Quick Summary: Yes, blueberry plants can survive winter in pots, but roots in a container freeze far more easily than roots in the ground, so add one to two zones to your plant’s hardiness rating. Bury the pot, mulch and wrap it, or move it to an unheated garage or shed so it still gets the winter chill it needs to fruit. In-ground bushes need less help: deep fall watering, mulch, and a wire cage against rabbits. Best time to act: after the leaves turn red and before the ground freezes.
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Blueberry plants grown in containers will thrive in the summer but in many climates they will need a little extra care in winter to prevent their roots from freezing.
Here’s how to winterize a potted blueberry bush, whether you’re overwintering it outdoors or in a garage or shed, plus what to do for bushes growing in the ground.
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Can Blueberry Plants Survive Winter in Pots?
Yes, but a pot gives the roots far less protection than the ground does. A good rule of thumb is to add one to two zones to your plant’s hardiness rating when it grows in a container. If that puts your climate outside the safe range, bury the pot, insulate it, or move it into an unheated garage or shed.
Hardiness varies between different types of blueberry shrubs.
If you’d like to overwinter yours, the first step is to find out the lowest winter temperature that the variety you are growing can withstand outdoors.
Based on this, you can decide whether it can stay outside in your climate or if it’ll be better off in a shed or garage.
When it comes to protecting a blueberry plant grown in a pot in winter, it’s important to remember that they’re not as hardy as blueberry plants grown in the ground where their roots are insulated by plenty of soil.
Their roots just aren’t as well-protected in a container.
As such, it’s best to take the USDA hardiness zone your plant is rated for and then add 1-2 zones if you want to overwinter it “outdoors” in a pot.
For example, if your blueberry plant is listed as hardy to zone 4, that means it will survive “in the ground” to the typical temperatures of zone 4.
If it is in a pot however, it will only survive outdoors to zone 5 or 6. In other words, you may have to bring it inside if it is in a pot.
Zone 3 is the coldest winter weather hardy blueberry cultivars can handle.
Although your mileage may vary depending on the cultivar, there are five basic “categories” of blueberries:
- Lowbush: minimum Zone 3 (so Zone 5 in a pot); a few varieties down to Zone 2.
- Half-high: minimum Zone 3 (so Zone 5 in a pot).
- Northern highbush: minimum Zone 4 (so Zone 6 in a pot); a few varieties down to Zone 3.
- Southern highbush: minimum Zone 6 (so Zone 8 in a pot); a few varieties down to Zone 5.
- Rabbiteye: minimum Zone 7 (so Zone 9 in a pot).
| Category | Ground Zone | Pot Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Lowbush | Zone 3 | Zone 5 |
| Half-high | Zone 3 | Zone 5 |
| Northern highbush | Zone 4 | Zone 6 |
| Southern highbush | Zone 6 | Zone 8 |
| Rabbiteye | Zone 7 | Zone 9 |
If you’re still choosing varieties, start with my guide to growing the sweetest blueberries.
Based on this hardiness information, you can decide whether to overwinter your potted blueberry shrubs indoors or outdoors.
Know also that blueberries need a dormancy period. This means you can’t keep them in a warm place like your living room during winter.
Tip: If you live in a warm climate like Florida, this can mean it’s difficult to grow varieties other than Southern Highbushes or Rabbiteye. The others just need more cold to grow properly!
How to Winterize Blueberry Plants in Pots Outdoors.
Unless you live at least two zones above the hardiness cutoff for your blueberry bush, it’s important to take some steps to help protect it if you are going to leave it outside in a pot over the winter.
Take Note! The roots are the main consideration (as the leaves and tips will grow back), and the roots are more exposed to the cold in a pot. The more insulation you can add to help keep them warm, the better.
The shallow blueberry root system can really suffer and even die off if it ends up freezing, so it’s important to prevent this from happening.
This especially applies if the plant is in the type of container that doesn’t offer much in the way of protection (i.e., thin plastic or terra cotta).
A small, single-walled thin plastic pot exposes the roots far more than an extra-large and thick container made of fiberglass.
They can suffer if they don’t go fully dormant (or emerge from dormancy) due to warm temps interspersed with sudden cold. The same applies if your area is receiving unusually cold temps this year.
Tip: If temperatures are rising and dropping sporadically, as when spring is approaching, you may need to place the shrub in a garage or shed.
