Overhead irrigation is a must for freeze protection, and almost all blueberry growers in Florida grow in pine bark, which can be expensive.

Is it profitable? VERY - avoiding mistakes is a big step in this direction.

If I still have your attention here are a few questions to think about or call me and ask about.

• Do I have a business plan?
• Is my location beneficial?
• Is drainage a problem?
• What about an irrigation design?
• Equipment?
• How good is my soil and water?
• What about plant varieties and plant layout?
• Fertilizer, chemical, pesticide schedules?
• Should I grow organic?
• What can I do about picking my berries?
• How do I sell my berries?
• What organizations are beneficial to my growth in the berry business?
• Who can I go to for further information?

Here is a sample of what you need to start with… Think about growing small plants ( 2” root ) this may be around June. While you are working on building your fields these will be growing. Approx 4 to 5 months later put your plants in the field (November.). You can also be ahead a year and plant large deep rooted plants ( 4” root ) in June or plant these in November.

Your plants will go dormant in December and around this time you need to be thinking of your harvest if you planted the larger plants. If not then it would be best to take off the flowers at this time so your plants will use this time to grow larger for the next year.