LSU AgCenter's Weekly Message

Having Multiple Varieties Can Extend the Blueberry Harvest for Two Months or More

The last article discussed 2024 yields from 31 cultivars in the blueberry variety demonstration at the Hammond Research Station. Three plants of each cultivar were planted in November 2020.

In this article, I had planned to discuss both when different varieties produced and how to prepare soil for planting, but it was getting a bit long. I’ll stick to the first topic and address the second in the next one.

Exactly when a variety starts bearing varies from year to year. For this article, I’m only counting dates on which we harvested an average of at least 10 grams (roughly 5 to 7 berries) per plant from that variety. Since, as discussed in the last article, the seasonal yield per plant varied widely by variety, I’m including this information in parenthesis next to their names.

We harvested from several southern highbush varieties – Paloma (0.3), Colibri (0.6), Patrecia (0.3), Star (0.4), Suziblue (3.8), Emerald (1.9), Farthing (4.6), and Keecrisp (2.8) - on April 26. Paloma and Patrecia continued producing till the next harvest date a week later, while Colibri continued to produce through mid-May. Star, Suziblue, Emerald, and Farthing fruited till May 23 or 27, while Keecrisp continued till the end of May.

Miss Lilly (0.9), Gupton (6.1), Camellia (1.1), and Pearl (6.2) began producing by the first harvest date in May. Miss Lilly and Camellia had some fruit for another three weeks, while Gupton and Pearl continued fruiting till early to mid-June. The highest yielding of the southern highbush varieties, Legacy (8.4), didn’t start producing until mid-May, comparable to some of the earliest rabbiteye varieties, but continued till late June.

Robeson (2.1) and Pink Lemonade (3.5), which have both southern highbush and rabbiteye genetics in their backgrounds, started fruiting in the second week of May and continued till early to mid-June.

The rabbiteye varieties Vernon (6.8) and Krewer (2.0) started producing in mid-May and continued till mid- to late June. Austin (12.1) and Brightwell (17.5) started around the same time but fruited for longer, producing through the last harvest on July 8.

A number of rabbiteye varieties – Titan (1.6), Alapaha (9.6), Premier (12.2), Climax (5.0), Delite (6.5), Powderblue (9.1), and DeSoto (6.8) – started coming in on May 20. Titan fruited for one month. Alapaha, Delite, Climax, Powderblue, and DeSoto continued till near the end of June or first of July. Columbus (5.4) started producing on May 23 and continued till July 1. Tifblue (19.2) and Ochlockonee (18.3), two of the top producers, started fruiting in late-May and were still going strong at the last harvest in early July.

Of all varieties, Onslow (5.4) and Centurion (8.5) began the latest, June 6, and produced through the last harvest.

Maximizing the harvest window will require planting some early-fruiting southern highbush varieties. As previously mentioned, these tend to be more finicky about soil conditions and more disease susceptible. Also, the early-fruiting ones are likely to have flowers killed by late freezes in many years. One option is to plant these in 10- to 15-gallon pots, with aged pine bark as the substrate, and move them into a protected area during late freezes. Of course, this will require more attention to watering and fertility than if they were planted in the ground.

Even with just rabbiteye varieties, though, almost two months of fruit production can be achieved.

Let me know if you have questions.

Click here for previous LSU AgCenter's Weekly Messages

Dr. Mary Helen Ferguson is an Extension Agent with the LSU AgCenter, with horticulture responsibilities in Washington and Tangipahoa Parishes. Contact Mary Helen at mhferguson@agcenter.lsu.edu or 985-277-1850 (Hammond) or 985-839-7855 (Franklinton).