I'd like to plant some blueberry bushes on my property, but I'd rather not start with the extra small plants available at TSC and hone improvement stores for $10 a piece.

Is it possible to purchase and transplant more established, larger bushes and have better or at least quicker success?  I realize that these bushes must have a limited useful lifespan, as I see whole fields worth get torn out and replanted, so if starting with more established plants means they need to be replaced sooner, then I guess I'd just plant some small plants at the same time, so I'd have some at various stages.

I would just prefer to not have to wait many years for the small plants to get established without having some productive plants too.  I'm near the Lake Michigan shoreline, with very sandy soil.  Im assuming this soil type is tolerable, if not ideal for blueberries, as there are many producers around here.

Are these blueberry farms the best place to purchase plants, or are there nursuries that specialize in this type of stuff?

Oh. This thread is relevant to my plans this spring. Great timing!

Yeah, the box store bushes are usually 1 year old starts from cuttings, and they are almost always 2/3 dead.

You can propegate them yourself from cuttings for next to free if you want. I'm still pruning bushes, and you can have all the prunings you can haul away.

Just snip the new growth about 4" and make sure there is a growth bud on them, and stick them 2" into Peat/sand mix with some Hormodin.

On buying the things, stick with certified plants from a reputable greenhouse like Hartmans, or the larger growers that sell plants to other growers, such as Stokes, Llerana(Tripple L farms), and even DeGrandchamps. They all offer 3 and 4 year old potted plants.

The thing is, the first 3-4 years, they need to concentrate on root growth, not canes, to be healthy in the long run.
Most growers, myself included, stick with 2yr olds, and prune them hard for 2 years. Root production is everything, and the production from 4yr old plants is minimal anyhow.
At 6-7 years, you will be pruning out the original canes anyhow.


Most varietys here in Michigan are productive for 30-50 years, with a gradual decline after 30 until they settle in at about 60-70% of their peak as long as they are pruned.

Literally backing the brush chopper down the rows, results in rejuvenation and a fairly decent increase in production for several years. Some of the old guys around SH have 50yr old bushes in the fields, that were propagated off cuttings from Stanley Johnsons research lab back in the day. The economic threshhold of replanting and the lack of production for 7-8 years, doesn't favor ripping out old bushes on good ground.

When you see whole fields getting ripped out, it's usually a change to a new variety.
The economics of production have shifted in the last 5-6 years, towards later varietys, and away from the mid season. The premium prices come early and late nowdays.
Early varietys get clobbered by cold damage too often, so LOTS of growers are ripping out the old Weymouths and going late.

If you want a whole farm....lemme know.


Prices are going to be at or below record lows this year, so we will probably just do a limited harvest, and leave the rest for the birds.
Bring buckets, and fill them up. Just gimme a heads up a week ahead.

Lots of good information, thank you.  

Thank you for the good information @S-28.  I would like to plant a few blueberry bushes this Spring.  It looks like DeGrandchamps has 24 2yr old potted plants for $126.  Is this about the right price for these plants/or any red flags with DeGrandchamps?  I have never bought anything from them before.

That's not a bad price for retail potted 2yr olds. I have seen them for much more. Unless you're buying 500-1000 or more it's going to be hard to beat really.
A neighbor has Elliots, Jerseys, Blue crop, and Patriots going for 12 bucks retail. Tourists will pay it all day long.

Degrandchamps is GTG(Caveat-I worked for them in the 80's), and they should be certified disease free coming from their greenhouses.


The only thing I would fuss over, is the roots possibly pushing the pot at 2 years...get them cut, spread, and in the ground soon if they are.
A spritz with a good Fungicide is good insurance too. While the greenhouse and plants can be disease free, Anthracnose and phomopsis is everywhere around here  when it hits the 50's and it's damp like last weekend, and the crud travels.

If you're picking them up, check the pots for root development. Not all of them get a good start, but will make it 2yrs being pushed on stunted roots in the green house, and then shock hard and die once planted.  If you're in the area, shop around if you don't like the look of the Degrandchamps plants. Stokes, and Hartmans, and a few others are fairly close to Degrandchamps.

Lemme ask around a bit, and see if anyone has extra 2-3yr olds to sell. Not many guys with propagation greenhouses are planting this year, so it's likely.

Thank you for the info! I don't live close so I am most likely going to have them shipped.

My in-laws are blueberry farmers. Unfortunately I know nothing about blueberry farming. 
I'll see if I can out some info.