How to Clone Blueberry Bushes

A new blueberry plant can grow from a cutting of the mother plant.

A blueberry plant that is already established can be cloned by softwood or hardwood cuttings. Hardwood cutting refers to cutting the mother plant during the dormant stage. Softwood cuttings are cuttings from a growing plant. The variety of blueberry bush you are trying to clone will determine the best time to clone the plant. Do not take cuttings from a sick or diseased plant. It will take six years for the blueberry bush to produce a full crop of blueberries.

Things You'll Need

• Blueberry bush
• Sharp knife
• Sphagnum peat moss
• Coarse-washed concrete sand
• 6-inch flower pot
• Watering can
• Liquid 15-30-4 fertilizer

Instructions

1. Cut a shoot off of the mother plant using a sharp knife. If the plant is dormant, choose one with healthy buds less than 1/4 inch in diameter. Softwood cuttings should have healthy leaves and be 5 to 9 inches long.

2. Slice 1/2 of an inch of bark off of both sides of the bottom of the stem with a knife. This should be done for hardwood cuttings only.

3. Make a mixture consisting of 50 percent sphagnum peat moss and 50 percent coarse-washed concrete sand in the flower pot.

4. Push your finger into the potting mixture to make a hole deep enough to cover 60 percent of the cutting.

5. Place the cutting into the hole so that 60 percent of the shoot is below the soil line. Fill in around the plant using the potting mixture.

6. Water the blueberry shoot with the watering can. Stop when water is running out the drainage holes. Continue to water the young plant once a week.

7. Wait one month after the leaves begin to develop to add fertilizer. Follow the directions found on a 15-30-4 fertilizer to fertilize the blueberry plant.

8. Plant the blueberry plant in the ground one year after beginning the cloning process.

Tips & Warnings

• Remove any diseased leaves from young plants while they are growing.

• According to the Northwest Berry and Grape Association, rooting hormones are not effective on blueberry plants.

References

• Northwest Blueberry & Grape Association: Blueberry Propagation
• Ohio State University Extension: Growing Blueberries in the Home Garden

Resources

• University of Santa Barbara: Blueberry Variety Selection