Blueberries are one of the most satisfying crops to grow, certainly for myself when I got

my little handful this year from my container blueberries.

But we do have a question today from Matt about his four-year-old blueberry plants that

aren't producing anymore.

Hey, Kevin. It's Matt from Chicago. I've got these four-year-old blueberry bushes that

have not produced berries since the first year. I replanted them into a more acidic soil bed,

fertilized them, been trying everything that I can think of, and I just can't get them

to produce fruit again. What am I doing wrong? Anything you can do to help would be greatly

appreciated. Love the show and look forward to every episode. Thanks, man.

So Matt, with all plants, the answer is always and it depends, but my gut is telling me if you're

saying it's a four-year plant and it's only produced in the first year, I would say you probably need

to consider pruning your blueberries. The reason why is because you really need to take off old

growth to encourage new production, and if you don't do that, it often just won't happen at all.

So basics of pruning, open growth habit, better air circulation. You've got new stem production,

which is of course how the blueberries are going to form. You've got dead or damaged branch

removal. Generally speaking, you're going to get improved fruit quality because those new branches

have a little more energy. They're not supporting a ton of old branches. The best time to prune is

going to be in the dormant season, which is roughly right around now. I would say it's a great time

to do it. Late winter is a fantastic time to do it, and you want to take away old branches. So

first, don't just take a hedge trimmer and just shear it into like a little topiary circle or

sphere. It's not a good idea. All the flowering buds are going to be on the outside of the plant,

the outer two to four inches or so, and it's not going to work because you're going to take all

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