Step-by-step instructions for transplanting blueberries to a new location in spring

Blueberry bushes with healthy berries and glossy green leaves are a real decoration of the site. If you already have blueberries in your garden, but they bear poor fruit or have grown too much, then the bushes should be transplanted to a new place.

The correct timing for plant transfer is critical. Here's how and when to transplant garden blueberries from one location to another.

Transplant reasons

The reasons for looking for a new place for culture are different. Let's list the main ones:

1. In order to reproduce the variety you like. To do this, use, in particular, cuttings with semi-lignified shoots or propagation by layering. In this case, young plants are first planted in a separate garden bed or in a greenhouse, and when they reach 2 years of age, they are transplanted to a permanent place.
2. The overgrown bush lacks space and needs to be divided. In this case, the plant is dug up and part of the stems with roots is removed, which are then transferred to a new place.
3. Redevelopment of the site. If a building is supposed to be in place of a shrub, planting another plant, or if a structure or fence shades the shrub and prevents it from growing.
4. Transplant in order to renew the bush. Over time, the soil that feeds the plant is depleted and this negatively affects the growth and fruiting of the crop. Such a transplant is carried out every 10-12 years.

It also happens that fruit trees and trees that have grown around begin to shade blueberries, preventing it from fully developing. In this case, the bush must be moved to a more sunny area.

Important... The older the plant, the more difficult it is for it to take root in a new place. It is best to replant young plants 2-3 years old.

Timing

To transfer blueberries, as well as other garden shrubs, it is important to choose the right time to transplant the crop.

The choice of the season is influenced by the climatic conditions of the region. In the north, autumn frosts come early, and a bush transplanted during this period may freeze before it can take root. And blueberries grown in the south wake up early in the spring, so it's easy to miss a good time for the procedure.

Attention... Spring is a good time to transplant blueberries in the northern regions. And in the south, it is preferable to transfer the plant in the fall.

Transplanting blueberries to a new place in the spring is carried out when the bush is at rest. The most favorable month is April. The plant has not yet woken up at this time, and the soil is still well moistened and at the same time sufficiently warmed up (at least + 5 ° C).

During the growing season (after waking up in spring and summer), blueberries use energy to grow actively. Violation of the root system during the growing season and fruiting causes stress on the plant. Indeed, when digging up, a large percentage of small roots that absorb moisture and nutrients are cut off.

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Choosing a new location

When deciding on the new location of the bushes, the following important factors are taken into account:

• good illumination of the place;
• protection from cold winds (for example, you can place bushes next to a fence or wall of a building);
• fertile soil with a high organic matter content and good drainage;
• sufficient soil acidity (blueberries love acidic soil with a pH of 4.2 to 5).

Precursor plants

Favorable predecessors for berry bushes are considered to be mixtures of legume-cereal grasses, melliferous siderates (mustard, phacelia, lupine, sweet clover), legumes (peas and beans), root crops (carrots, radishes, turnips, turnips, radishes, beets), pumpkin crops ( cucumber, pumpkin, squash, squash), as well as onions, garlic, dill, caraway seeds, potatoes.

It is undesirable to use plants propagating by tubers, bulbs, rhizomes (tulips, stachis, horseradish, etc.) as predecessors for perennial plantings, because even with careful weeding, some of these plants remain in the soil.

Transplant technology

Blueberries have small, fibrous roots that spread around the plant like a pancake. For this reason, the shrub is easy to replant.

Before starting to dig, make sure the bush is dormant (the tips of the branches are dry and brittle). First, the plant is dug around the base. Then they gently pry off an earthen ball with a shovel, trying to damage as few roots as possible.

If the new planting hole is already ready, then the bush is moved immediately. If not, then the earthen ball is wrapped in polyethylene so that the earth remains moist and the plants are removed from the wind. Ideally, move the blueberries to their new location as soon as possible after removing them from the ground.

If you are planting more than one bush, plan ahead where each will be placed.

Transplant technology includes the following steps:

1. Pit preparation. The depth of each hole is 25-35 cm (depending on the size of the roots of each plant), the diameter is 2-3 times the rhizome. The base of the pit is covered with a mixture of soil and peat so that the plants have a loose substrate rich in nutrients.
2. Transferring the bush to the hole. The plant is placed in a hole and it is checked whether the stem reaches the ground level. If not, add more nutritious potting mix. In this case, it is taken into account that the soil will settle after watering.
3. Backfilling the pit. As soon as the bush is at the desired height in the hole, the space around is covered with earth until the hole is completely filled.
4. Mulching. The topsoil is sprinkled with pine needles, dry leaves, wood chips, sawdust. The layer thickness is at least 5 cm. This will not only help to retain moisture in the soil, but also increase its acidity, which is good for blueberries.
5. Watering. At the end of the process, the soil around the base of the plant is lightly tamped and the bush is thoroughly watered.

In the future, watering is carried out every 2-3 days in dry and hot weather, or once a week, if it is cool, until the plant takes root.

Post-transplant care

Newly planted or transplanted blueberry bushes are demanding on soil moisture. While the root system is recovering from moving to a new location, care must be taken to keep the ground moist at all times.

If the weather is wet and rainy, then the condition of the topsoil is checked once a week. If dry and hot - once every 2-3 days.

3-4 weeks after the blueberries take root in a new place, fertilizing with fertilizers with an acid reaction is carried out. For example, sulfate preparations - they acidify the soil (80 g of ammonium sulfate or 50 g of ammonium nitrate per bush). But blueberries do not like organic matter.

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Conclusion

Thus, both young blueberry bushes and old plants are transplanted for the purpose of rejuvenation. A new location is chosen in a sunny area, protected from the winds, while paying attention to the acidity of the soil. Transfer to a new place is carried out in early spring or early autumn. Dormant transplanting allows the blueberries to recover until the next growing season.