Search Results
Cultivated Vaccinium species (e.g. highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum, or cranberry, V. macrocarpon) commonly require acidic soil (pH 4.5 to 5.5) for optimum growth. Under these conditions, ammonium (NH4 +) is the dominant form of inorganic N. In contrast, V. arboreum, the sparkleberry can tolerate higher-pH mineral soils, where nitrate (NO3 -) is typically the predominant inorganic N form. This tolerance may be related to increased ability to acquire and utilize NO3—N. Measurements of 15NO3 - and 15NH4 + influx kinetics in excised roots of V. arboreum, V. corymbosum, and V. macrocarpon did not support this hypothesis. NO3 - influx kinetics measured from 10 micromolar to 200 micromolar NO3 - were similar among all three species. NO3 - influx was consistently lower than NH4 + influx at all concentrations for all three species.
Six-year-old, field-grown `Beckyblue' and `Bonita' rabbiteye blueberries were sprayed to drip with Pro-Gibb (250 ppm GA3, 0.1% surfactant, pH 3.1). Two spray applications were made. The first spray was applied at 80-90% full bloom followed by a second spray 10 days later. Fruit were harvested at five dates, from 21 May until 1 July, 1992. GA3 increased fruit set and doubled total fruit yield for both cultivars compared to the control. Fruit yield was greater for the GA3 treatment than for the control at harvest dates 3 through 5 for 'Beckyblue', and dates 4 and 5 for 'Bonita'. Average berry weight for both cultivars and for both treatments declined as the season progressed. For `Beckyblue', average berry weight did not differ between treatments at most harvest dates. For 'Bonita', average berryweight was less for the GA3 treatment than for the control at harvest dates 3 through 5. GA3 increased yield of rabbiteye blueberry with little detrimental effect on fruit size. However, results from Georgia suggest that greater positive effects on fruit set should be possible.
Mature `Sharpblue' southern highbush and `Beckyblue' rabbiteye blueberry plants were mechanically pruned at two heights on three dates after fruit harvest during the 1994 growing season. No pruning had occurred for at least 3 years (`Sharpblue') or 5 years (`Beckyblue') before initiating experiment. Pruning heights were 45 and 85 cm and nonpruned for `Sharpblue' and 45 and 95 cm and nonpruned for `Beckyblue'. Pruning dates were 3, 6, and 9 weeks after peak harvest for each cultivar. Regrowth was measured in Mar. 1995 before initiation of spring growth. Pruning `Sharpblue' bushes to 45 cm increased new shoot number and mean and total shoot length but decreased fruit yield compared to the 90-cm pruning treatment. No difference in yield occurred between the 90-cm pruning treatment and the nonpruned control. As time between fruit harvest and pruning increased, new shoot number, mean and total shoot length, plant height, canopy volume, and fruit yield decreased. There was no difference in yield between the earliest pruning treatment and the control. For `Beckyblue', mean and total shoot length of regrowth and flower bud density decreased with increasing time from harvest to pruning. Yield data for `Beckyblue' were not collected in 1995 because of gall midge infestation.
Two-year-old, container-grown `Misty' southern highbush blueberry plants were sprayed to drip with two concentrations of hydrogen cyanamide (HCN) (20.4 g·L–1 and 10.2 g·L–1) after exposure to 0, 150, or 300 hr of continuous chilling at 5.6°C. All plants were sprayed immediately after chilling and placed in a greenhouse for several weeks. The plants were moved outdoors during flowering to increase cross-pollination from nearby `Sharpblue' blueberry plants. HCN sprays killed some of the more advanced flower buds on shoot terminals and on small-diameter wood from the previous spring growth flush. Significantly greater flower bud mortality occurred for the 20.4 g·L–1 HCN sprays than for the 10.2 g·L–1 sprays. Flower buds subjected to 0 hr of chilling were more susceptible to spray burn than flower buds receiving 150 or 300 hr of chilling. Very little flower bud death occurred with the 10.2 g·L–1 HCN rate on plants receiving 300 hr of chilling. Vegetative budbreak was advanced for both HCN treatments compared to controls, regardless of chilling treatment. HCN-treated plants were heavily foliated at full bloom, while non-treated plants had very few to no leaves during bloom. HCN may be useful for stimulating vegetative growth in some southern highbush blueberry cultivars that suffer from poor foliation during flowering and fruit set.
Two cultivars of southern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L. interspecific hybrid), `Sharpblue' and `Wannabe', were container-grown outside in either a dormant or nondormant production system to determine how the two production systems affected carbohydrate (CH2O) status, growth, and development. Plants were maintained in the nondormant condition by continuous N fertilization throughout winter (average maximum/minimum temperatures of 17/5 °C). Plants in the nondormant system retained their foliage longer into the winter compared with plants in the dormant system. Flower bud number, density, fruit number, and total fruit fresh weight (FW) per plant were greater in the nondormant compared with the dormant system plants for both cultivars. Mean fruit FW was greater in dormant compared with nondormant `Wannabe' plants, while in `Sharpblue', mean fruit FW was similar in both systems. Cane and root CH2O concentrations in nondormant system plants were generally similar to or lower than those measured in dormant system plants. Assuming that longer leaf retention in nondormant system plants increased CH2O synthesis compared with dormant system plants, the patterns of reproductive/vegetative development and root/shoot CH2O concentrations indicate that the increased CH2O in nondormant system plants was allocated to increased reproductive growth in lieu of CH2O reserve accumulation. It is probable that this increased CH2O availability, combined with longer perception of short days due to longer leaf retention, were major factors in increasing flower bud initiation and yield in the nondormant compared with the dormant system plants.
