Blueberries are a delicious berry that can be grown in any region, if you know certain secrets of agricultural technology and especially varieties. Some species of this fruit shrub are considered the most suitable for cultivation in the northwestern region with a temperate climate and fairly long winters.

The best varieties of blueberries

Some varieties of garden shrubs are ideal for growing in central Russia or other countries with a temperate climate. They are characterized by such features as a memorable taste, intense aroma, good preservation of berries and unpretentiousness to growth conditions. Let us consider in more detail the description of each variety for the Leningrad region in particular, and what features and growing conditions are applicable there.

Important! If the acidity of the soil does not comply with the recommendations and falls below 3.5 pH or rises above 5 pH, it will be impossible to grow a bush. He either will not bear fruit, or will begin to hurt.

Taiga beauty

Tall variety, shrub reaches a height of 2 m. It is highly resistant to parasites and pests. Fruits in large dark blue berries, recognizable by weakly expressed faces. Like other varieties, it has a light white coating on the berries. The taste is sweet-sour, pronounced, recognizable, fresh aroma.

It transfers the transport perfectly; it is not crushed during collection.

Blue Ray

Srednerosly, medium-yielding variety, without outstanding characteristics, but with stable fruiting and strong shoots. In the care, the bush is unpretentious, resistant to frost. The berries are light blue, tart, with a recognizable taste, the correct round shape.Bluurei well tolerates collection and transportation.

With a hot summer, berries tend to wither directly on the bush, so it is recommended to collect them as they ripen, in two or three stages. Before gathering on the ground, it is recommended to lay a special garden film, so the berries can be picked up with minimal losses, they will easily fall off if you shred the bush.

Blucrop

Tall variety, very resistant to frost (tolerates a drop in temperature to –35 ° C). For this blueberry, as well as for Bluery, the falling and withering of berries during a hot summer is characteristic. The height of the bushes is 1.9 m.Features: very plentiful, excess crop. It is thanks to these qualities that Blucrop gained such great popularity in the western and northern regions.

Such a shrub can be found in the taiga on the banks of lakes, in swamps, as well as in private garden farms. Blueberry Bluecrop has a pleasant sweet taste with pronounced sourness, is well stored and tolerates transportation.

Did you know? One serving of blueberries (50 g) per day prevents the occurrence of cognitive impairment, including the development of senile dementia (dementia).

Bonus

Very large blue berries of a blueberry the size of a 2 penny coin - this is what the Bonus looks like. It has high productivity, excellent berry preservation qualities. Bonus is a mid-early variety that ripens in late July or early August.

Contains a record amount of vitamin C, great for harvesting, freezing, eating fresh. You can recognize the berries by the characteristic light blue color and white coating. The shape is round, with a slight flatness in the middle part.

Duke

This blueberry is known for the fact that with large yields it can even break off branches with its weight. Therefore, gardeners tie them up. The shape is perfectly round, without traction and edges. Productivity stably high, early ripening. Intensive resistance to frost (up to –30 ° С).The taste characteristics of the fruits are excellent: sweet taste, dense pulp, pronounced aroma of blueberries.

Nelson

One of the most popular varieties, with proper agricultural technology, gives excellent yields and has a large fruit size. The berries are light, blue, with a white coating. The yield is plentiful, up to 5 kg of berries from one bush. The plant is sprawling, the height of the bush is 1.5–1.6 m. The bush is very compact, it is also suitable for cultivation in the Urals, in the northern regions of Belarus.

Of course, there are many varieties of blueberries for the Leningrad Region. Breeders agree that where Canadian winters begin to get colder and harsh with frosts below –30 ° C, all varieties of Canada and America can be bred, because the climate of these countries is the best suited for blueberries, it is there that the shrub plantations give record yields, and gardeners receive the largest and sweetest fruits. It is more difficult to get a rich harvest in Russia and neighboring countries, but with the right agricultural technology it is quite possible.

Important! If the pit and the soil are prepared correctly, and the bush does not grow, most likely the reason is an excess of moisture. It is necessary to reduce watering and observe the bush, as soon as the soil moisture becomes normal, blueberries will grow.

Agrotechnics of growing blueberries in the Leningrad region

Proper agricultural technology is a way to get rich harvests of blueberries in any, even the smallest, area. It is important to observe the timely planting and seasonal pruning, as well as fertilizing, loosening, watering and mulching the soil. At other times of the day, watering is carried out exclusively under the trunk of a shrub or in a trench dug around the perimeter for irrigation.Among the recommended rules for care: sprinkling. It is performed in the evening, after sunset, watering the bushes from the watering can so that the water falls on the leaves.

Landing rules

The soil for the fruit shrub should have a level of acidity (pH) in the range of 3.5–5 units. Soil parameters: good breathability, moisture permeability. Soil type: a mixture of sand, peat, pine needles or sawdust, it’s nice to add sandy loam (rock mixed with clay, pelitic and silty particles) to the mixture for planting.

Did you know? During World War II, Finnish pilots ate blueberry jam: thanks to this berry, pilots improved visual acuity.

The basic rules for planting blueberries in the northwestern region:

• good illumination of the site;
• lack of drafts;
• loose soil;
• compliance with the norm of acidity;
• good timely soil moisture;
• protection of the root system from the effects of groundwater (when planting, wooden bumpers are installed in the soil, thereby protecting blueberry rhizomes from frost, excess moisture);
• pit size not less than 50 × 50 cm;
• recommendations for planting time - spring, before sap flow;
• the distance between the rows of blueberries - 1.5 m;
• distance between blueberry bushes - 80 cm;
• soil moisture level of about 70%.

The subtleties of caring for blueberries

Experienced gardeners highlight the following subtleties of caring for blueberries in the northwestern region:

• the most important period for watering is July and August, it is then that the berries are poured with juice and sugars, become more saturated in taste, without abundant irrigation, the fruits can ripen small, acidic, and the clusters will be poorly filled;
• material for mulching: bark, coniferous sawdust, dried coniferous needles (pine);
• pruning of young seedlings is carried out only from the third year of their life in the soil, old bushes are rejuvenated by pruning every 5 years;
• treatment from parasites and fungi is mandatory twice a year (in spring, before flowering, and in autumn, after falling of foliage);
• excess feeding is just as harmful as insufficient. This berry does not like a lot of fertilizers. Maximum: twice a year, in the spring before flowering in June until the fruits begin to stain blue, autumn dressing is also allowed if the summer was too rainy.

Video: blueberry care

Observing all the rules of agricultural technology, each gardener can get a plentiful harvest of blueberries, the most suitable for a particular area. This unpretentious shrub gives berries that are healthy, they make tasty jams, compotes, preserves and juice.