Summer cuttings root in six weeks and winter cuttings root in 6 months. Rooted cuttings are transplanted to the field in the winter when they are dormant to prevent damage to the plants. Once the rooted cuttings are in the field, it takes awhile for the plant to fruit. In fact berries shouldn't be expected until the third year. The peak production will occur in about eight years.
Plants can continue in production for decades before needing to be replaced.
When the berries are ripe they are hand or machine picked and are immediately taken to a packing shed. There they are packaged in plastic pint containers called clamshells. This is then refrigerated or frozen as quickly as possible on the same day it is harvested. In today's world of technology, machines help the grower every step of the way. Though some blueberries are hand-picked, many growers use machines to do this.