Blueberries are one of the most popular and beloved Charles Edward Berry fruits . Their characteristic bell - determine figure capped with a crown - same calyx , and their dusting of pale powdery “ blooming ” make them straight off recognizable . But blueberries do come in a stove of size , both for unlike species and cultivars . interpret on to find out just how big ( or small ) these nutrient - packed Charles Edward Berry can be !
An Overview of Blueberry Sizes
barbaric blueberry bush collect from the mountains average 6 to 14 millimetre , around 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 in in diameter . Selective breeding over decades has result in cultivated blueberry bush diverseness with berry set out from pea plant - sized fruit to varieties with plump , dime bag - sized fruits .
While there is variation most commercially grow blueberry fall in the 15 to 18 millimeter or 1⁄2 to 3⁄4 inch kitchen stove . dissimilar blueberry bush species also have characteristic sizes . Here ’s a quick look
Highbush blueberry 15 to 18 mm , the sizing of dime bag Popular large - fruit variety show
Rabbiteye blueberries : 14 to 16 mm , intermediate to large sized .
Lowbush ( “ wild ” ) blueberry bush : 6 to 9 mm , smaller pea - sized fruit .
Hybrid half - mellow blueberry bush : 10 to 14 mm , small to medium sized .
What Impacts the Size of Blueberries
While blueberry bush species and cultivar have inherent size ranges , several factors can stimulate the yield to become large or smaller than their distinctive baseline :
Environmental Conditions
Climate and grow conditions significantly impact yield sizing . Blueberries boom in areas with nerveless nights , affectionate days , and consistent moisture during fruit development . Hot , arid climates often ensue in smaller fruits . provide adequate irrigation in ironical regions improve Chuck Berry sizing .
Plant Health
Vigorous , goodly President George W. Bush with robust foliage produce larger fruit . agent like nutritive deficiencies , pests , disease , or unequal sunlight can leave in pitiful plant increase and reduced berry sizes . Ensuring optimal guardianship promotes the good fruit .
Pruning Practices
yearly pruning concentrates increment into few buds , result in larger berry . Heavy pruning temporarily cut output but improves berry size compare to unpruned plants .
Crop Load
When bush carry heavy harvest loads with clusters of dim fruits , the berry are typically smaller . slim down fruits too soon in growth allows remaining Charles Edward Berry to raise bigger .
Pollination
fair to middling bee activity and pollination leads to higher cum count and with child , rounder blueberries . Varieties lacking pollinators often have misshapen , lowly fruit .
Average Sizes of Popular Blueberry Varieties
While blueberry sizes range wide , some cardinal commercial mixture are esteem for their peculiarly big fruit :
Jersey – 15 to 20 mm , a high yielding diversity with prominent , firm berries .
Elliott – 18 to 25 mm , make very big , sapid fruit .
Nelson – 20 to 25 mm , a leading variety noted for very turgid berries .
Aurora – 18 to 20 mm , gamy output of big , sweet berries that keep well .
Draper – 18 to 22 millimeter , an early season variety with vast berry .
On the smaller side , wild lowbush blueberry bush in the mountains commonly hit only 6 to 9 mm . Even smaller are the tiny fruit of Velvetleaf blueberry bush at just 5 to 8 millimetre diam .
Uses for Different Blueberry Sizes
The diverse blueberry sizes each lend themselves to certain use :
Smaller baseless varieties are staring for baking , jams , and sauces .
Medium highbush berries are ideal for snacking , salad , pancakes , and muffin .
heavy highbush kind are fantastic for fresh eating , yogurt parfait , and fruit salads .
So whether you opt tender gaga lowbush berries for pie fill , or giant Jersey blueberries to delight by the handful , there ’s a blueberry size for every use !
Why Blueberry Size Matters
While blueberries are always tasty irrespective of size of it , berry property do make a difference :
big blueberries are prized for fresh eating and fetch high prices .
Bulk is valued for processing , so diminished waste Berry are to a great extent utilized .
Compact Berry work out well in scorched goods . Overly large 1 leech and get mushy .
Uniformly size berries enable authentic , logical promotion and motorized harvesting .
Smaller berries have higher skin to bod ratios , intensifying feel and nutrition .
Larger fruits are gentle to harvest and Kingston-upon Hull by bridge player compared to tiny godforsaken Berry .
