Successful Blueberry Soil Mix (Peat-free)

I wanted to share a peat-free soil mix for blueberries that has worked great for me in containers. It would work great in raised beds as well. I know this has been discussed in several threads but I wanted to make it easy for anyone searching.

Here’s the recipe, per 7 gallons of soil:

  • Main Mix
    • 2/3 pine bark
    • 1/3 organic top soil
  • Amendments
    • 1.5 Tbsp powdered elemental sulfur (99-100% grade)
    • 1 cup worm castings
    • 1 cup holly tone
  • Optional
    • 1 Tbsp blood meal (fast release nitrogen)
    • 2 Tbsp feather meal (slow release nitrogen)

Works great for me. Soil pH is 4.4 after one year.

I mix all the ingredients really well before planting so that the mixture is even and the amendments aren’t all just sitting on top.

The optional ingredients are for if I’m planting directly into this mix without waiting and want to make sure pine bark doesn’t tie up the nitrogen in the soil. I’m not sure if the extra nitrogen is 100% necessary but it hasn’t hurt. All my plants are doing great.

9 Likes

Thank you for posting this here. What do you or others add over the course of the season or the course of every year to the pot? This will be my first try planting blueberries in pots. I appreciate your help!

  • Fertilize with Holly Tone or other organic blueberry fertilizer once in early spring and again 6-8 weeks later.
  • Water 2-3 times per week (I have all my container fruit on drip irrigation). You may need to water more frequently during the summer if you get really warm summers and/or if you’re not getting a lot of rain.
  • Check your soil pH once a year in the spring. If it’s too high (above 5.5) you can add more sulfur. Use this calculator to figure out how much. It takes several months to fully work but it’s the best way to lower your pH.
1 Like