ISHS Acta Horticulturae 715: VIII International Symposium on Vaccinium Culture
SPRING FREEZE DAMAGE TO RABBITEYE BLUEBERRY BUDS AND BERRIES |
| Authors: | D.A. Marshall, J.M. Spiers, B.J. Smith |
| Keywords: | Vaccinium ashei Reade, rabbiteye blueberry, freeze damage |
| Abstract:
A spring freeze on March 31, 2003 with a low temperature of -1.9ºC provided an opportunity to evaluate freeze tolerance of 11 rabbiteye (Vaccinium ashei) blueberry cultivars over a range of bloom maturity. On April 4, three flower buds at bloom maturity stages of 4, 5, and 6 along with 3 small fruit ( < 4 mm) and 3 large fruit (> 5 mm – all still green) were tagged and labeled with stage of bloom and number of individual flowers present or number of fruit present. On April 25, flower bud, flowers, and fruit were rated for survival and viable flowers and fruit were counted. Rate of survival was calculated from the number of potential fruit present (flower buds and green fruit) and the number of fruit alive after freeze. Over all cultivars, flower buds, regardless of stage, had a higher survival rate than did fruit. There were differences between cultivars. ‘Austin’, ‘Centurion’, and ‘Yadkin’ sustained more freeze damage to smaller fruit compared to larger fruit. The large fruit of ‘Yadkin’ and ‘Centurion’ had equal damage resistance as flower buds. Overall, ‘Powderblue’, ‘Ira’, and ‘Centurion’ had the greatest freeze damage resistance while ‘Climax’, ‘Montgomery’, ‘Tifblue’, and ‘Premier’ were more susceptible to spring freeze damage. | |
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