ISHS Acta Horticulturae 165: III International Symposium on Vaccinium Culture
YIELD AND FRUIT QUALITY OF MECHANICALLY PRUNED HIGHBUSH AND RABBITEYE BLUEBERRY BUSHES |
| Authors: | C. M. Mainland, Roger P. Rohrbach |
| Abstract:
In North Carolina the average grower spends $310 to $375 per hectare for hand pruning of highbush blueberry bushes (Vaccinium corymbosum L.). Successful growers have learned that heavy pruning and uniform distribution of flower buds are essential if irrigation is not available. April and May are traditionally the months with the lowest amount of rainfall in the blueberry area of southeastern North Carolina. This is also the time from fruit set to ripening when moisture demand peaks. Extended droughts are very common during this period and cause small fruit, reduced bush vigor and often bush death. Limited rainfall is especially damaging on the sandy soils with low water holding capacity and insufficient moisture replenishment from the water table. With increasing use of irrigation and an interest in reducing pruning expenses, the highbush study was begun to determine if mechanical pruning could be a successful alternative to detailed hand pruning. Rabbiteye blueberries (V. ashei Reade) are inherently more drought tolerant than highbush and ripening occurs when more rainfall is likely. As a result, detailed hand pruning for uniform flower bud distribution is less critical. Since most of the rabbiteye berries are harvested by machine, our interest in this study was to evaluate pruning systems that would contribute to consistently high yields of quality fruit. | |
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