Blueberries aren’t as commonly cultivated as strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries due to how long they take to establish.
The average Blueberry bush takes between three to five years to begin truly maturing and putting off berries each year.
But, first, it’s going to need to be watered properly or it may not live long enough to see the day that little blueberries are born from its branches.
Read on below to find out exactly how much water blueberries need, plus tips on blueberry watering best practices, and more!
How Much Water Do Blueberries Need?
During the growing season, Blueberries need an inch of water per week. While the plants and full of ripening berries, increase watering to four inches. Do your watering during the daylight hours so excess water is quickly dried up, but keep the top inch or two of their soil moist at all times.
Water Your Blueberries Once Per Week
Blueberries need watering once per week, regardless of what season they are growing in. When they are in vegetative/growth mode, Blueberries require one inch of moisture each week.
Keep in mind that if your Blueberry plants are new, they will more or less be in vegetative mode or dormant for the first three to five years. That means for the first few years your Blueberries won’t need to be watered with more than an inch of moisture.
That said, once this crop gets a few weeks away from harvesting its water needs literally quadruple. With berries growing, Blueberries suddenly require a moisture depth of four inches to suck on.
Aim for the Roots
When watering your Blueberry plants, regardless of whether you are using a hose, sprayer, bucket, or watering can aim for the root zone in the ground around the main stalk.
Make sure to allow water to soak into the ground for at least two to three inches.
Remember, Blueberries need at least an inch of moisture in the soil to leech from in between watering sessions. Make sure to leave the soil a bit wetter than you would with other plants when you water it each week.
Measure Your Depth
If you’re having issues with your Blueberries and want to rule out underwatering or overwater for that matter, or you just want to water as accurately as possible, measuring your depth is incredibly helpful and simple to do.
Just stick your fingers, a ruler, or stick into the soil you’re watering. Both the hole and your fingers will be moist and sticky for at least the first inch or two of the soil if you’re watering your Blueberries properly.
Never Miss Your Schedule
Blueberries are a long-term investment. That means they require quite a bit of water before you ever see your first batch of berries. Further, every time you miss your watering schedule you’re possibly postponing the first berry season.
Simply making sure your Blueberries are consistently watered is one of the surest ways to ensure a swift maturity rate from new trees.
If watering trees on a schedule isn’t exactly your cup of tea, fret not. You can hook up some simple irrigation to an automatic timer.
Don’t Let Your Blueberry Bush’s Soil Get Dry
If you’re following proper Blueberry watering etiquette, you won’t even have to worry about this potential pitfall, outside of a rouge heatwave. Which can and does happen!
Between watering sessions, the Blueberry plant’s soil should remain moist for a depth of no less than an inch. As the plants progressively begin to bear fruit, water depths increase by up to four inches or more depending on the size of the plant.
Stick your fingers, or ruler, in the soil sometime between your waterings and make sure it’s still moist enough for your plants to be happy and thrive.
Avoid the Fine Line of Overwatering Blueberries
As important as it is to consistently water your Blueberries, and to keep the soil as wet as possible in between watering, it’s equally critical to avoid overwatering.
Sometimes it’s a very fine line between not watering Blueberries enough and accidentally overwatering them.
Again, the best way to keep an eye on your plant’s moisture level is by physically checking in on it with your fingers. You should feel a good deal of dampness in the soil. If your soil is mud soup, you’ve gone too far and need to let your plant dry out.
Excessive watering can lead to rotten fruit or Blueberry plants with brown spots on their leaves due to harmful bacteria.
Add Nutrients for Better Water Uptake
A great trick for preserving water is actually providing your plants with a well-balance of just the right nutrients for Blueberries. You can mix them straight into the water and pour them right into the soil as you would do with regular water.
After being treated with nutrients, highly functioning plants are able to leech moisture and nutrients better and require less additional water.
Plus, whoever complained about how much better plants fed nutrients do than plants with nutrient deficiency? Nobody!
Learn more about the six best fertilizers for Blueberries.
Be Prepared for the Long-Haul
Blueberries are not the sort of plant that you can start from seed in the spring and harvest in the summer, fall, or even winter. With Blueberries, you have a long-term investment of both time and water in-store.
New Blueberry plants require on average between three and five years to start producing fruit. So, if you plan to grow Blueberries, plan on spending a lot of time watering them before you do any berry pickin’!
For this very reason, you may opt to install an irrigation system of some sort, probably with an automatic timer.
Frequently asked questions about “How much water do blueberries need”
How often should blueberry plants be watered?
The go-to watering schedule for Blueberry plants is one inch of moisture per week during regular growth stages. During fruiting, Blueberry plants need up to four inches of moisture once per week.
Should I water blueberries every day?
Blueberries don’t typically require daily watering, even when seedlings every two to three days are enough. Mature Blueberry plants are best watered approximately every seven days.
Can blueberries be overwatered?
Blueberries can absolutely be overwatered. In fact, it is quite easy to overwater the as they do require a great deal of moisture compared to other plants.
Daniel has been a plant enthusiast for over 20 years. He owns hundreds of houseplants and prepares for the chili growing seasons yearly with great anticipation. His favorite plants are plant species in the Araceae family, such as Monstera, Philodendron, and Anthurium. He also loves gardening and is growing hot peppers, tomatoes, and many more vegetables.