Pine-Bark Mulch Beds for Blueberries

The Fruit Growers News - May 2000: "Sears grows two basic varieties – the rabbiteye and the southern highbush. The rabbiteye, the easier and more profitable variety to grow, doesn’t begin producing until Memorial Day, at the end of May. The southern highbush begins producing as early as April 15. The problem for Sears and other growers was that even with the addition of the pine bark mulch the southern highbush wasn’t producing high yields. University of Georgia Extension agents worked with Sears and other growers to lay out beds of pine bark six to eight inches deep before they planted the bushes directly into the mulch. The southern highbush plants in the pine bark beds are doing quite well, Sears said. But, creation and upkeep on the mulch beds isn’t easy or inexpensive. That’s why Sears has 35 acres of blueberries, but currently less than an acre of producing berries in the mulch beds. Sears has several more beds in their first year of planting and he is preparing several more to plant. He plans to have about five acres of the southern highbush growing in beds of pine bark mulch in the next couple of years."