ISHS Acta Horticulturae 446: VI International Symposium on Vaccinium Culture
FEASIBILITY OF BLUEBERRY PRODUCTION IN WARM CLIMATES |
| Authors: | R. L. Darnell, J. G. Williamson |
| Keywords: | dormancy, evergreen production, low chilling, southern highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum |
| Abstract:
There is increasing interest in blueberry production in warm temperate, subtropical, and even tropical areas of the world. Current low chilling cultivars of blueberry, grown in traditional production systems, are not generally amenable to production in areas with extremely low or no accumulation of chilling temperatures during the dormant season. However, the possibility of chemical regulation of dormancy, as well as the movement towards non-traditional, evergreen production systems may increase the feasibility of growing commercial blueberries in areas such as these. In the traditional deciduous production system, where plants enter an endodormancy phase and therefore have a requirement for chilling to break dormancy, chemical applications of 2% hydrogen cyanamide increased the rate and amount of vegetative budbreak in insufficiently chilled rabbiteye and highbush cultivars. However, in some cases, flower bud damage was observed. The use of dormancy breaking chemicals in warm climates can be avoided by using an evergreen production system, where plants avoid dormancy and therefore any chilling requirement. In this system, plants are maintained “evergreen” by heavy summer pruning, leaf disease control, and constant nitrogen applications. Preliminary data indicate that vigorous vegetative growth can be maintained in this system with no detrimental effects on reproductive growth. Evaluation of this planting will continue over the next several years so that the feasibility of commercial production of evergreen blueberry plants can be determined. | |
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