`Sharpblue' southern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L. interspecific hybrid) was grown in either a dormant or nondormant production system to determine the effect of production system on source limitations to fruit and vegetative growth. Source limited stages were evaluated in the two production systems by reducing reproductive sink load during either the fruit cell division or fruit cell enlargement stage. Source limitation during cell division was evaluated by removing 80% of the flower buds in late fall, since the majority of cell division in blueberry ovaries occurs before bloom. Source limitation during cell enlargement was evaluated by removing 80% of the fruit after fruit set the following spring. In the dormant production (DP) system, mean fruit dry weight (DW) was greatest in the flower bud removal treatment and least in the control (nonthinned) treatment, suggesting that cell number, rather than size, is more important in determining blueberry fruit weight in the DP system. Fruit in the dormant flower bud removal treatment may have approached maximum cell number and therefore fruit size; this was supported by the observation that significant depletion of root carbohydrate concentration did not occur in this treatment, as it did in the control treatment. Mean fruit DW in the nondormant production (NDP) system was greatest in the fruit removal treatment compared with the other two treatments, suggesting that cell enlargement played a larger role in determining fruit size in this production system. However, the effect of the flower bud removal treatment (and therefore the effect of cell division) on fruit DW in the NDP system was apparently masked by continued flower bud initiation in this system after flower bud removal in late fall. Continued floral initiation was apparently an alternative sink to increasing cell division in previously formed flower buds. In both systems, fruit removal increased vegetative growth compared with the control and flower bud removal treatments. Thus, both systems exhibited source limitations to fruit and vegetative growth, although the timing and extent of the limitation to fruit growth differed between the production systems.
Variability in sucrose levels and metabolism in ripe fruit of several Vaccinium species were examined. The objective was to determine if sufficient variability for fruit sucrose accumulation was present in existing populations to warrant attempts to breed for high-sucrose fruit, which potentially would be less subject to bird predation. Three-fold differences in fruit sucrose concentration were found among species, ranging from 19 to 24 mg·(g fw)-1 in V. stamineum and V. arboreum to about 7 mg·(g fw)-1 in cultivated blueberry (V. ashei and V. corymbosum) and V. darrowi. Soluble acid invertase activity was negatively correlated with fruit sucrose concentration. There was no apparent correlation between fruit sugar concentration and either sucrose phosphate synthase or sucrose synthase activities, both of which were low for all species studied. The degree of variability in fruit sucrose accumulation among Vaccinium species supports the feasibility of developing high sucrose fruit, which would be a potentially valuable addition to current strategies of minimizing crop losses to birds.
Floral budbreak and fruit set in many southern highbush blueberry (SHB) cultivars (hybrids of Vaccinium corymbosum L. with other species of Vaccinium) begin prior to vegetative budbreak. Experiments were conducted with two SHB cultivars, `Misty' and `Sharpblue', to test the hypothesis that initial flower bud density (flower buds/m cane length) affects vegetative budbreak and shoot development, which in turn affect fruit development. Flower bud density of field-grown plants was adjusted in two nonconsecutive years by removing none, one-third, or two-thirds of the flower buds during dormancy. Vegetative budbreak, new shoot dry weight, leaf area, and leaf area: fruit ratios decreased with increasing flower bud density in both cultivars. Average fruit fresh weight and fruit soluble solids decreased in both cultivars, and fruit ripening was delayed in `Misty' as leaf area: fruit ratios decreased. This study indicates that because of the inverse relationship between flower bud density and canopy establishment, decreasing the density of flower buds in SHB will increase fruit size and quality and hasten ripening.
Two southern highbush blueberry cultivars, `Sharpblue' and `Misty', were used to investigate the influence of varying flower bud density and fruit load on vegetative development, whole-plant canopy CO2 exchange rate (CER), and leaf CER. Plants were grown in pots and flower buds were removed so that initial flower bud density (fl ower bud number/total cane length) on a whole-plant basis ranged from 0.05–0.35 flower buds/cm. Vegetative budbreak number, leaf area, and leaf area: fruit ratio decreased with increasing flower bud density. In `Sharpblue', whole-plant canopy CER measured at fruit ripening decreased with increasing flower and fruit load and decreasing leaf area:fruit ratio, while leaf CER increased with increasing fruit load and decreasing leaf area:fruit ratio. In `Misty', whole-plant canopy CER measured 4 weeks after full bloom decreased with increasing flower and fruit load, but whole-plant canopy and leaf CER at fruit ripening were similar among the different fruit loads. Average fruit fresh and dry weights increased and the fruit development period decreased with increased leaf area:fruit ratio in both cultivars. These data suggest that carbohydrate source limitations from reduced leaf area development and whole-plant canopy CER lead to decreased fruit fresh and dry weights and delayed ripening in some southern highbush blueberry cultivars.
A field experiment was conducted in Gainesville, Fla., with two southern highbush blueberry cultivars, `Misty' and `Sharpblue', to investigate the influence of varying flower bud load on the timing and extent of vegetative and reproductive development. Flower bud load was adjusted on three different canes on ten plants by removing none, one-third, or two-thirds of the flower buds. Vegetative budbreak, leaf area, fruit number, and fruit fresh weight and dry weight were measured. Vegetative budbreak was delayed with increasing flower bud load. Vegetative budbreak, leaf area, and leaf area: fruit ratio decreased with increasing flower bud load. Fruit maturity was delayed and average berry fresh weight and dry weight declined with decreasing leaf area:fruit ratio. Responses were similar for both cultivars although `Misty' was more adversely affected by high flower bud load and low leaf area: fruit ratio.