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Last Updated on May 12 , 2023 by
Blueberry companion plants are pretty diverse , and help oneself you to keep your blueberries barren of pestilence and disease . In recent years , the spheric blueberry industry has exploded in sizing , and I have had the good chance of puzzle out with one of the world loss leader in this field . This clause will share some of the prank learned through this tie .
A Quick Overview of Blueberry Plants
When considering what to use as goodblueberry companion plant , it is first important to have an understanding of the fundamentals of a blueberry bush plant life . Many species of flora are called blueberries . There are two independent growth type – highbush and lowbush blueberry bush . Lowbush blueberries are wild blueberries and tend to just be countenance to do their own affair with a little assist in nature . For this article , we will be dealing with commercially useable and cultivated highbush blueberries .
Highbush blueberries form the cornerstone of a huge international manufacture , where dissimilar regions of the world produce saucy blueberries at different times of the year . These are air freighted around the globe to give people “ fresh ” blueberry nearly yr - round . Once you however uprise your own , you will find out that the “ sweet ” blueberries in the shop class are just not as good .
All plants that are raise in large planting tend to have uninterrupted improvement in genetics being performed by industrial plant stock breeder . The result is many cultivars to choose from – I have experience with O’Neal , Duke , and Farthing cultivars . Personally , O’Neal appeal to me – it abide well , and starts quite early , giving a decent harvest season , and the berries are by far my favorite in footing of taste . They start early and produce flop into the middle of summer .
Flowers to Grow Near Blueberries
In terms ofblueberry companion plants , choosing the good flowers to grow near – as in within 20 to 30 feet – the blueberries really helps to pop your season potent . Commercially useable highbush blueberry bush cultivars have been bred to be pollinated by honeybee . For uncivilised blueberry , bumble bee are more appropriate . However , that said , bumble bees and other wild bee are still far better pollinators of blueberries , and planting flowers that draw and substantiate little populations of these bees really helps .
When planting flower to attract natural pollinator of blueberry , it helps to first have a nesting site for these bees . You canread an clause I write about leafcutter beesand how to countenance them to grow sustainably in your garden here . These are important pollinators of blueberries . To con about the difference of opinion between bumble bees ( the best pollinator for blueberries ) and honeybees ( a sort of OK pollinator for blueberries)read this clause I wrote .
for adjudicate what flowers to maturate , and to accomplish the best pollenation of our blueberry , we need to require what flowers work well for barbarian bees ( not Apis mellifera ) as we desire to keep a universe of these bees in our region to pollinate our blueberries . Honeybees can fly retentive distances ( a few miles ) , and if something tasty is keeping them busy they will ignore your blueberry flowers . Wild bees can only scrounge over a range of a few hundred feet around their nest , so they will tend to focalise on the flowers in your garden . The more flower , the more pollinators .
Bird Netting for Garden ( 13 ft x 33 ft )
The best bloom for sole bees , in my opinion , are repeated basil , rosemary , wisteria ( this really assist in saltation ) , fava dome , and peas ( bring in bumble bees ) . One of my favorite other crops to found for bees is buckwheat . Normally you’re able to bribe some seeds at a health intellectual nourishment workshop – look for seeds with the husk still on . Buckwheat for feeding is usually okay if it has husk .
Buckwheat implant in early springiness will bloom in a few weeks after planting . If you plant it quite densely it smothers out weeds and you could then cut into it back into the ground shortly after flowering as a dark-green manure . If you let it go to seed , you will now have buckwheat as a Mary Jane ! Even a small patch 10 feet long by a few feet wide will sustain a small colony of 20 - 30 bumble bees . Buckwheat get a lot of ambrosia and really helps pollinator get going . It stop over producing nectar before midday cause your pollinator to seem elsewhere – and find your blueberry .
Companion Plants for Blueberries – The Most Popular
A very useful trick with choosingblueberry fellow traveller plantsis to plant a hedging of rosemary and a hedgerow of lavender in a mob right around your blueberry bush piece . This acts as a roadblock to many pests that could enter your blueberry bush patch and also act as an attractant for pollinators utilitarian for your plant .
Thyme
you could expand this pestis roadblock effect by let Thyme to farm under the blueberries . Thyme is almost like a living mulch and roleplay as a acrid roadblock to other things that could have fawn through your barrier of rosemary and lilac-colored . I have seen declamatory commercial blueberry farm with thyme growing under the mature blueberry bush President Bush . If mulch the thyme thinly withpine straw , it will often tug through .
Strawberries
blueberry have an ideal soil pH kitchen range of 4 - 5 or so , and strawberries can grow at 5 . I have once or twice grown strawberries under my blueberries but by and large , they seem to compete a bit . Having strawberries near your blueberries , however , helps to keep pollinators alive .
Cranberries
Cranberries bask a similar soil type to blueberries and a exchangeable pH grasp . I have read of people who have successfully grow cranberry under blueberry – for me this did not lick – this may be due to my irrigation water having a pH of around 7.5 due to the nature of overspill I receive into my reservoir and possibly due to the plant in the dekameter that put up the pH. I have understand that rainwater is just for the irrigation of cranberry .
