Retail Blueberry Plants / Wholesale Blueberry Plants

Blueberry Plants go dormant in the Winter which makes this an excellent time to plant blueberries. 

The plants will be less stressed by the transplanting process and you should have some blueberries on your bushes this Spring. 

January and February seem to be the months that most berry farmers choose to plant their blueberry bushes.

I just heard from one of my customers in Florida.  He told me that his plants were not growing even though he purchased them 3 months ago.  He called me and advised that his plants were not growing and the leaves were all turning yellow, and falling off.  After talking to him about his cultivation practices, it seemed that he was doing everything right.  He was fertilizing with miracle grow "Azalea formula" and had pine bark mulch on top of his soil to choke out the weeds. 

Despite all this, his  rabbiteye blueberry plants were turning yellow and dying. 

He bought some soil at a large box store and this is what he planted his blueberry plants into.  Unfortunately, the soil that he bought had a pH level of 6.5.

6.5 is an excellent pH for certain flowers and garden vegetables.  It is about the worst soil for rabbiteye blueberries that there can be. 

Rabbiteye blueberries require an acidic soil of 4.3 to 5.6. The rich soil he bought from the box store, which for other plants would have been ideal, was killing his blueberry garden. 

Luckily, my friend caught his error in time to possibly save many of his plants. 

Be very careful of the soil that you plant Rabbiteye Blueberry Plants into.  It can't be too alkaline, or they will fail.

     Several of my faithful customers have asked me about the proper care of blueberry plants they buy from me and then re-plant individually into gallon nursery pots for resale next year or later.  I encourage such behavior and advise the following:

1.The growing medium (potting soil) should be 4.3 to 5.6 in pH.

2.The growing medium that I recommend is milled pine bark but substitutions like peat moss or sawdust could be substituted in areas where milled pine bark is very expensive.

3.In the spring (April or May) lightly (i.e. LIGHTLY!!!) fertilize the pots with either 10-10-10 granular chemical fertilizer, 10-10-10 slow release fertilizer, or Miracle Grow Azalea Formula liquid fertilizer.  Azaleas are closely related to the blueberry, and their nutritional needs are similar.  If you gots the money, go with Miracle Grow.  You will be astounded by your results. 

4.In late May or June you may notice some stunting of your plants.  If you do, you may be experiencing disease of the fungal sort.  Spray your plants with a fungicide.   Check with your local extention agent or farm supply store for the best application in your area.  Organic producers may find additonal avenues.

5.Fertilize your plants every 2-3 weeks.

6.Apply fungicide every 4-5 weeks.

7.The plants will become dormant when the weather gets cold.  They should have grown a good 12" inches to 18" and will be considered 2 y.o. plant stocks. 

8.From late November through Mid-April they will remain dormant and will be best able to withstand the stress of transplanting into your field or garden. 

9.Make sure  your field or garden meets the requirements I spoke about in Long Range Planning ... 

     Hopefully, this information will get out and about everyone in the southern USA will have access to this wonderful fruit.  Look to my other blogs for additonal information on growing a blueberry garden or commercial blueberry farm.

     A new friend of mine and member of this site, Anthony, has been talking with me back & forth for the last couple of months about buying some of my 6" - 8" plants for a Pick Your Own / Roadside Produce stand he operates there in Louisiana.  He just made a decent investment in some of my plants and was wanting some guidance.

     He bought a large quantity of 6" - 8" plants at a premium price and plans to repot them into individual pots to allow them to grow a season before he actually puts them in the dirt.  This guy has long term stragegic goals that puts both of our national political parties to shame. 

     What he is doing is so right in so many ways.  I advised him to pot the plants into nursery gallon pots with the growing medium being pure milled pine bark.  Here in southern Georgia, we find this to be the best growing medium for blueberry plants and is very economical.  Other good choices (although less desirable in my mind) are peat moss, or peat moss/potting soil mixtures.  You have to realize, blueberries are an acid loving plant (4.3 to 5.6 pH recommended) and pine bark is perfect.  Whatever you finally decide is right for you, make sure your pH is within the range. 

