Blue Suede® Blueberry

Let's Grow

About Blue Suede® Southern Highbush Blueberry

Whether you live in the country or in an urban environment, you can still grow an impressive amount of fruit with a single Blue Suede® southern highbush blueberry plant. In spring, Blue Suede® bushes flower small, white blooms that densely cover the bush and provide nectar and pollen for bees and other pollinators. When flowers fade, this bush begins to fruit with large, juicy berries that ripen in early summer.  Berries are delicious when eaten fresh or when cooked into jams, pies and other sweets!

A self-fertile plant, you can grow just one Blue Suede® bush and still get a large harvest of fruit; however, if you want even more blueberries, try planting a few bushes together in groups of three or more. When full-grown, these plants can reach between 3 to 6’ tall, which makes them an ideal size for any garden space. Plus, they can also be kept in containers!

Blue Suede® Blueberry
Botanical Name	Vaccinium corymbosum 'TH-682'
Plant Hardiness	Zone 4-9
Mature Height	3 to 6'
Mature Width	3 to 6'
Sun Needs	Full Sun
Does Not Ship To	AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, PR

Special features:

• Self-fertile plants
• Produces a large harvest of luscious blueberries
• Great for pollinators
• Good for small spaces and container growing
• Low maintenance

Some fruiting plants, like apples and pear trees, can be too large for small garden spaces, but highbush blueberries grow compactly enough that they can be squeezed into any garden space. Unlike lowbush blueberries, these plants have a more upright growth habit that can make a bigger impact in garden designs. This is great news since these plants do produce a showy display of brilliant colored leaves and stems in fall and winter after their edible berries are all gobbled up!

If you’d like to learn more about how to grow highbush blueberries, check out the simple care tips below.

When to plant blueberries

The best time to plant blueberry bushes is in late spring, from late April to May; however, plants can also be planted in autumn. While you may not get a full harvest of fruit the first year, most bushes will produce some berries during their first season, but their harvest size will increase dramatically once they become established in your garden.

Where to plant blueberries

Blue Suede® blueberries will grow best when planted in full sun and well-draining, sandy loam soil. Like other blueberries, Blue Suede® is an acid loving plant that prefers to grow in an acidic enivronment with a pH of between 4.0 and 5.0. If you have more alkaline soil, consider amending your beds with a soil acidifier or elemental sulfur or keep your blueberry plants in pots instead.

How to plant blueberries

When you’re ready to plant your Blue Suede® bush, dig a hole that is as deep as your plant’s root ball and 2 to 3 times as wide. If needed, amend your soil with a bit of compost and a soil acidifier before planting your blueberry plants. Then locate your plant in the hole so it is at the same depth it was growing in its nursery pot and make sure the roots are covered with 3 to 4” of soil. Adding mulch around the base of your blueberry can reduce weeds and help conserve soil moisture levels.

For proper growth, provide your Blue Suede® blueberries with at least 1” of water per week. While these plants are light feeders, they will also benefit from an application of fertilizer in early spring.

Growing blueberries in pots

Since they grow quite compactly, Blue Suede® blueberries are also a good choice for container gardens and growing them in this manner can help you keep an extensive edible garden in an urban space.

Choose a container that has drainage holes and is at least 24” tall and as many inches across. Also, remember to water your plants often since container grown blueberries will dry out quicker than plants grown in inground gardens.

How tall do blueberry bushes grow

Full grown Blue Suede® highbush blueberries grow between 3 and 5’ tall and wide. At that size, you can even keep a few blueberry bushes on a small balcony or patio, but they also look striking in a larger landscape design.

History of Blue Suede® Southern Highbush Blueberry

Blueberries are native to the Americas and they are closely related to huckleberries, cranberries and bilberries. While there a number of wild and cultivated varieties of high and lowbush blueberries, highbush blueberries have been very popular among growers due to their tall size, which makes harvesting easier.

Blue Suede® southern highbush blueberries are a relatively new cultivar that was developed by the USDA in conjunction with the University of Georgia. These plants were specially design for home and market gardeners and they are known for their fruit that ripens quite early in the season.

Buying Blue Suede® Southern Highbush Blueberry

While you can order a single Blue Suede® blueberry plant, the more plants you grow, the larger harvest you’ll get, so we recommend that you order at least a few plants. Your Blue Suede® blueberries will be shipped in sturdy nursery pots just in time for planting. Just promise to save us a slice of your homemade blueberry pie!