Why Is My Blueberry Plant Not Producing Fruit?

 So, you have blueberry plants, but you don’t have blueberries. This is an issue some gardeners encounter even if they didn't originally buy a blueberry bush online. But luckily, we have been growing these berry bushes for over four and half decades and have dealt with this before. We know a thing or two, and in this article we'll go through the different ways to diagnose your lack of berries and get your shrubs to producing fast.

If you haven't yet planted your berry bush, check out our complete Blueberry Grow Guide for more information.

Quick Picks: Best Selling Blueberry Bushes

1. Rabbiteye 3-Pack of Blueberries
2. Tifblue Blueberry Bush
3. Premier Blueberry Bush
4. Climax Blueberry Bush
5. Pink Lemonade Blueberry Bush

Blueberry plants are a fun and easy way to bring backyard gardening into your life and delicious berries into your bellies. They are one of the only fruit trees that natively grow in North America.

Blueberry bushes are easy to grow and maintain, they can be planted in your backyard or even kept in containers. The following questions asked below will pose “how-tos” or problem-solving if your home garden’s blueberry bush is not producing. 

Is Your Blueberry Bush Getting Full Sun?

Blueberry plants need full sun. If not, you will be disappointed. Like most plants grown for food, the light blue berries do best in full sun (at least 6 hours). They can take some partial shade, but too much shade will decrease flowering and fruiting. 

Did you plant the right blueberry for your grow zone?

Some blueberries require a period of winter dormancy if they are to produce flowers and fruit the following growing season. “Winter chill” is the total number of hours (“chill hours”) below 45°F that a plant needs to bloom. The various varieties of blueberries have different winter chill requirements. Blueberry cultivars can be divided into “high chill” varieties that require more than 800 chill hours, and “low chill” varieties that will set fruit with less than 800 chill hours. 

Up North, you need high chill varieties. A low chill variety growing in a northern climate will likely break dormancy too soon, and its flowers killed by a subsequent freeze.

If you’re in the South, you need low chill varieties. A high chill variety growing in the South may never fully break dormancy and not even bear flowers.

Some popular blueberry plant varieties and their winter chill requirements are:

High Chill  – Better for the Northern States

Since we are a Florida nursery…. Perfect Plants sells all low chill varieties of blueberries. Looking for a different blueberry variety for sale? Ask us and we may be able to help you find it.

To find out how many chill hours are normal for your particular location, consult any of the many sources on the web. One of our favorites is at the Midwestern Regional Climate Center. 

You May Not Have the Right or Enough Cross Pollination

Most blueberry production requires a different variety nearby for cross pollination. Even varieties advertised as self-fertile will produce more plentiful berries if planted near a pollenizer. Any two varieties can pollinate each other as long as they are within 100 feet of each other and a native bee visits each plant. If you have only one variety, you will be disappointed in your harvest.

Blueberries fields are a great crop to grow if you are looking for honey bee hives and optimum bee pollination. Blueberry flowers attract many bee species to come and feast on the pollen and nectar. The bloom period for rabbiteye blueberries is early spring until summer when the fruit ripen.

Is Your Soil Acidic Enough?

Blueberries require an acidic soil. The ideal pH for blueberry plants is between 4.2 and 5.0. Do a pH test on your soil. For a soil pH between 5.5 and 6.5, you should have already adjusted it down by adding aluminum sulfate or elemental sulfur several months BEFORE you planted. (If your soil’s pH is higher than 6.5, blueberry plants will not do well, and it is impractical to attempt to modify the soil.) More info on soil pH here.

For soils that are close to the ideal pH, but just a little bit too high, you can apply an acidic mulch such as pine needles, pine bark, oak leaves, or, best of all, sphagnum peat moss. Any kind of organic matter should work. You should do this annually around your existing mature bushes.

Perfect Plants offers a special hand mixed Blueberry Planting Mix perfect for all blueberry types!

All About Blueberry Fertilizer and When to Fertilize Blueberries

Mature blueberry plants should be fertilized with a yearly application of an acidic nitrogen fertilizer, such as ammonium sulfate or urea. They might also need phosphorus or potassium. Have a soil test conducted to see if your soil is deficient in these, and apply a balanced NPK fertilizer  in addition to the ammonium sulfate or urea if necessary.

Don’t start fertilizing until the blueberry plant’s second year of growth. Apply fertilizer in early spring, spreading it on the surface in a broad ring around the plant. Do not try to work it into the soil because blueberry roots are very shallow and are easily damaged. Mature blueberry plants should get about 8 ounces of ammonium sulfate per year, and an amount of NPK fertilizer as called for by the soil test.

Can Birds Eat Blueberries? And How to Protect Blueberries from Birds

When Do Blueberry Plants Bear Fruit?

Sometimes when a blueberry bush has an exceptionally productive, high bearing year, it will bear poorly the following year. This is called alternate bearing in plants. There’s not much you can do about this besides taking solace in the knowledge that next year will be better, and enjoying all those blueberries you froze last year.

Is Your Plant A Young Blueberry Bush?

Don’t be impatient. You shouldn’t expect to harvest fruit in the blueberry’s first season. Actually, you should pick off the blossoms so the young plant can use its energy to develop strong roots and canes instead of fruit. You will have many more years to enjoy the sweet taste of growing your own blueberries!

When Will My Blueberry Bush Produce Fruit?

You should see blueberry blossoms in late spring and baby blueberries appear in early summer. Blessing you with fruit all summer long! We like to call these mid-season fruit producing plants.

Happy blueberry planting!