     At the end of the 2009 growing season, Anthony's plants will be 1 1/2 to 2 feet tall and ready for transplanting into his fields.  While the majority of commercial growers plant the 6" - 8" plants directly into the fields, some like Anthony worry that planting them too young will make them harder to control the weeds around them. 

     An advantage to Anthony's approach is that it will allow him to purchase smaller plants at a lower price and "baby" them for a season while preparing the field where he will finally grow them to produce large quantities of sweet blueberry fruit. 

     Anthony's fields are alkaline because he has been planting tomatoes and other vegetable crops that require a higher pH.  He probably has put lime on it to increase the pH.  But blueberrys do poorly, if at all, in alkaline soil.  Because Anthony has a long range strategic plan, he can use this year to prepare his field for a blueberry plantation. 

     The first step is to take soil samples to be analyzed by your local Agriculture Extension office which will also give you recommendations regarding what you need to do to amend your soil to optimize production of blueberries.  The results will advise you of the number of pounds per acre of sulfer to add to the soil to lower the pH as well as other minerals that may need to be added like potash. 

     These agents take a while to work in the soil to reduce pH and provide the optimum conditions for blueberry plants, but because Anthony has nearly a whole year, he has the time get his dirt right. 

     Before adding chemicals to your field, however, I recommend amending your soil with organic material, preferably pine bark.  Most alkaline fields should have approximately a 10 yard semi-trailer of pine bark added to each acre.  This should be mixed into the soil.  This act, in and of itself will reduce your pH considerably.  Your soil should then be retested and sulfur and potash added only if needed.  (for "organic" growers, other options could be considered)

     9 or 10 months will go by with the pine bark and sulphur working on the soil.  By January 2010, Anthony will be ready to plant his healthy 2 year old plants into a field that is ready to accept them.  What a glorious day!!!!

Convert Wholesale Savings to Retail Profits:

     In the last several weeks I have been receiving a lot of phone calls from retail nurseries that want to get into selling blueberry plants to their customers.  I think this is an excellent idea.  I live way out in the woods and so having a full service retail nursery in an area where they have to pipe in the sunlight really would not work for me.  About the only retail selling I do is what is sold on this website and through eBay.  I am a wholesaler at heart. 

     But lately, I have sold several wholesale orders of my 2008 rooted cuttings to nurseries throughout the country who intend on potting them and reselling them retail for up to 10 times what I charge. 

I say go for it!!!  I would like to see thousands of nurseries in this country selling blueberry bushes at between $7 - $10 for 2 y.o. plants.  (Check around, that's what they are going for).  And the good news is that what you don't sell the first year, they will keep growing and you can double your money next year. 

I can sell several hundred of my cuttings to you at approximately $1.30 and the nursery or individual can pot them, care for them for about 9 months and turn a goodly profit.  Everybody is satisfied.  I make money, the retailer makes money, and the customer gets a healthy product that produces nutritious fruit. 

Buy cheap (from Axson Berry Farm) and sell dear (to the retail market).

Blueberry plants require good drainage.  Swampy areas that have water standing in the field for portions of the year would not make a good blueberry patch.  At the same time, Blueberries do require a lot of water.  Friends of mine have had good luck planting their blueberries back in the '70's and '80's without any irrigation.  The problem is that in dry years they don't produce any berries and in years with late frosts, they don't produce any berries. 

For any blueberry farm, I strongly recommend at least a drip irrigation system.  If you plant rabbiteye varieties, this could be all you need.  If you are planting highbush varieties, you should consider either having an overhead (sprinkler system) by itself or a combination overhead and drip irrigation system combined.  The reason for this is that highbush varieties bloom so early that if there is a late frost (and there usually is despite global warming) highbush blooms will be destroyed by frost. 

Of course if you are only growing a few blueberry plants in your backyard or garden, you can always set up your sprinkler system as needed to provide both water and frost protection. 

It makes little logical sense, but if you sprinkle your berries and the water freezes on the flowers, there is no problem.  If you do not sprinkle, the frost will prevent your plants from producing berries.

For commercial producers, a late frost without the ability to sprinkle their crop could be a financial disaster, especially those who have southern highbush varieties which bloom a month before the rabbiteyes.