Here are some steps you can consider to help your potted blueberry bush survive being outdoors in winter:
#1. Bury the Container and Roots
The best thing you can do for a blueberry shrub when overwintering outdoors in a pot is to bury the container in soil.
If you have a garden with some space available, this will help protect the roots.
Just dig a hole that matches the container, pop the plant in there, and cover it in such a way that the roots can benefit from the extra insulation but the stem is exposed.
If you can’t bury the pot, try to place it in a sheltered position.
For example, a spot against a wall or other protected area will help protect it from the worst of the winter weather.
If you have multiple potted plants, you can place them together with the most sensitive ones in the center.
#2. Mulch
As you’ve probably concluded by now, overwintering blueberries in a pot outdoors is all about insulation.
Mulching is a great way to do this: you can add up to 8″ of straw, pine needles, shredded bark, or leaf mulch in and around the container to help insulate your plant.
#3. Cover the Plant
There are loads of different handy pot covers and even mini greenhouses for sale that you can use to help protect your blueberry shrub. Even just a layer of plastic, bubble wrap, burlap, or horticultural fleece can be helpful!
Should you cover blueberry bushes in winter? For potted plants left outside in a cold zone, yes. The roots matter more than the branches, so wrap the container first, then cover the top if your site gets harsh winds.
#4. Watering
During the winter months, your blueberry bush won’t require nearly as much water as in summer.
Dormant plants barely need any water, although you shouldn’t let the soil get bone dry either.
A layer of snow should be fine to keep your plant hydrated.
If there is none and if it hasn’t rained in a while, it’s a good idea to lightly water once a month. No fertilizer, please!
Tip: Dormant blueberry shrubs can look dead during winter and early spring, with brown branches and no green in sight. Even if you’re sure yours has kicked the bucket, wait well into spring to throw it out. It may just surprise you.
Should you cover blueberry bushes in winter?
For potted plants left outside in a cold zone, yes. The roots matter more than the branches, so wrap the container first, then cover the top if your site gets harsh winds.
If you live in a colder zone than your blueberry shrub will be able to handle over the winter, it’s best to just place it indoors.
Sure, some are quite hardy, but it would be a shame to lose yours!
Overwintering Blueberry Plants in Pots Indoors
Bring a potted blueberry inside only if your winters are colder than its pot zone in the chart above, and even then, choose an unheated garage or shed rather than the house.
Tip: The best time to move them indoors is late fall when the temperature has dropped and their leaves are no longer green (most varieties have leaves that turn dark red or maroon).
Finding the Right Location
As mentioned above, you can’t just put a blueberry plant in your living room for the winter. They need a dormancy period to bud and flower properly next year.
To trigger and maintain this dormancy, they need to be exposed to lower temperatures.
Room temp may be perfect for us, but it’s just too warm for your blueberry!
Research has found that even Rabbiteyes, the least cold-hardy variety, generally need 500+ chill hours to bud properly the next year.
Did you know? Did you know? A chill hour is most commonly defined as an hour spent between 32 and 45 °F.
As such, if you want to keep a blueberry indoors for winter, it needs to be in an unheated spot so it can start accumulating those chill hours.
A garden shed or garage is perfect, as it offers protection against the wind and harsh weather conditions, but still gets cool enough for the shrub to go fully dormant.
I overwinter my potted plants in my garden shed which has windows and stays around 45 degrees F most of the winter.
Light & Water Needs
One issue many gardeners run into when it comes to overwintering potted blueberries indoors is the lack of light. Most sheds and garages don’t have much in the way of windows.
Although a dormant blueberry bush should be able to survive without much light for a while, as it’s not photosynthesizing as much as it would in summer, it can’t survive like this for months on end.
Place yours next to a window or consider using a grow light if indoor conditions are extremely dark.
As for water, your plant will not need much water over the winter, but it shouldn’t stay bone dry all winter either.
Check the soil occasionally; if you stick a finger into it and it feels dry down to one inch, give the shrub a drink. Don’t overdo it, though!
Tip: The perfect time to prune a blueberry plant is winter when it’s dormant.
You can remove excess small branches, as well as any that are dead or don’t look their best. It helps to get the best possible harvest next year!
You can also re-pot your shrub during this time.
Bringing Overwintered Plants Back Outside in Spring
If your blueberry bush has just spent a few months in a nice sheltered shed, it’s best not to move it straight back outside once spring rolls around.
After all, it’s probably not used to outdoor weather conditions (wind, hard rain) anymore, nor will it be able to handle sudden large amounts of sun.
