic conditions of a particular area. In warm regions, pruning is done in early spring, in cold regions - closer to May. After wintering, young healthy branches rise easily, so it is not difficult to find old branches that need to be disposed of. Remove branches that remain on the ground.
Branches containing rot and damage should not only be cut off, but also burned.This is necessary to prevent the spread of infection.
In summer, pruning of blueberry bushes is done extremely rarely. This procedure is carried out in the summer only when you need to get rid of broken branches. Before winter, it is customary to prune rough branches that cannot be bent down.
Types of pruning
Blueberry pruning is divided into three types: sanitary, shaping and rejuvenating.
Sanitary
This type of pruning is carried out when the need arises, as a rule, this is done immediately after wintering. It is needed to get rid of broken or infected shoots. Dry, diseased branches are cut off to normalize the movement of juices in the stems. Get rid of lying branches and bushy growth. Trim frost-bitten tops.
Forming
Formative pruning of blueberries is carried out from late autumn to early spring. The buds of seedlings are cut off to avoid premature fruiting, since early harvests are scarce and take a lot of energy from the plant.
The plant is shortened if there is a disproportion of the crown in relation to the roots, in order to provide the roots with energy so that they can grow. Formative pruning is usually carried out for plants over three years old. First of all, they get rid of small growth. In large farms, growth begins to be removed already in the first year.
Rejuvenating
It is carried out in order to restore the ability of blueberry bushes to produce a large and high-quality harvest. In well-kept gardens, blueberry bushes can bear fruit for more than three decades, however, starting from the age of five, the plant’s yield drops noticeably.
Old blueberry branches are overgrown with a large number of short branches on top. As a result, very small berries grow on them.However, vertical shoots often extend from the middle of old branches. It is necessary to make a cut above the shoot at the right moment in order to transfer the branch to it. If the old branch does not have such shoots, then it should be cut off at the very base.
How to prune blueberries correctly
Let's figure out how to prune garden blueberries correctly. The pruning procedure for tall varieties involves removing damaged or outdated branches from the bushes, as well as blind growth. Before pruning, you should not remove the mulch, otherwise rotting stumps may form, which will attract harmful microorganisms that infect plants with various diseases.
Before pruning begins, the bushes are freed from mulch to the ground, and after the procedure, the good mulch is returned back, the bad mulch is burned.
The crowns must be thinned out well to ensure light access to all branches. You should not leave old branches, as this will prevent the blueberries from being well covered before wintering.
In a container
Planting material for blueberries is sold at the age of one year and older. Saplings older than three years after planting should be shortened by half, and weak shoots should be cut out. This helps the plant take root better in the soil.
Pruning seedlings in a container is necessary when the above-ground part of the plant is heavier than the clod of earth. In such a situation, the roots of the plant do not have the opportunity to grow and develop proportionally. Before planting the bush, get rid of branches coming out of the ground. Leave only powerful shoots. It is better to cut them in half to achieve the desired proportion.
After planting the seedling, it is important that the blueberries take root.Proper pruning of a young plant helps concentrate nutrients at the roots. It is recommended to cut off buds that appear in the first year.
Pruning an adult bush
In the first years, the plant is pruned to achieve strong tillering. First of all, shoots that are unable to bear fruit are removed.
In mature blueberries, the bushy growths that form near the roots are cut off. The bushes are thinned to stimulate the development of new shoots. After the bush is five or six years old, you need to start cutting off old branches and replacing them with new ones.
Young bushes need to be pruned moderately to awaken the buds near the base of the bush. The crown of old bushes is partially removed so that new shoots can begin to grow. For developed bushes, it makes sense to do a little sanitary pruning so as not to increase their branching.
To prevent the berries from growing too small, some of the short branches, along with the buds, should be cut off. Moreover, the more shoots a particular blueberry variety has, the more it is worth pruning the bushes according to this scheme. Varieties that produce a small number of shoots do not require severe pruning.
When pruning bushes older than five years, to obtain large berries, you need to cut off all old branches. If you want to get a lot of harvest, and the size of the berries is not so important, you can leave six to seven year old branches.
When is it necessary to prune a bush at the root?
Sometimes, in order to rejuvenate a plant, you have to cut it at the root. Pruning at the root is necessary if the bushes begin to dry out in the heat from lack of moisture, and if all the fruit-bearing shoots are outdated and are no longer able to bear fruit.
After pruning the bush at the root, you need to provide the blueberries with timely watering and nutrition so that the plant recovers over the next two to three years.
Caring for the bush after pruning
After autumn pruning, blueberry bushes are treated with garden varnish so that harmful bacteria and pathogens do not penetrate into open wounds. Treatment with garden varnish is done for thick stems, from one centimeter and thicker.
In addition, it is necessary to fertilize the plant so that it regains its vitality before wintering. For these purposes, mineral fertilizers rich in potassium and phosphorus are used. It is impossible to use nitrogen fertilizers in order to avoid freezing of the bush.
Conclusion
Pruning bushes is a necessary measure for blueberries, serving to ensure proper development and fruiting of the plant. Despite the fact that blueberries are a relatively unpretentious plant, this process must be approached responsibly and avoid mistakes that will harm the bushes.
