Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-435
Highbush Blueberry
Vaccinium corymbosum
Highbush blueberry is a native deciduous shrub found from Nova Scotia to Georgia, grown for its vitamin-C-rich berries eaten raw or baked into pies, pastries and jellies. It needs consistently moist, acid, lime-free soil in a narrow pH band, so on alkaline ground it usually has to be grown in an acidified raised bed rather than in the open. Around thirty species of birds eat the fruit and native bees favor the flowers, making it as much a wildlife planting as a food crop. Plant two different cultivars together - it is only partly self-fertile, and cross-pollination raises the crop sharply.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 5–8
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Well-Drained · Moist · Wet
Vertical layer
Shrub- Soil pH
- 4.8–5.2
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 6–12 ft
- Mature spread
- 8–10 ft
- Plant spacing
- 6–12 ft
- Root type
- Fibrous-shallow
- Spread pattern
- None
Keep exploring
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The deeper layer
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- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
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- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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