So growers , distributors , and consumer all have reasons to like about blueberry size !
How to Enjoy Blueberries of All Sizes
Part of the mantrap of blueberries is their diversity . Here are some tips for enjoying berries across the sizing spectrum :
produce a few highbush varieties to reap plump berry right from the bush . Jersey and Elliott bring on very big yield .
chat U - Pick farm in blueberry bush country to hand choose perfectly ripe berries .
leverage dry pint boxes of wild blueberry bush for broil into muffin , cakes , and fix .
grease one’s palms a package of reinvigorated great highbush berry , then relish as a healthy bite .
Mix diminutive wild berries into yogurt , cereal , oatmeal or charmer .
jactitate medium berries in light-green salads or yield salsa for a pop of sweetness .
No matter the size , blueberries of all dimensions delight with their deep gloomy chromaticity , unparalleled bell form , and sweet - tart flavor . So enjoy these antioxidant powerhouses in every bod and size of it !
Plant Growth Cycle & Yields
Two - year - old bare - root baby’s room plant 1 to 3 feet tall are transplanted in recent wintertime or early spring . Potted plants can be transplanted in the declension . Growth begin with bud dude in the natural spring and continues into late summer and fall . The blueberry acquire several flower of rapid shoot development . Each growth flush cease when the topmost or apical bud abort ( this is not a disease ) . Soon after , a bud “ break ” near the tip to start another flush of shoot growth . During the grow time of year , each shoot may go through several of these growth flushes . If the shoots get enough water and food , each blossom can go to 6 to 10 inches of growing . Shoot maturation usually arrest in midsummer .
Typically , five to eight flower buds can develop on a healthy shoot . Each flower bud can defy five to ten flower , which go along to grow inside the bud all through fall and former winter . Both vegetative and flower buds become dormant in wintertime . In the spring , bloom buds open one after the other , start with the buds at the very goal of the cane . Each bloom inside a bud opens in a similar parliamentary law , with the flush skinny to the gratuity opening night first . Shoot heaviness affects blooming sequence , with flower on thin wood porta up earlier than bud on thicker woodwind .
In the first and second years after constitute , it ’s best to cut off all the flower buds to help the shoot and roots produce well . Blueberry efflorescence and fruits use up a lot of DOE for the plant life . If the works does n’t turn well in its first two years , fruit yields may be lower in tardy year . It is important to skip off the flower buds and the top third to half of all shoot growth on rabbiteyes before transplanting them .
blueberry bush fruit ripens over a two - month period after efflorescence . This will change with the cultivar , weather atmospheric condition and plant zip . In their third yr , plants should yield about half a pound sterling per bush . In their fourth year , they should yield between 1 and 2 pound per bush . With good care , fledged Southern highbush works can grow more than 8 pound of fruit each year . Rabbiteye can produce 12 to 25 pounds .
To change the pH of the soil , get a test done in the fall before you plant in former wintertime or early springtime . If the pH is above 6 . 0 , select another planting site . If the soil pH is below 6 . 0 but above the 5 . 5 bound , apply wettable atomic number 16 ( 90 percent sulphur ) . A very downhearted soil pH have by excess sulfur can be prejudicious . Some soils in the Piedmont are very high in manganese . When develop blueberries on these soils , keep the pH above 5 . 0 to avoid problems with manganese perniciousness . Putting down sulfur should bechance at least three months before constitute , since it takes a while for sulfur to get down the pH. Once or doubly during the first grow season , check the pH to see if more sulfur is postulate later in the time of year .
Sometimes , the impatient home gardener will importune on planting without a stain test . In this case , mix 1 cubic metrical unit of peat moss with an equal amount of Baroness Dudevant . It is of import to use sand that has not been birdlime or does not have any lime in it . Most constructor ’s sand , referred to as “ discriminating ” Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin , does not contain liming materials .
Soil Water Drainage : If you have lumbering stiff grunge or soil that stays wet sometimes , mix peat and sandpaper together and spread it on top of the soil . Then plant your seeds . If the soil drains well , you’re able to put some of the peat - sand commixture in a yap or furrow that is a few inches below the surface . Just check that you leave at least 6 inches of the peat - sand concoction above the soil surface . This will avail you make a hammock for a individual plant life or a ridgepole for a run-in of plant . The hammock or ridgeline will keep the plants from getting too much water , but it ’s still important to water deep two or three times a calendar week during ironic times in the summer and early dusk when you implant this style . The dirt intermixture in the raised bed can be oblige in piazza with rock-and-roll , bricks , concrete blocks , landscape timbers , or logs .
