Best Blueberries to grow Montmorency County - Ask Extension
My property is in Lewiston, Mi and has infertile sandy soil.
What variety of blueberry bushes will grow well here. I will be planting at the sou...
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Best Blueberries to grow Montmorency County #866915
Asked May 03, 2024, 2:20 PM EDT
My property is in Lewiston, Mi and has infertile sandy soil.
What variety of blueberry bushes will grow well here. I will be planting at the south end of a lawn that is shaded by large scotch pines. I can easily water the berries (part of my lawn sprinkler zone).
Montmorency County Michigan
Expert Response
Michigan is well protected as a state. Our seasonal conditions are suitable to all varieties throughout the year. If you can get one variety to grow in your soil, you should have no problem getting any others. Often variety choice comes down when you want to pick the fruit and the quality of the fruit. Here is a document that MSUE put out recently that goes through most of the common varieties on the market: https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/blueberry-varieties-for-michigan
The bigger challenge with blueberries is identifying a suitable planting site. You state you have infertile, sandy soil. That may be a problem for successful blueberry growth. They like well-draining, but high organic matter sites. They like moist soils, but not standing water. But, most of all, they really like low ph soils. I would recommend doing a soil test and seeing how acidic your soils are in that area. I would look to other plants if you have anything with a ph above 5.5 (or 6.0 if you really must have blueberries). Blueberries as particular plants that need the right conditions to thrive. But if you have those conditions, you can choose the variety that fits your interests. It should grow just fine.
The bigger challenge with blueberries is identifying a suitable planting site. You state you have infertile, sandy soil. That may be a problem for successful blueberry growth. They like well-draining, but high organic matter sites. They like moist soils, but not standing water. But, most of all, they really like low ph soils. I would recommend doing a soil test and seeing how acidic your soils are in that area. I would look to other plants if you have anything with a ph above 5.5 (or 6.0 if you really must have blueberries). Blueberries as particular plants that need the right conditions to thrive. But if you have those conditions, you can choose the variety that fits your interests. It should grow just fine.