Love blueberries and want to grow more bushes? Here’s an quick tutorial on how to grow blueberries from cuttings that’s easy and inexpensive.
It’s time for another Pinterest Challenge! This month, I decided to try out this pin —>>> Propagating Blueberries from Cuttings because we NEED more blueberry bushes! We have two medium sized sunshine blueberry bushes and one small bountiful blue bush, but it’s just not enough. I would love to have at least 10 or more because fresh blueberries are SO much better than store bought. FYI – the sunshine blueberries are much sweeter than the bountiful blue, so if you find this variety, get it! These varieties are great if you live in a low-chill zone like Southern California.
Tip: Although most blueberries can self pollinate, the plants grow bigger and more blueberries if there are more than one variety for cross pollination. So if you plan on growing blueberries, have more than one variety in your garden.
How to Grow Blueberries from Cuttings
Check your zone to see when is the best time to start your cuttings.
Supplies:
- Growing trays
- Garden shears
- soil (blueberries prefer acidic soil)
- rooting powder
Blueberry Cuttings
This is going to be crazy easy, so here goes! First, make sure this is done when your plant is done providing blueberries and has new growth. In most areas you’ll want to do this during late winter/early spring. I live in Southern California, so I decided to try this right after blueberry season here and planted these a little over 2 weeks ago.
Next, find some new growth. You want the branch to be green or new growth, not brown and hard.
It’s also best to use branches that are larger than 1/4″ wide. Too thin and they won’t fair well. I cut the entire new growth off and cut them to about 4″ length pieces. Carefully remove all the leaves without damaging the branch.
Rooting Powder
Dip the ends into rooting powder and place into a growing tray or pot. Make sure the side you dip into the growth hormone and place in the soil is the bottom of the branch.
Planting Blueberry Stems
Make a hole in wet soil and place the stem in. I plant the stem about an 1 1/2″ to 2″ into the soil. Push soil to fill hole and to hold the stem upright. Water daily, making sure soil doesn’t dry out. Leave it alone for about 18-20 days and you should see little green leaves starting to pop out. Resist the urge to pull it out to check for roots as this can cause it to die. It will take about a 70 – 75 days for the plant to really start to root. After this point, you can transplant to a larger pot.
To get more info on growing from cuttings, you can watch this Youtube video —>>>Start at 5:48.
For more Pinterest inspired projects from this month’s Pinterest Challenge hosts, check out the links below ↓
Awesome! Hope you get more blueberry bushes!
Wow, that seems so easy to do. I didn’t learn to love blueberries until I was grown. I missed out on all that yummy goodness for to many years. Now I love them in lots of recipes especially a good summer salad. I never considered growing my own.
There is nothing quite like freshly picked blueberries! My husband’s aunt has two huge patches of blueberries bushes and we just love picking them right off the bush. YUM! Pinned.
Thank you for all the photos in your tutorial! We have attempted blueberries, but failed. I don’t think we got the soil acidity quite right. Now I want to try again! pinning -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
I live in south Texas and have tried planting blueberries twice – from bare plants I purchased. They never rooted and ended up dying. Maybe if I try the rooting powder it would help?? I do love fresh blueberries!
I think the rooting powder helps a lot and the width of the stem too.
This is so cool! I tried growing blueberries at my old house but didn’t have much luck. I’m going to show this to my neighbor, she has had good luck and said she wanted to try to propagate them for a few of us!
Yes, when you have a good blueberry bush, it’s great to have more! Hope she can grow some and give them out.
I have strawberries and raspberries, but no blueberries! I will have to find some space and try this!
I haven’t had much luck with strawberries…you have to share your secret. Maybe I’ll try growing raspberries next year.
Wonderful idea, Erlene. I agree with you that growing your own is a great idea.
Yes, the store bought plants are $30+ dollars! I’m hoping these grow nice and big so I can have loads of blueberries.
It would be fun to watch the growing process of these cuttings, Erlene. And to see the final fruition! I’ve never had any luck with cuttings. Before my friends sold their home and moved away, I got cuttings from their hydrangea bush that I loved so much. That was over five years ago and the bush, which is growing quite well, has only produced two very small flowers which is quite disappointing. But you sound like you know what to do to get a tasty crop! Good luck!
I’ve never tried growing blueberries before and they are my daughters favorite. I’ll have to get a plant next year and try this.
Hi Jenny, Make sure to get at least two different varieties for a better crop.