Hey, old people…
I get it now.
I get why you love gardening so much.
On the surface, it seems like a boring pastime, full of failed crops and wasted time on food you could just buy at the store. OH, but it is SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT!
I’m just glad that I’m starting young. Because man alive, does gardening feed my soul! And once I found out I could grow blueberries in a desert climate, things just got way more fun!
Once I started to experience gardening success…
I became a lot braver at branching out to plants that don’t grow easily in my area. What can I say, I like a challenge!
My obsession starts with an idea, which turns into heavy research, which turns into excitement about the possibilities, which turns into me exclaiming, “FAMILY MEETING!” At which point everybody sighs and asks what I’m planting “now.”
Well, my family… my little workers…
Blueberries are where it’s at.
And ya’ll are gonna help me make it happen!
So, without further ado, let’s dive into how to plant blueberries where we live!
Growing Blueberries in a Desert Climate
The first thing to start off with is to choose the right variety for your area. We chose two Southern Highbush varieties: Misty and Sunshine Blue. They both have low chill hours of 150-300 and they also help pollinate each other.
Blueberries need a specific environment to be successful. First, they need an acidic soil pH at around 4.5-5.5. Here in the Phoenix area of Arizona, we are in Zone 9, and we have a rather alkaline soil at 7-8. It’s for this reason that blueberries can’t survive in the ground in a desert climate naturally (only in a pot).
My favorite place to buy blueberries is from Bluegrass Blueberries!
We also knew that we needed the soil in the pot to be an optimal pH. Here’s the soil mix we placed in the pot:
- 1/3 part potting soil (where to buy)
- 2/3 part peat moss (where to buy) – Most of the time, peat moss isn’t recommended because it’s not sustainable, but in this case peat moss is best because of its acidic nature.
- 1/2 lb. acid mix for every cubic ft. (where to buy)
- 1 lb. sulfur for every cubic ft. (where to buy)
We also added some other amendments to help boost the nutrients in the soil:
- 1/4 c. Mycorrhizal Fungi (where to buy)
- 1/4 c. Azomite (where to buy)
- 1 quart Coffee grounds
- 1 lb. Worm Castings (where to buy)
We started by drilling holes in the bottom of the planter to allow for drainage.
Then we placed a layer of small river rock in the bottom, about 4 inches thick.
After that, we put the soil mix and amendments in the planter box and stared at our glorious blueberry home!
After we placed our two blueberry plants in the box, we covered with pine needle mulch. I’ve always had great success with deep mulching here in Arizona because it helps conserve water. The pine needles are recommended as mulch because they’re acidic.
When To Plant Blueberries In A Desert Climate
If you live in Arizona, California, Texas, Nevada, or New Mexico and you are hoping to grow blueberries, the best time to plant is in January. That’s the time when the blueberry plant is dormant. Come spring, your blueberry plant will ‘spring’ to life and you’ll have all sorts of beautiful green leaves sprout!
Maintaining Blueberries In A Desert Climate
The last thing you need to know about growing blueberries in a desert climate is that if your soil is alkaline, so is your water. Over time it will make your soil more alkaline. What you can do to combat this is to continually add things like coffee grounds, pickle juice, apple cider vinegar, and leftover beer or wine. It’s recommended to only do this about once a week and just in small amounts.
Every spring, blueberries would like to be fertilized again with an acid mix. Be sure not to use nitrate-based fertilizer, only natural brands.
Finally, it is recommended also that if you pick the first year’s flowers, it will encourage the plant to put energy into growing roots instead of fruit. This is a tough sacrifice, but well worth it, as the following years, you’ll get plenty of fruit!
Thanku for addressing the alkaline water issue. I am in south eastern Nevada and I was wondering about that since my leaves are becoming yellow tinged. I will add the amendments you suggested. Great info!:; Thanks
Also, I read your article about blueberries. I absolutely LOVE the planter boxes you built. Do you have a video on how you made them or their specifications. Love browsing through all your articles…thank you!
Hi Susan-
DaNelle has an article on it: https://www.weedemandreap.com/build-raised-garden-boxes/
Thank you -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
Hi DaNelle, I’ve got my planters built, my blueberries and all my soil amendments….do I line the planter boxes with some kind of plastic for longevity???
Hi Susan-
No, DaNelle does not line her planters with plastic.
Thank you -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
I read your comment about blueberries in pots. Do you think blackberries can be planted in ground?
Hi Susan-
Yes you can. Here is some information on that: https://extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/pubs/az1450.pdf
Thank you -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
Hi
I’m in Arizona, and I was told that you can get bluberries to grow here but they will be bitter. Is that true? Is there anything you can do to avoid a bitter flavor when planting? How do your berries taste?
Thank you!
Hi Christi-
Blueberries can grow well in Arizona and not be bitter. This article is a great resource for growing berries in Arizona: https://extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/pubs/az1585.pd
Thank you -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
That link doesn’t work anymore. Do you have another resource?
Hi Ethan-
I apologize the link no longer works. You can try this one and it may be helpful: https://extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/pubs/az1585.pdf
Thank you -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
I have a 5 cubic foot container that I’m putting two plants in. Will this change the amount of the amounts of fungi, Azomite, coffee grounds and worm castings that were listed in this article?
Thanks, Bonnie
Hi Bonnie-
Yes, you will want to change the amount of those amendments. Doubling them would be a good place to start. It would be best then to test your soil for pH, and nitrogen and phosphorus too, to make sure your blueberries are getting what they need.
