Berries: Summer Maintenance for Berry Patches

AGGRAND Recommendations to Help You Grow Sweet, Luscious Berries

Maintain your berry patches through the heat of summer by keeping the soil around them moist and fertilized.

Strawberries

Cover the strawberry bed with mulch such as straw or pine needles to retain soil moisture. Sawdust and woodchips do not allow moisture to drain well and interfere with strawberry quality.
New planting — Broadcast 4 oz 0-12-0 and 3 oz 4-3-3 per gallon of water on 100 sq. ft. before final seedbed preparation.
First application — Foliar feed in spring after leaf formation with 2 oz 4-3-3 in one gallon of water (only if leaves are light green to yellow).
Second application — Foliar feed in late August with 2 oz 4-3-3 and 2 oz 0-12-0 in one gallon of water.

Blueberries

Blueberries also need a mulch cover to retain moisture. Pine needles or, unlike strawberries, sawdust are commonly used.
New planting — Band (water in the hole) 4 oz 0-12-0 and 3 oz 4-3-3 in one gallon of water on two or three bushes during planting. Water the bushes with the same solution after planting.
First application — Broadcast 2 oz 4-3-3 in one gallon of water on 100 sq. ft. (on mulch around plants) in early spring.
Second application — Repeat first application every 3 weeks until fruit set.
Third application — Foliar feed in late summer after harvest with 2 oz. 4-3-3 in one gallon of water.

Raspberries

They seem to grow well everywhere. Produce better raspberries by keeping the roots cool with a thick layer of straw cover.
First application — Apply 2 oz. of 4-3-3 in one gallon of water on 100 sq. ft. (on mulch around plants) in March.
Second application — Repeat first application every 3 weeks until fruit set.