Propagating Blueberries

[Sloane]

I was contemplating moving my blueberries from one location to the
other. I have decided against that b/c A. I am not so ticked off
anymore B. they are doing so well where they are I hate to disturb
them. C. I am unsure if my front yard has enough sun. So my solution
is..make more! So when is a good time to do this....and how do I do
it! :o)

[The Useful Gardener]

Hi, Sloane!

Glad to know you have calmed over your berries. :)

Actually propagating blueberries from cuttings is a pain. I think we
only hit about 40% success in the nursery and other nurserymen were
fairly awed by Rob's getting that much. I can tell you that the A-1
secret is to find some seriously aged sawdust. Almost dirt. The
cuttings need seriously acidic conditions. And mist. So also figure
out where you can keep cuttings for 18 months without ever forgetting
them and letting them dry out. Once you have those two things in
hand, you can get serious about propagation. I know there are some
eHow type articles on the web trilling about how easy it is but it
isn't. My suggestion is to order from Finch Blueberry Farm (dig past
the pottery stuff to the blueberries) or even get some on eBay (likely
to be small but still, that saves you almost two years). Look for
Climax, Premiere and/or Tifblue. They are still the best and most
reliable for our area. Whatever varieties, make sure they are
Rabbiteye blueberries, Vaccinium ashei. Nothing else does very well
here for long.

On the other hand, you can often propagate blueberries by rooting
young side shoots. Make a little scape (injury) lengthwise on one
side, just through the thin bark - like scraping your fingernail along
the stem (never girdle it around the stem) and bury the shoot. Either
pin it down and then bury and weight it down, or put good dirt up
around it. You can also wrap it in sphagnum moss and cover with
plastic but, hey, that's just another whole batch of stuff to worry
about. Takes some time to do the rooting through (and don't keep
digging around, pestering it to check on roots) so personally I just
get plants.

[Sloane]

Thanks Sybil, I have a friend who was interested in this question
also, so I'll make sure she reads it also.