If you need help testing soil your local County Extension Office can help with that.
I hope that helps!
Happy Gardening!
Thank you -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
Hi, found this site when I was looking for a way to grow blueberries in AZ. I don’t know when this article was published but I noticed some comments dated back to early 16. I’m assuming your blueberry plants have been in the pot for 2.5 years now, which variety do you find better suited and have grown better? Do you mind sharing a current photo of the blueberry plants? Thanks.
Hi Isa-
DaNelle doesn’t have any current pictures to share, but her neighbor has an Instagram account that shows a lot of pictures of her blueberries: https://www.instagram.com/sweetlifegarden/
As for varieties, DaNelle enjoys both the Misty and Sunshine Blue Southern Highbush varieties.
Thank you -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
Hi Bobby,
I purchased two Pink Icing Blueberry plants from a big box store. I also bought two large pots to put them in. I plan to plant them this coming weekend. Their packaging says 500 chill hours ?. What are my chances of success?
Hi Jenny-
You definitely want to allow your blueberries plenty of chill hours or they won’t produce fruit very well. With it being February you may still have time for this depending on your location. Your blueberries may not produce well this year, but should do better later on.
Thank you -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
Is it dry peat moss or wet in the recipe.
Hi Gloria-
The peat moss is dry for this.
Thanks! -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
I’m trying to decide between a blueberry bush or a mulberry bush. I’m in Cottonwood, AZ. Any thoughts? I planted a 20th Century asian pear earlier this year and recently had my first harvest. They’re delicious! Now I want to plant other things.
Hi Patti-
Decisions, decisions! Both are great fruits to have and choosing may be difficult. You may just have to decide which fruit would be more useful to you for eating, baking, etc. Both are very nutritious and delicious.
Some things to know about mulberries are that they are actually trees, although there are some smaller bushier varieties. Not sure if that matters, but just wanted you to know. Also, if you do choose a mulberry tree try to go for the black variety as these have a very delicious balanced sweet-tart taste. Red is the next best variety, with white being the least palatable (although still good). However, white are the hardiest, then red, and then black, but in general mulberries are tough trees and easy to grow and hard to kill (this is how I often pick what to grow). Blueberries can be a bit more temperamental.
One thing to be cautious of is that mulberries are banned in some areas, including Tucson I believe. Also some neighborhoods or HOAs do not allow them because they drop fruit and can be very messy, especially if near a sidewalk. So make sure your area allows them and also does not consider them a nuisance species. Here is one of DaNelle’s articles about understanding HOAs a little better: https://www.weedemandreap.com/hoa-approved-backyard-farm/
Here is another article DaNelle wrote about the different fruits she grows. I thought it might be helpful to see: https://www.weedemandreap.com/fruit-trees-planted-spring/
Although it may make it tougher to choose, because she shows some other great fruits that would be fun to grow!
Best of luck with all your fruits and Happy Gardening! -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
Question: plant placement on east side or west side? Full sun or partial? Morning sun afternoon shade? Gilbert Arizona. Will be planted in a large clay pot. Thanks. I love this site.
They only way is to keep them in good, cool shade (somewhere with trees overhead and grass below) from about 11am on. East or Northeast for sure.
Love the information provided here. I had learned that growing blueberries in a container was possible but I would have killed them by not understanding most of the information you provided! Looking forward to adding blueberries to my desert garden and giving my children some more freshly grown snacks! One question: what size container do you recommend for both plants together? Thank you! And I look forward to looking through your site for more information!
Love all your info! <3 I Never knew I could grow blueberries in the desert. I had sort of given up until I found your site. Thank you! 🙂 <3
I’ve had good luck with the so-called Back to Eden method in creating soil over my “dead” sand back yard. In my case, I planted the blueberry plants in the ground the first year with this method. Planted them with peat, pine bark, in the sand and added sulfur. At first they were slow to grow, but perked up as the chips decayed. For others, I would recommend waiting a few years to allow the wood chips to break down more.
Thank you for addressing how to grow blueberries in the SouthWest. I live in the Inland Valley area of San Diego County. I have failed twice with blueberry bushes, but am not giving up! Guess I need to test my soil pH (though my most recent attempt was with pots – think spider mites got to them).
So, i planted mine in the ground I should dig it up & out it in a pot? I am in Arizona too. Or can I just put the vinegar and such around where I planted it. Also, what a bout raspberries?
Hi Laura, yes definitely get it out of the ground, it simply can’t survive. Strawberries do fine in our soil (with acidic amendments), but blueberries need a more delicate spot with none of our native soil.
I’m not sure about raspberries, I haven’t tried them yet!
Love your site! Can you do an updated farm tour video like the one you uploaded in 2014? I would love to see how much it has grown. You are so inspiring!
Yes! We plan on it doing one soon!
hello I enjoyed it.
We live in the Caribbean the dry part not much rain and I was wondering if it is als possible t grow blueberries or any other berrie here.
Recently we started with fig they are doing great we have several varieties that we are testing, they love compost. This we make ourself.
let me know which berries you suggest that wecan grow here. Thank you
Hi Julie, I am not sure if blueberries would grow in the Caribbean, I would recommend approaching a blueberry expert over at BluegrassBlueberries.com Good luck!
I am seriously enjoying your website! you make it so easy to understand! Thank you! We are literally prepping for building raised garden beds, as we are making them this coming weekend. I planted my seeds last weekend so we are rolling. i’m so excited! yay!
Amber, seriously, thank you! I always wonder how people view my articles! This totally made my day!