Organic subject addition before set : blueberry bush by nature grow near in soil with 3 percent or more constitutional matter , while most mineral soils have less than 1 percent organic topic . Before planting , lend organic material like peat moss , composted pine bark , or molder softwood sawdust to soils that have less than 2 percent constitutive matter . This will assist blueberry industrial plant inhabit and grow much better . Hardwood sawdust is not as good as softwood sawdust or peat moss for lowering territory pH. unspoiled softwood sawdust should not be used .
measure 1 and 2 should be done in the fall before imbed in late February or former March , depending on where you be . It is potential to add sulphur to lower the pH at the same metre as the organic matter if it is total in the fall .
Note : It ’s hard to control the amount of H2O and nutrients in pure constitutional matter , so plant life are more likely to skin and die .
Plants : Two- or 3 - yr - old glasshouse plant 1 to 3 foot tall will transplant well . Keep the ascendent moist at all times between dig and replanting .
metre : Bare - antecedent plants do best when implant in late winter , as shortly as the dirt can be worked ( February – March ) . Potted plants have also done well when planted in the fall ( November – December ) on arenaceous stain and in other places .
space : southerly highbush – 4 to 5 feet in the words and 8 to 10 metrical unit between rows . Rabbiteye – 6 feet in the row and 10 to 12 feet between rows .
deepness : works to the same depth that the plants were growing in the nursery or the container . gently firm the grease around the works with your feet and H2O thoroughly .
turn off Back : Remove all shoot tips that have bloom bud ( fatten rounded bud ) . annul making cuts near the base of the plant that will provide an entree for stem blight disease . To help plant stay alive and grow , cut off two - thirds of the top growth on bare - root plants and half of the top growing on potted plants . Leave only one to three of the most vigorous vertical shoot and any other growth near territory degree .
Surface Mulch : Putting a 2- to 3 - inch layer of constitutional textile like barque , wood chips , sawdust , or pine wheat on top of the soil after planting makes the soil more evenly moist , keeps the soil at a well-to-do temperature , and help plants grow and survive in world-wide . Pine bark chip or sawdust have a pH between 3 . 5 to 4 . 5 and are more suitable than the same mulches from hardwoods with a pH above 5 . 0 . However , surface - apply hardwood mulches have been satisfactory . Avoid muggy hardwood sawdust that will “ seal ” the bed and prevent water system infiltration .
Use Caution : Blueberries are easily damaged by supererogatory plant food . lend oneself the recommended amount and allow 4 inch of rainwater or an tantamount amount of irrigation between applications .
First Year : Do not fertilise straight off after embed . Once the first leave are fully rise , put one tablespoon of a special azalea fertiliser ( 12 inches around each plant ) in a circle that is 10 - 5 - 4 , 10 - 8 - 8 , or 11 - 7 - 7 . Do this every six weeks or so , depending on whether it rains or you water supply , until mid - August in the Sandhills and Coastal Plain and mid - July in the Piedmont . If a soil test shows that there is a peck of phosphorus , use a half - tablespoon of ammonium sulfate rather of a full fertilizer for the second and subsequent covering .
2nd twelvemonth : twice the first year ’s rates , but increase the forget me drug around the plant to 18 inches . Make the first covering when new growth begins in the spring .
Plants That Bear Fruit : When the plants pop to maturate in the spring , broadcast 1 cupful of a complete fertilizer , like Azalea fertilizer , 3 feet around each one . For stronger growth , add up a quarter - loving cup of ammonium ion sulfate every six weeks as a sidedress . However , do n’t fecundate after July 1 . On matured bushes , 6 to 12 inch of newfangled growth is equal . To keep the plants from getting too big and losing their ability to produce , any extra growth must be swerve back . evaluate the sidedressing requirement on the amount of shoot ontogeny and leaf semblance .
lower pH : If a soil trial demo that the pH level is a little too high in an established planting , total ammonium ion sulfate as a sidedress and iron sulphate as needed to stop the leaves from turning yellow .
skunk job should be rarified if mulch is put down after planting and replaced every year at a pace of 1 column inch . Pine straw is acid and makes an first-class mulch . Handpull or hoe the episodic weed growth . annul inscrutable cultivation since blueberry root are very near the surface . Hoe no more than about 1 inch bass .
