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In many regions, water limitations are increasing because of frequent and persistent droughts and competition for water resources. As a result, growers in these regions, including those producing blueberries, must limit irrigation during drier years. To identify the most critical periods for irrigation, we evaluated the effects of soil water deficits during various stages of fruit development on different cultivars of northern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.). The study was conducted for 2 years in western Oregon and included two early season cultivars, ‘Earliblue’ and ‘Duke’, a midseason cultivar, ‘Bluecrop’, and two late-season cultivars, ‘Elliott’ and ‘Aurora’. Volumetric soil water content and stem water potentials declined within 1 to 2 weeks with no rain or irrigation in each cultivar and were lowest during the later stages of fruit development. Water deficits reduced berry weight by 10% to 15% in ‘Earliblue’ and ‘Elliott’ when irrigation was withheld in the second year during early or late stages of fruit development and by 6% to 9% in ‘Aurora’ when irrigation was withheld in either year during the final stages of fruit development. However, water deficits only reduced yield significantly in ‘Aurora’, which produced 0.8 to 0.9 kg/plant fewer fruit per year when irrigation was withheld during fruit coloring. In many cases, water deficits also reduced fruit firmness and increased the concentration of soluble solids in the berries, but they had inconsistent effects on titratable acidity and sugar-to-acid ratios. As a rule, water deficits were most detrimental during later stages of fruit development, particularly in midseason and late-season cultivars, which ripened in July and August during the warmest and driest months of the year.

Drought and mandatory water restrictions are limiting the availability of irrigation water in many important blueberry growing regions, such as Oregon, Washington, and California. New strategies are needed to maintain yield and fruit quality with less water. To address the issue, three potential options for reducing water use, including deficit irrigation, irrigation cutoffs, and crop thinning, were evaluated for 2 years in a mature planting of northern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L. ‘Elliott’). Treatments consisted of no thinning and 50% crop removal in combination with either full irrigation at 100% of estimated crop evapotranspiration (ET_c), deficit irrigation at 50% ET_c (applied for the entire growing season), or full irrigation with irrigation cutoff for 4–6 weeks during early (early- to late-green fruit) or late (fruit coloring to harvest) stages of fruit development. Stem water potential was similar with full and deficit irrigation but, regardless of crop thinning, declined by 0.5–0.6 MPa when irrigation was cutoff early and by >2.0 MPa when irrigation was cutoff late. In one or both years, the fruiting season was advanced with either deficit irrigation or late cutoff, whereas cutting off irrigation early delayed the season. Yield was unaffected by deficit irrigation in plants with a full crop load but was reduced by an average of 35% when irrigation was cutoff late each year. Cutting off irrigation early likewise reduced yield, but only in the 2nd year when the plants were not thinned; however, early cutoff also reduced fruit soluble solids and berry weight by 7% to 24% compared with full irrigation. Cutting off irrigation late produced the smallest and firmest fruit with the highest soluble solids and total acidity among the treatments, as well as the slowest rate of fruit loss in cold storage. Deficit irrigation had the least effect on fruit quality and, based on these results, appears to be the most viable option for maintaining yield with less water in northern highbush blueberry. Relative to full irrigation, the practice reduced water use by 2.5 ML·ha⁻¹ per season.

Northern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) is adapted to acidic soil conditions and often grows poorly when soil pH is greater than 5.5. When soil pH is high, growers will usually mix prilled elemental sulfur (S^o) into the soil before planting (converted to sulfuric acid by soil bacteria) and, if needed, inject acid into the irrigation water after planting. These practices are effective but often expensive, time consuming, and, in the case of acid, potentially hazardous. Here, we examined the potential of applying micronized S^o by chemigation through a drip system as an alternative to reduce soil pH in a new planting of ‘Duke’ blueberry. The planting was located in western Oregon and established on raised beds mulched with sawdust in Oct. 2010. The S^o product was mixed with water and injected weekly for a period of ≈2 months before planting and again for period of ≈2 months in late summer of the second year after planting (to assess its value for reducing soil pH once the field was established), at a total rate of 0, 50, 100, and 150 kg·ha⁻¹ S^o on both occasions. Each treatment was compared with the conventional practice of incorporating prilled S^o into the soil before planting (two applications of 750 kg·ha⁻¹ S^o each in July and Oct. 2010). Within a month of the first application of S^o, chemigation reduced soil pH (0–10 cm depth) from an average of 6.6 with no S^o to 6.1 with 50 kg·ha⁻¹ S^o and 5.8 with 100 or 150 kg·ha⁻¹ S^o. However, the reductions in pH were short term, and by May of the following year (2011), soil pH averaged 6.7, 6.5, 6.2, and 6.1 with each increasing rate of S^o chemigation, respectively. Soil pH in the conventional treatment, in comparison, averaged 6.6 a month after the first application and 6.3 by the following May. In July 2012, soil pH ranged from an average of 6.4 with no S^o to 6.2 with 150 kg·ha⁻¹ S^o and 5.5 with prilled S^o. Soil pH declined to as low as 5.9 following postplanting S^o chemigation and, at lower depths (10–30 cm), was similar between the treatment chemigated with 150 kg·ha⁻¹ S^o and the conventional treatment. None of the treatments had any effect on winter pruning weight in year 1 or on yield, berry weight, or total dry weight of the plants in year 2. Concentration of P, K, Ca, Mg, S, and Mn in the leaves, on the other hand, was lower with S^o chemigation than with prilled S^o during the first year after planting, whereas concentration of N, P, and S in the leaves were lower with S^o chemigation during the second year. The findings indicate that S^o chemigation can be used to quickly reduce soil pH after planting and therefore may be a useful practice to correct high pH problems in established northern highbush blueberry fields; however, it was less effective and more time consuming than applying prilled S^o before planting.