How to Grow a Blueberry Tree

Select a full sun location for your blueberry plant. Test the pH using a home pH test kit. Most kits instruct you to collect a soil sample, moisten the soil, and touch a pH strip to the soil. The strip turns a color, which corresponds with a pH value.

Amend your soil with sulfur to make it more acidic. Blueberries need a fairly acidic soil with a pH of 4.5 to 5.5. Work the sulfur into the soil using the suggested amounts at The Garden Helper (see resources).

Dig a hole twice as wide as the plant's root ball. Remove the plant from its container and gently break apart the root ball with your fingers. Place the blueberry in the prepared hole and cover the roots with soil.

Water the newly planted blueberry plant until the soil compacts around it and becomes saturated with water.

Prune back 30 percent of the blueberry just after planting. Remove the older wood and keep younger green shoots.

Mulch the soil in a three- to four-inch thick layer. This helps keep moisture in the soil.

Make sure the plant absorbs one inch of water per week. To determine how much this is, turn your hose on low and drip water into a bucket until the amount measures one inch. Time how long this takes. Then set your hose at that pressure for that amount of time and put it at the base of the plant.

Do not allow the plant to produce fruit the first year since you want the plant to focus on growth instead. Pick off any flowers to prevent fruit from growing.

Fertilize the plant with 0.2 oz. of nitrogen fertilizer during the first year in April, June, and July. During the second year, fertilize with 0.25 oz. nitrogen fertilizer during the same time frame. To fertilize, scatter the dry material around the base of the plant and then water it until it soaks into the ground.