Pruning and repotting blueberries

[Principia]

I need to do both to my out of control blueberries.

Should I prune in Autumn and repot in Spring to reduce stress to the bushes, or is ok to do both pruning and repotting in one go?

Cheers

[Little tom]

Hi there,

Congratulations on your out-of-control blueberries!

I think it's right to avoid pruning and repotting in just one go.
I would repot in Autumn but prune in late Feb-early March.

What the RHS website says about blueberry pruning:
"Prune any time over the dormant season (November to March), but ideally in late February or early March when the fruit buds can easily be distinguished from the leaf buds. Fat buds produce flowers and fruit, while smaller, flatter buds form shoots and leaves".

Good luck!

[Principia]

Thanks Little tom, I was hoping to repot after pruning purely because the bushes should be more compact and easier to handle.

Will def bear in mind the difference in bud, it will be interesting to see if I can actually see a difference .

I don't recall my blueberries shedding their leaves so that makes the pruning a bit more complicated, I keep eyeing them up speculatively but it's nice to know I have all winter to decide what to do and what to cut.

Here are my out of control blueberry bushes...

[Little tom]

Wow, well done, that puts my small blueberry plant to shame
(I've got a dwarf variety mind you).
You must have had a nice harvest!
I understand why you wanted to prune before repotting...
+ if you don't recall the leaves falling (and turn red?), perhaps it's an evergreen one?

I'll also be curious to see the difference in bud types, I don't know yet either, I've never pruned my plant so never really thought about it until I read the RHS guidance!

[claire2965]

i have 3 blueberries in a pot on the patio but feel i ought to replant them into the ground. how do i go about doing this? how deep and big does the hole need to be?

[airconednightmare]

well that depends what size pot they are in

if your soil isn't already on the acidic side add peat, pine needles etc to lower the ph. but other than that dig hole same depth and width as the pot then plant