Okay, does anyone here have any ideas about how to best go about propagating a blueberry bush from cuttings? Softwood or hardwood cuttings, when to take them, how to treat them, etc...

-- Ashley Lockwood (alienora@calweb.com), April 05, 1999

Answers

Ashley, did you ever have any success with this? I'd still love a cutting from your parents' blueberry bush, because the blueberries are so good and most don't do well in zone 9. Plus, most blueberries require a pollinator of a different variety, but they only have the one, correct? I finally gave in and bought two from Garden.com last week -- an Atlantic blueberry and a Herbert blueberry. Neither is supposed to thrive south of zone 8, but my backyard is really sheltered in the summer and seems to get pretty cold in the winter; I've had lots of zone 8 plants thrive here. So I figure I'll give it a try. I'm going to plant them along our east fence in the one spot where the chain link isn't covered, to hopefully keep our dog from mercilessly harrassing the neighbor's dog.

-- Beth (beth@xeney.com), March 09, 2000.

I tried to take a few cuttings last spring, and put some in a pot of soil, with a plastic bag over then top. I put one in a vase of water, just to see.... None of them rooted, but the ones in the pot might have if they hadn't gotten sun one afternoon and roasted.
The bush is just starting to bud out now, so I think I'll try a few more cuttings soon. I'll keep you posted...

-- Ashley (alienora@calweb.com), March 09, 2000.