You can grow blueberries here, but it's important to get the variety and soil condition right.
You've probably heard the saying: An apple a day keeps the doctor away. But what if eating other fruits really can help keep you healthier?
Blueberries have become one of the trendy, tasty fruits of choice for many because of their antioxidant qualities.
Blueberries can be tossed in with your cereal, included in your yogurt or mixed in with your muffin mix. But probably nothing beats popping fresh berries from your backyard into your mouth.
But growing blueberries in the central San Joaquin Valley can be a challenge because of our mild winters and usually high-pH soil conditions. However, it's possible to do so if you prepare and amend your soil now.
Lee Fanucchi, a 76-year-old Fresno County Master Gardener, has several Misty and O'Neal blueberry bushes in his backyard. He likes his fresh as can be.
"Just wash and eat them," he says.
Blueberry bluesThere are two main reasons why blueberries can fail in the Valley. One is not amending the soil in your backyard.
Blueberries prefer acidic soil with a pH of 4.8 to 5.5. To bring most high-pH soils in Fresno to within that range, you have to amend them. Ideally, you should make the changes a year in advance, but it's not too late if you want to try planting blueberries this coming year, says Manuel Jimenez, a University of California Cooperative Extension farm adviser in Tulare County.
In a 5-foot-by-5-foot area, add 1 pound of soil sulfur and 12 cubic feet of fine wood shavings or sawdust to the top 18 inches of the soil, says Jimenez, who started a blueberry program in 1997 at the UC Kearney Research and Extension Center in Parlier.
"The main thing that has to occur is changing the acidity in the soil. We have to acidify the soil and water," he says. "If you don't do that, the plants loose vigor."
Be aware that hard irrigation water can raise the soil's pH. To correct it, you can add vinegar or citric acid to the water once every four weeks, Jimenez says. Water not less than twice a week during the summer. Be sure to check your pH levels annually. You may need to add some more soil sulfur every couple of years.
You also can plant in containers, where you have better control over the soil ingredients.
"Blueberries grown in the ground are a challenge, but blueberries grown in a container with a [soil] mix that accommodates the low pH is a cinch," says Ed Laivo, marketing director at Dave Wilson Nursery in Hickman. "The soil in the Valley generally runs a higher pH. That doesn't complement a blueberry at all."
In a container, he suggests mixing one part each of azalea potting soil, peat moss and pathway bark (about a quarter-inch in size), and a handful of soil sulfur.
Right cultivarsSome varieties of blueberries might not thrive in the Valley because of an insufficient amount of cold weather.
Blueberries are members of the Ericaceae family, which includes azaleas and rhododendrons. These berry bushes require chilling during the winter.
According to an article Jimenez and several others wrote in 2005, "Chilling is the accumulated number of hours between 32 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit that are necessary for a dormant plant to break vegetative and flower buds. Chill hours in the San Joaquin Valley range from 600 to 1,200 annually."
There are two main blueberry groups -- northern highbush and southern highbush. Most northern highbush varieties need more than 1,000 chill hours, while most southern highbush varieties require less than 1,000. Some low-chill southern highbush varieties require only 150 to 600 chill hours, according to the article.
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