If it were me, personally, I would definitely containerize my blueberries at least this year. #1 you don't know what exposure you will have in the side yard after the house next to you is constructed; #2 the construction of a fence could affect the shallow roots detrimentally. Blueberry roots are very shallow and grow horizontally from the plant's crown rather than vertically, as pointed out in another thread. They can easily be damaged by the foot traffic, digging, etc., that will go on during installation of a fence. But, if they install a privacy fence, it sounds like, based on the size of your side yard, it could also affect how much sun the area gets, and fences can create a "dry line" within a foot or so out from the fenceline. Blueberries like moist soil - not a bog, but consistently moist. I wouldn't risk planting them in that location until the house and fence are finished and you can see if you'll have enough sun and space to plant them in-ground there.

The size of container will be dependent on whether you get a 1 year old or 2 year old plant, and whether you get a dwarf variety, like Top Hat, for example, or not. I wouldn't plant up a 1 year old plant into anything more than a 2 or 3 gallon container, but some may disagree with me on that. Mine are regular Northern highbush varieties - Blue Crop and Elliott, and I potted mine up at the end of their first summer (2 year old BBs when I bought them) into approx. 10 gal. pots. They do fine in those so far, and they are entering their 4th year now. I don't think the dwarfs need a pollinator, and in all honesty, neither do the others since blueberries have both male and female flowers on the same plant (monoecious). However, if you want a better harvest, it is necessary to have 2 varieties for best crop production. You don't "have" to, but you won't get as many blueberries if you don't.

Your blueberries can grow in containers and be planted out eventually. Just be careful handling the roots as they can be easily damaged. I just carefully removed mine from the original container and put them in the new ones without touching the roots. Probably too careful, but that's me.

My blueberries have been in approx. 10 gal. containers and I would like to repot them into 20 gal. containers that are squatter with less depth and more surface area than the ones they're in now. They've been in the 10 gal. for a couple of years now, and were originally in 1 gal. pots.

The first 2 years I removed the emerging berries, per Scott's direction. Well, last year I didn't have to prune them off because the hail we had did that for me. There were just a few left hanging, but my Cardinals "pruned" them. They did love those berries! I may have to fight them this year for my share.

I hope this helps and Scott will probably come in and correct any info that is not accurate and add his own special expertise. He is our resident Blueberry Guru.

Susan

Susan, thank you so much for all your advice! My post got lost and I had to do a search to find it! I was beginning to wonder if I actually posted or just thought I did haha... I feel like I have been losing my mind a little lately anyhow.

I have another question and this may be a dumb one... but when you say you don't let the plants set fruit for the first two years... does this mean if I buy a two year old plant and keep it in a container I can go ahead and let it produce? And if I plant it in the ground at a later time do I need to let it wait another two years until it gets established in the ground?

Thanks!

Mine were 2nd year plants when I purchased them, and it was suggested to me that I not allow it to produce that year, and that in their 3rd year (which was last year), I only allow about half of the berries to mature for harvest and remove the remaining immature fruit that develop. This year, their 4th year, I should be able to allow them to produce however many they want and eat them.....YUMMMMMMM!

I haven't really pruned my blueberries much yet, except to remove a few dead stems. I need to read up on when and how to prune them. So, I am learning as I go, too.

I found the Oklahoma State Fact Sheet on growing blueberries in Oklahoma and have attached it here for further reference. I believe it states you can harvest in the 3rd year, but I was very patient and only harvested as stated above.

To be honest, if I had to do it all over again, I would plant the Rabbiteyes or Southern High Bush, since I am right on the extreme southern range line for growing Northern High Bush. So far, though, they seem to be doing all right. This summer may be a real test for them due to our drought. But growing them in containers gives me a little more control over their environment.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Blueberries in Oklahoma

Thanks Susan!

I am excited to try growing blueberries I just hope I can be that patient! I almost don't want to do it this year though because we have so much going on right now.. but I don't want to wait another year to start them and then have to wait another year or two after that for blueberries!

Although I have started having MAJOR back pains the last few days and my husband (due to his surgery last week) cannot lift more than 10 pounds. So this definitely puts a stop to many (but not all) of my gardening ideas this year! I wanted a gutter to keep my plants in the raised bed from drowning, and/or move our raised beds away from the house (rookie mistake we made last year when installing the beds!) I also wanted one or two more raised beds... and to rent a rototiller for our back part of our yard to create another garden (not raised). Oh well, maybe next year. I think I will be lucky if I can grow a small, simple garden this year.

Sometimes, I think I have too much ambition for my own good, haha.

I am definitely going to save your post though as it has LOTS of super helpful info! Hopefully we can do blueberries this year, but if not, I will have this info handy for next year!

I don't know much about growing blueberries in a container as we have always gone to the local field and picked our own, but I am curious to find out if blueberry plants can be grown in a tower planter like strawberries apparently can. Something I am looking forward to trying next spring in my little garden plot, mostly because I love homemade strawberry jam and haven't been able to get to the local field to pick my own.

If you are here in Oklahoma, I do not believe it would work. They would dry out too fast and a tower would not give them the deep soil medium they need for their roots. Blueberries are exceptionally hard to grow here in OK because our frequent droughts and summer heat are not the kind of weather in which they thrive. When growing them in a field, unless you have the acidic, sandy loam soil that is in the right pH range, it takes a lot of soil amending down to a specific depth just to give them what they need in order to survive and, hopefully, thrive. On top of that, they need raised beds to ensure adequate drainage and then they need 4-6" of mulch on top of the soil to keep them from drying out in our heat. I know lots of people who have tried to grow blueberries here and few that have succeeded for any significant period of time. Most people have success initially for a few years but then lose a lot or all of their plants in either a very hot, dry year or a very wet year. Blueberries cannot handle having their roots get too dry or too wet---even getting waterlogged for just a few hours one time can significantly set them back or kill them.

You can grow blueberries in containers with a growing medium formulated specifically for them and will very close attention to detail, but the containers must be deep enough for their roots to grow and spread out. The containers have to have enough soil to hold enough moisture to get them through our summer hot spells. Berry towers would be too shallow.

Blueberries are shrubs and while their plant roots spread out horizontally near the soil surface, that doesn't mean they can be grown in shallow containers like most berry towers tend to be. My uncle grows amazing blueberry plants in the deep, acidic sandy soil of far NE TX. His plants ranged from 4' to 6' tall the last time I saw them. How could you grow that sort of a plant in a berry tower?

To grow berries in containers, you'd likely have the best success with strawberries, particularly if you want to use a strawberry tower, Strawberries produce quickly compared to blueberries. Blackberries produce well in the ground. Blueberries are divas that need an extraordinary amount of soil preparation and close attention to ensure they get enough moisture, and not too much and not too little. Blueberries are the type of thing a gardener might tackle after they have a few years of gardening experience, provided they have the right soil and water pH to keep the berries happy. The further northeast you are in OK, the higher the chances of succeeding with blueberries.

Here's the OSU factsheet on how to grow blueberries in OK:

Growing Blueberries in Oklahoma

I was afraid of that, but thought I would ask to be sure. I live in New Brunswick, Canada and have grown up helping with the family garden until I moved out on my own then was able to have my own little garden.

So I'm no stranger to gardening and find that it relaxes me after a stressful day, it doesn't matter if it is indoor plants or outdoor plants. Although I might try one blueberry bush in a container next spring and see how it does, should I bring it inside for the winter months or just put it in the ground then?

I planted a blueberry in a container and have had good luck as far as growth goes, but no blueberries yet. High hopes for this year, though! https://thedistrictsprouts.wordpress.com/2016/03/20/meet-blue/