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- Author or Editor: K.D. Patten x
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Percentage of fruiting uprights, fruit set, number of fruit per upright, and flower bud formation of `McFarlin' and `Stevens' cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.) were reduced by removal of old leaves, new leaves, or both on the upright. Results varied slightly, based on which leaves were removed, time of removal, cultivar, year, and bog site. Percentage of fruiting uprights, flowers and fruit per upright, and fruit set were higher on uprights with a terminal bud size >1 mm in diameter in September than for those <1 mm in diameter. Effects were cultivar and site dependent. Terminal bud size of `McFarlin' was negatively related to the subtending number of fruit and positively related to leaf fresh weight of the upright.
A late spring frost, -2°C on 10 Mar 1989, destroyed all blossoms on `Delite' rabbiteye blueberries. To determine the effect of hedging as a rejuvenation method, six-year-old `Delite' plants were pruned on 26 April 1989. All branches were removed at 46 cm from ground level. Unpruned control plants were approximately 184 cm tall. On 21 Mar 1990 a frost of -2°C occurred. Two days later bud damage was assessed on three wood types: spring-old (SO), spring growth on old, weak wood; spring-new (SN), spring growth on vigorous 1-year-old shoots; and fall (F), postharvest late summer/fall growth. Buds were identified as to their stage of development. Buds formed on both types of spring wood were further developed than those on fall wood. As flower stage advanced frost damage increased. Blossoms on fall growth were most frost tolerant and SN was more hardy than SO. Subsequent yields will be determined and reported.
Blueberry reducers in Texas must often irrigate with sodic water. Excess Na+ leads to reduced growth, necrosis, and plant mortality. Ca2+ is known to ameliorate such detrimental effects in many crops, but little is known about the response of rabbiteye blueberry. To elucidate the influence of Ca2+ on the uptake and translocation of Na+, plants were subjected to NaCl in hydroponics solutions (10, 25, 50 and 100 mM NaCl) and the uptake of Na+ was traced over a 24h period using 22Na+ Additionally, for each treatment, half the plants were supplied with 10 mM Ca2+. Plants were then transferred to identical, but unlabeled, solution, then harvested at intervals up to 28 days following cessation of labelling.
Preliminary results indicate that plants subjected to 25 mM Na+ and 0 mM Ca2+ showed less ability to exclude Na+ from the roots, and accumulated more Na+ in roots, stems, an leaves than did plants supplied with 25 mM Na+ and 10 mM Ca2+. Leaf tissue accumulated more Na per gram fresh weight than did any other part of the plant, regardless of Ca2+ treatment.
Results from the remaining treatments, root 22Na+ efflux data, and total tissue Na+ and Ca2+ concentrations will also be reported.
Highbush (Vaccinium corvmbosum L.) rabbiteye (V. ashei Reade) and southern highbush (Vaccinium spp.) blueberries grown at seven locations in six southern states were sampled in 1988 and 1989 to determine foliar elemental levels among blueberry cultivars and types. Across locations, elemental levels of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu and Al were similar for highbush and southern highbush types. Rabbiteye elemental levels were different from highbush and southern highbush for N, P, K, Ca, S, Mn, Cu and Al. The findings indicate that similar standard foliar levels can be used for highbush and southern highbush blueberries in determining nutritional status of plantings by foliar analysis. Rabbiteye blueberries appear to have different foliar levels, and may require species-specific standards for nutritional monitoring of plantings.
Biennial bearing of uprights has been documented for cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.). Percent return bloom (%RB) may vary from 14% to 74% depending on cultivar and growing region. Floral initiation for the following season in cranberry takes place during the same time period as flowering and fruit set for the current season. This research was undertaken to document the effect of fruiting or not fruiting in the previous year on %RB and %RF (return fruit) in two cultivars (Stevens and Ben Lear) and five growing regions (MA, NJ, WI, OR, WA). Previous year fruiting caused a reduction in %RB compared to non-fruiting in the previous year. The effect on %RF was even greater. For `Ben Lear', uprights that fruited in 1990 had 31%RB and 22%RF while those that did not fruit in 1990 had 67%RB and 54%RF. Both %RB and %RF in 1991 were about 49% lower for `Stevens' which fruited in 1990 than those that did not fruit in 1990. It is still not clear whether biennial bearing in cranberry uprights is a function of hormonal interaction and regulation or of resource limitation or both.