VOA慢速英语:In the Garden: Growing Blueberries

Blueberries are generally grown in northern climates with cool winters and mild summers. But some newer varieties do well in very cool or very warm climates.
蓝莓一般都生长在北方，那里的气温冬季凉爽，夏季温和。但一些较新品种的蓝莓也能在极寒或很温暖的气候下生长。

The major kinds of blueberry plants are highbush, half-high, lowbush and rabbiteye. Highbush plants can grow almost two meters tall.
蓝莓的品种主要有高丛蓝莓、半高丛蓝莓、矮丛蓝莓和兔眼蓝莓。高丛蓝莓可以长高到接近两米。

Rabbiteye plants like warmer temperatures.  Some of these bushes grow three meters tall.
兔眼蓝莓喜欢温暖一些的气候，该品种有的能长到3米高。

Blueberry plants do best in soil that is acidic.
蓝莓种植在酸性土壤中长势最好。

Plant expert Steve Renquist at Oregon State University says blueberry plants can grow well in containers. He says dwarf varieties are a good choice. These plants are often less than half a meter tall.
俄勒冈州立大学的植物学家Steve Renquist说，蓝莓植物可以种植在容器中，矮丛蓝莓就是一个不错的选择，该品种往往不到半米高。

STEVE RENQUIST: "Blueberry plants have a pretty shallow root system. It is not particularly vigorous. And so that is why they do well in pots, because of the light soil mixture. But they also require, then, fairly frequent watering because they are going to dry out a little faster. With any plant, a pot dries out faster, the pot does, than any plant that is in the soil.”
Steve Renquist说：“蓝莓植物有一个很棒的浅根系统，枝叶并不很茂盛。这就是它们即使土层极薄，也能够在花盆中长势良好的原因。但它们也需要相当频繁地浇水，因为它们干得更快。任何植物在花盆中都比在土壤中干得更快。”

If you consider growing blueberries at home, you might think about placing some shorter plants in pots. Steve Renquist says potted blueberries should be watered almost every day if temperatures are twenty-one degrees Celsius and above. He says potted blueberry plants should also be given fertilizer.
如果你考虑在家里种蓝莓，你应该选择低矮的苗来种。Steve Renquist说，如果温度高于21摄氏度，盆栽蓝莓几乎每天都要浇水。他说，盆栽蓝莓也要施肥。

Blueberry plants do not need a lot of pruning. Instead, just a little thinning is needed, or as Steve Renquist puts it, "a stem here and a stem there."
蓝莓植物并不需要大量的修剪，相反，只需要稍微修剪得薄一点即可，或者就像Steve Renquist说的“这里或那里修下茎”。

STEVE RENQUIST: “We’ve had a number of them growing in our master gardener locations both in the ground and in pots. And we notice that we need to reinvigorate and repot them about every four or five years.”
Steve Renquist：“在我们的主园丁区，种有很多地面载蓝莓和盆栽蓝莓。我们注意到大约每四到五年就需要移栽一次使其恢复生机。”

Blueberries are sold fresh, frozen and processed, and used in baked goods and other foods. Major production states include Maine, New Jersey, North Carolina and Florida on the East Coast; Michigan in the Midwest; and Oregon, Washington and California on the West Coast.
出售的蓝莓有新鲜的、冷冻的和加工好的，用于烘培食品或其它食品之中。蓝莓主要产地包括东海岸的缅因州、新泽西州、北卡罗来纳州和佛罗里达州，中西部地区的密歇根州，西海岸的俄勒冈州、华盛顿州和加利福尼亚州。

Maine produces wild blueberries, but most commercial growers in other states use cultivated highbush plants. The North American harvest runs from the middle of April through early October.
缅因州生产野生蓝莓，但其他州的多数商业种植者用人工栽培的高丛蓝莓。北美蓝莓收获期为八月中旬到十月初。

The US Highbush Blueberry Council points out that the blueberry is one of the few fruits native to North America. The United States and Canada are the world's largest producers and consumers of blueberries. But South America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe have also developed highbush blueberry industries. And demand is growing in other markets as well, especially Japan.
美国高丛蓝莓理事会指出，蓝莓是少数原产于北美的水果之一。美国、加拿大是全世界最大的蓝莓生产与消费国。但是南美、澳大利亚、新西兰和欧洲也已发展高丛蓝莓产业。其他市场对蓝莓的需求也在增长，尤其是日本。