Since blueberries grow from buds on wood that is one yr old , pruning should be done in a way that encourages strong raw growth every year . rabbit-eye blueberry blueberries unremarkably do n’t want as much pruning as southerly highbush blueberry because they are potent and can endorse and grow heavy crop of grown fruit . During the first five year little pruning will be need . Remove lower twiggy growth , dead or damaged shoots , and watery , lank growth . Tip back overly foresighted and limber shoot to stimulate lateral ramification and to thicken the shoots . Prune young plants during the hibernating season and immediately after harvest with old plant .
If the plant get too tall to easily harvest , cut off about a third of the old canes during the wintertime . When rabbiteye blueberry are prune each year , up to seven canes are normally leave . Starting in the fifth year , the oldest or biggest cane is switch off off each winter . These precise cuts should be made to spread out up the plant ’s center so that more spark can give it and new cane can grow to replace the old ones .
Southern highbush blueberries require yearly pruning to prevent overbearing and to maintain vigor . Prune during the dormant season ; previous wintertime is most suitable , especially in the mountains .
If the prime buds were take off after planting , only the flower bud and any weak , damaged , or diseased growth will call for to be pruned the next yr . impart some blossom buds on strong shoots after two mature season to get a modest harvest the third year . To prune plant that are quick to bear yield , thin off low - spreading branch and branches that grow through the heart of the bush . Especially cut off weak or old branch . rationalize back extremely vigorous 1 - year - old shoots and remove most small lissom outgrowth . If getting things done early is authoritative , keep in mind that the Chuck Berry that grow on small , tenuous lateral are usually the first to mature . This should be take into account when deciding how many of these shoot to shorten off . Extra foresightful side shoots that bear fruit must also be tipped back until only four to six flower buds are left .
Highbush blueberry bush plants generally reach their peak production between 8 and 10 years of age . To maintain bush vigor with the continued production of high - quality fruit , renewal pruning must be practiced . set out the replacement process when the President George W. Bush are about 6 years old . First , remove any weak or pathological cane all . begin with the oldest canes , ignore back about two each year until they reach stiff side subdivision or are only one infantry above the ground . New secure lateral branches will usually develop below the cut . Through renewal pruning , a new good model can be developed over a four- to five - year point .
blueberry bush may be trouble by fungal leaf smudge , fruit bunk , etymon rot and hoar mold . The independent pests are the cranberry fruitworm ( its silk tie the berry clusters together ) , the Oberea stem rock drill ( its larva drill down the stem , kill it ) , Japanese beetles , and yellownecked caterpillars . The latter two dirt ball gadfly feast on blueberry foliation .
Bird Protection : shuttlecock also harvest blueberry , often the complete crop from a small planting . Plastic or fabric netting drape over the bushes or fend for on a fabric is the only pragmatic control condition .
Frequency : southerly highbush blueberries have the good lineament when picked every five to seven days depending on temperature . rabbit-eye blueberry tastes better when picked less often , about once every 10 day . This allow the flavor reach its peak with few soft , overripe fruit .
Important stage in the ontogeny of blueberries ’ fruit and leave are ( A ) the dormant microscope stage , which take up when the leave come off and shows one flower bud ; ( B ) the blooming stage , which show the group of flowers and the plant stem that grew from the two abeyant buds ; ( coulomb ) the fruit set stage , when pollenate heyday depart to turn into small fruit ; and ( D ) the yield growth stage , which lasts from yield set up to fully grown fruit . When the fruit is good , it ’s often gentle to spot both flower bud and vegetative buds for the next season on the shoot .
Document last updated on 03/23 by Millie Davenport .
If this document did n’t answer your question , please meet HGIC at[email protected]or 1 - 888 - 656 - 9988 .
Robert F. Polomski , Ph.D. , Associate Extension Specialist — Environmental Horticulture / Arboriculture , Clemson UniversityGreg Reighard , Ph.D. , Extension Fruit Specialist , Clemson University
Joey Williamson , Ph.D. , HGIC Horticulture Extension Agent , Clemson University
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