Fertilizer Machine For Blueberry in The Greenhouse

Blueberry is a perennial deciduous or evergreen shrub. The fruit is blue and nearly round, with a single fruit weighing 0.5 to 2.5 grams. The flesh is delicate, moderately sweet and sour, and fragrant. It can be eaten fresh or processed into jam, juice, wine, etc.
1. Site selection:
The slope of the site should be small and should not exceed 10 degrees; the soil pH value should be 4.0-5.5, and the optimum range should be 4.3-4.8; the soil organic matter content should not be less than 5%; the soil should be loose, well-ventilated, moist but not waterlogged, and have good drainage to prevent root rot; sandy loam or sandy soil with sufficient water sources is best. Blueberries like light, but they need proper shade in the high temperatures of summer to avoid damage from strong light. Highbush blueberries are suitable for planting in warm and humid areas, while lowbush blueberries are more cold-resistant and suitable for cultivation in cold northern areas. ‌
After the site is selected, deep plowing should be carried out one year before planting, with a depth of 20 to 25 cm. The soil should be prepared after deep plowing and ripening. Before planting, the soil that does not fully meet the requirements should be improved to facilitate the growth of blueberries.

3.1 When planting, you can pot or dig planting holes on the ridge. The size of the planting holes is generally about 40 x40 x40cm. Add 5kg of organic fertilizer and 30~50g of compound fertilizer to the bottom as base fertilizer. Mix more soil after adding, leave it on the bottom layer and cover it with a layer of soil. Then add some peat, pesticides and soil on top, mix well and leave it on the upper layer of the planting hole, ready for planting. Before planting, the soil needs to be improved, sulfur powder is added to adjust the pH value, and fully decomposed organic fertilizer is mixed in. Dig the planting hole, put the seedlings in, let the roots stretch, then fill the soil and compact it lightly, and water it enough to take root. ‌
3.2 Blueberries can be planted in spring or autumn, with autumn planting having a higher survival rate, while spring planting should be planted early rather than late. For plant spacing, 2m×2m or 1.5m×3m is commonly used for rabbiteye blueberries, 1.2m×2m for highbush blueberries, and 0.5-1m×1m for lowbush blueberries. White flowers of rabbiteye blueberries are not fruitful, so it is best to use highbush blueberries as pollination varieties. White flowers of highbush and lowbush blueberries have a higher fruiting rate, but pollination trees can improve fruit quality and yield. The ratio of main cultivated varieties to pollination varieties is 1:1 or 1:2. When building a blueberry garden, multiple varieties should be selected, mainly because cross-pollination has a positive effect on the quality and yield of blueberry fruits.
1. Soil management:
Blueberry roots are shallow and thin, without root hairs, so loose soil with good ventilation is required.
①Clear tillage method: Clear tillage can be carried out from early spring to August. Clear tillage after autumn is not good for wintering. Clear tillage is often used for highbush blueberry cultivation on sandy loam. The depth of clear tillage should be 5 to 10 cm. Too deep will easily damage the root system.
② Grassing method: grassing is used between rows, and herbicides are used within the rows. Compared with the clean tillage method, the grassing method is also conducive to increasing yields, and has the advantages of maintaining soil moisture and facilitating mechanical operations.
③Soil covering method: Soil covering is widely used in blueberry production. It has many functions, such as increasing soil organic matter, improving soil structure, regulating and maintaining soil moisture, lowering soil pH, and controlling weeds. Covering the soil of lowbush blueberries with 5 to 10 cm of sawdust can increase the yield by 30% and the weight of single fruit by 50% within 3 years. Leaves, straw and other crop straw can also be used, but the effect is not as good as sawdust.
④ Weeding: In the management of blueberry gardens, weeding is a very important part. If done well, it can increase the yield by more than 1 times. Chemical herbicides are widely used in blueberry production. This is because manual weeding is expensive and easy to damage the root system, especially in the cultivation of low-bush blueberries. Due to the stringy rhizomes, the entire orchard will be connected after a few years, and manual weeding is impossible. Commonly used herbicides in blueberry gardens include diuron, simazine, chlorfenapyr, 2,6-dichlorobenzene, glyphosate, paraquat, etc.
2. Fertilization:
① Types of fertilizers. It is better to apply nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium compound fertilizers than single fertilizers; the ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers should be 1:1:1; it is better to apply ammonium nitrogen fertilizers such as ammonium sulfate, and it is not suitable to apply nitrate nitrogen fertilizers; blueberries are sensitive to chlorine, so do not use chlorine-containing fertilizers such as ammonium chloride and potassium chloride.
② Fertilization methods and periods. High-bush and rabbit-eye blueberries can be fertilized by furrowing, with a depth of 10 to 15 cm; low-bush blueberries are connected after the garden is established, and broadcasting is the main method. Fertilization should be carried out before budding in early spring, and it can also be applied once more during the berry ripening period.
③ Amount of fertilizer. Excessive fertilization can easily damage the blueberry tree or even kill the whole plant. Therefore, the amount of fertilizer should be determined very carefully and must be based on soil fertility and the nutritional status of the tree.
3. Irrigation: Blueberries have shallow roots and like moisture, so timely irrigation is very necessary. When irrigating blueberries, you need to pay attention to the water source and water quality. Deep well water generally has a high pH value and high sodium and calcium content. Long-term use will affect the growth and yield of blueberries. When irrigating, you can use sulfuric acid to adjust the pH value to about 5.5-4.0 before irrigating, but you should irrigate with acid water about 3 times.