Removing Flowers From Blueberries

More is not always better when it comes to blueberries (Vaccinum spp.) -- at least not for the plant. Blueberries, which grow on a deciduous shrub, are hardy from U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 10, depending on species. The plants bear fruit on year-old growth on the tips of canes and lateral shoots on the canes. Blueberry bushes that try to push too much fruit growth, especially when young, can damage their fruit production in later years. Removing flower buds from blueberry bushes is an important part of the pruning process.

Flower bud removal is about the only pruning necessary until the third year your blueberry bush is in the garden. Since plants are commonly sold as 2- to 4-year-old nursery plants, they may already have growth mature enough to produce fruit as soon as they are planted. Flower buds are removed in the first two years in the garden to direct the plant's energy into establishing its roots in your garden instead of producing fruit. It's easy to be tempted into the instant gratification of letting buds flower and develop into fruit, but this can stunt the growth of young plants and weaken the plant's fruiting potential over the long run.

Mature blueberries can also put on too many flower buds, which results in more fruit than the foliage of the plant can support. Overproduction of fruit results in smaller berries and can cause a blueberry bush to yield only every other year. During a plant's third year, let it produce only 1 to 2 pints of fruit, eliminating all other buds before they flower. Pruning begins when the plant has been in your garden for three years and should continue each year, which can help eliminate excess fruit by cutting out low, weak and older shoots and canes each spring.

Because you need to remove fruit buds before they flower for best results, learn to differentiate flower buds from leaf buds. In general, flower buds are larger with a rounded teardrop shape, as opposed to the slimmer leaf buds. Flower buds also occur at the tip and within 3 inches of the tip of upright blueberry canes and in the same location on the lateral flowering shoots off the canes, though more are usually found on shoots nearer the top of the cane.

Flower buds can be clipped off with pruners, removing whole sections of shoot or cane, or stripped off selectively with your hands. To strip flowers, put on gloves and move your hand up the cane, rubbing off any buds. You can also pinch out individual buds at the tips where the plant has too many flowers.