Additionally, to avoid shocking the plant, stretch the transition from indoors to outside over at least a week or two.
Place it outside for a few of the warmest hours of the day at first, and be sure to pick a more sheltered spot in the beginning.
How to Winterize Blueberry Bushes in the Ground
Blueberry bushes planted in the ground are much hardier than potted ones. The soil insulates the roots, so northern highbush, half-high, and lowbush varieties usually come through a zone 4 winter with only a little help. The main threats are drying winds, freeze and thaw cycles, and hungry animals (see below).
Water deeply through fall until the ground freezes, especially after a dry autumn.
- Spread 3 to 4 inches of pine needles, wood chips, or shredded leaves over the root zone. Blueberry roots are shallow, and mulch evens out the soil temperature. My guide to mulching a vegetable garden for winter walks through materials and timing, and the same approach works around blueberries.
- Stop fertilizing by midsummer so the bush isn’t pushing tender new growth going into fall.
- Protect the canes from rabbits and voles. Rabbits chew stems down to the snow line, and voles girdle them under the snow. A cylinder of chicken wire or hardware cloth around each bush, set a few inches into the soil, keeps them off.
- Screen young or exposed bushes from wind with burlap stretched between stakes, not wrapped tightly around the branches.
- Leave the snow in place. It’s excellent insulation. Just knock heavy, wet snow off the branches so they don’t break.
Do in-ground bushes need covering? Established, cold-hardy bushes don’t. Covering helps young plants in their first winter, bushes on a windy site, or any bush when a hard freeze hits after the buds start to swell in spring.
Hungry animals rank right up there with the worst problem for blueberries. Deer will eat all of the tips of mature plants in the winter and rabbits will eat the tender branches of new plants. Then when the bushes do start producing the fruit, it’s a race with the birds to get the blueberries.
Over the past 20+ years I have tried everything suggested by every gardening site. For me, the only thing that works is dogs to chase the deer away in the winter and netting to prevent the birds from eating the crop.
Both are actually quite effective. My rescue dog absolutely loves to chase the deer. He never catches them of course, but it’s enough of a nuisance that they eventually stay away. And boy does he feel like a tough guy.
Netting is a drag to put up for prevention of bird scavenging, and you do catch some birds in it, but it is effective.
Yes, as long as the roots are protected. Add one to two zones to your plant’s hardiness rating, then bury, insulate, or move the pot to an unheated garage or shed if your winters are colder than that.
A potted blueberry can overwinter outdoors year after year as long as its roots stay insulated. The risk isn’t how long winter lasts but how cold the roots get. With repotting, a blueberry can live in a container for many years. My guide to <a href=”https://farmtojar.com/grow-blueberries-in-pots-for-your-deck-patio-or-balcony/”>growing blueberries in pots</a> covers container size and lifespan
Only into an unheated space like a garage or shed, and only if your winters are colder than the plant’s pot zone. A heated house keeps it from going dormant, and it won’t fruit well the next year.
Potted bushes left outside in cold zones, yes, starting with the container. Established in-ground bushes usually don’t need covering unless they’re young, exposed to wind, or facing a hard freeze after the buds swell.
After the leaves turn red and the plant goes semi-dormant, but before the ground freezes hard. In Minnesota, that’s usually late October into November.
Do potted blueberries need water in winter.
A little. Check the soil every few weeks and water lightly when it’s dry an inch down. Snow cover usually provides enough moisture outdoors. Don’t fertilize until spring.
Check out this collection of over 80 blueberry recipes, developed and tested from our farm (Heathglen). Available in pdf form as a digital ebook ($14.95), or as a print book from Amazon (paperback or hardcover).
Please I have a question about blueberries plants.
I have four blueberries plants,they are in pots,in winter I bury them, I would like to know what kind of fertilizer can I use , I used Espoma Organic Soil Acidifier for 3 years but one plant changed the fruit color , they are white blueberries I don’t know why , now I bought berry tone fertilizer it’s okay to use that? thanks
Hi Ruby, I have never heard of blueberries turning white before? It sounds like you may be overfertilizing rather than the wrong kind of fertilizer. Basically any fertilizer for acid plants like Azeleas etc. should work fine. I don’t use a lot of fertilizer on my plants, but I do use a lot of compost. I would try repotting them with a hefty amount of compost and then letting them rest without too much fertilizer for a while. They will usually tell you they need some food as their leaves start to turn yellow.