Dill
One of the more interestingblueberry companion plantsis a dill works or two planted in the less acidic soil near your blueberry . Dill is one of those thing that becomes a bit of a pest , as it somehow always flower and sets seeds . I grow it for the seed and use the seeds in my pickle spice . When dill flowers , it attracts a wide kitchen stove of pollinators . This plant is a pollinator magnet . It also stink and produces a lot of terpenes and interrelate compounds that give chase away aphids , thrips , and other small irritating pests that can become a trouble on blueberries .
Wildflowers
In nature , you will often find blueberry in peat bog - case context , and around that , on higher ground , you will witness meadows with a range of wild flower . I am a vast believer in revive meadows in our creation – if you have an ugly lawn somewhere that is just blow your meter and money , rewild it into a bee hayfield – your garden will thrive because of it .
Elderberries
European elder are an first-class plant to embed as shelterbelt – and they wreak in a plenty of pollinator . These also enjoy slightly acidic soil . In my climate , they grow like a weed but only gear up fruit every few years . When they do , I love making elderberry George Herbert Mead – it has a rich dark purple gloss and lovely taste . Planting a row of these to split up the predominant farting centering that blows over your blueberry patch in spring will reserve the patch to warm up a bit . This somewhat warmer air , with reduce air move , allow for former bees to get into the plants and start pollinating .
The earlier you pollenate flowers , the longer your harvest will be . Creating microclimates with hedgerow is very important to engineering your garden to be more productive .
blueberry grow well in acidic soil – and not much else that is useful does . In this regard , allow highly acidic soil for Blueberries , reasonably acidic ground for cranberries , and more or less acidulous land for strawberries . As you get to the bound of the acidic darn ( I obtain , unless you live in a peat bog , that acidulous soil is a patchy luxury ) .
Blueberry Companion Plants Permaculture Tips
In choosingblueberry companion plants forpermaculture , we try on to grow them with minimum pesticide or chemical interposition . Hence , all of the above tips become more important . The hedge of herbs , the understory of thyme , and the dill weed are significant for keeping pesterer away , minimizing our employment of chemicals ( even neem ) , and ensuring nutrient cycling into the soil . The same logic of planting as per the normal companion planting listed above , applies to permaculture .
What Not to Grow Near Blueberries
Generally , plants such astomatoes , potatoes , eggplant , and to a lesser extent common pepper / chilistend to attract pests that can also be a problem on blueberry . I have a problem withcherry tomatoesthat can become a Mary Jane in my garden . If you do not keep a deliberate eye on these delicious problem plants they can run all over your garden and will endeavor to climb the blueberry flora . attempt to untangle these causes wrong to the blueberry .
love apple plants are also a attractive feature / breeding zona for spider mites , and in the mid - summer heat , these can migrate to the blueberries where they stimulate substantial damage from which the plant will sometimes not recover .
Thecabbage / cauliflower / kale / brussel sprout / broccolicluster of plants is a disease magnet for aphids and white tent flap especially . These drift over to become a problem for blueberry bush . This group of plant requires quite alkalic grunge compared to blueberries that enjoy a very acidic filth , hence there is small logic in planting them near each other anyhow .
Squashalso appear to be a bad combination as they can grow a few foot a day , and if you go away for three days , you issue forth back to find your blueberry buried under a heap of squash rackets . Squash is , like cherry red tomatoes , prone to take over your garden .
Quick Summary – Companion Plants for Blueberries
So you’re able to look at :
1 . Perennial basil(keep it indoors in wintertime )
2 . Rosemary
3 . Wisteria
4 . Fava beans
5 . Peas
6 . Buckwheat
7 . Thyme
8 . Strawberries
9 . cranberry
10 . Anethum graveolens
11 . Wildflowers(normally 5 - 10 specie in the mix )
12 . Elderberries
13 . Lilacs
14 . Azaleas
15 . Basil
The secure companion plants for blueberry are those that prime , following pests away , and attract pollinator . you’re able to also moot plants such as lavender , buckwheat , fava beans , peas , dill , dulcet alyssum , and cornflower that for instance can be plant to keep populations of bumble bee and wild bee levelheaded . you could also plant blueberry bush near flowers like lilacs and azaleas .
Some suggest plant lush rhododendron and azaleas as companion plant life for blueberry bush – I would however monish against rhododendrons as increasingly tumid amounts of research suggest that these plants bring out nectar that is toxic to many mintage of bee . Blueberries take pollinators – the last affair you require to do is to kill those .
Dr. Garth A. Cambray is a Canadian / South African enterpriser and apiculturist with 28 years of experience in apiculture and specializes in adding time value to dear . His Ph.D. research develop a unexampled advanced uninterrupted fermentation method for make mead that has result in a number of ship’s company globally being capable to get at markets for Margaret Mead . His company , Makana Meadery , export honey mead to the USA where it is available to recognise connoisseurs . He has also spring up technologies to commercially manufacture constitutive dear vinegar in Zambia for exportation globally . He hold a few patents globally in the ethanol industry and conceive in technology and noesis transference for human development and environmental sustainability . One of his proud achievements is the fact that the wind farm he started at one of his old apiary sites has fundamentally made his hometown carbon neutral .
