Abstract
This study suggests the possibility of a new cultivation method for continuous fruiting in blueberry. The flowering habit, harvest duration, and shoot growth were investigated in three blueberry species grown under high temperature and long-day conditions before endodormancy. Plants were grown in a greenhouse that was regulated at 10–35°C with a 15–16-hour photoperiod from 2nd Nov., 2010 to 14th Mar., 2011. High-chill cultivars, ‘Weymouth’, ‘Bluecrop’, and ‘Spartan’, flowered in June 2011 and could be harvested from August to September. This harvesting time was 2 months later than the natural season. Also, ‘Weymouth’ and ‘Spartan’ flowered on few shoots in October 2010 and could be harvested only in December. These cultivars shed leaves until April 2011. Low-chill cultivars, ‘Emerald’ and ‘Sharpblue’, continued flowering and fruiting from the top to bottom of the shoots. The harvest period of ‘Emerald’ was from December 2010 to July 2011, and that of ‘Sharpblue’ was from February 2010 to July 2011. Other cultivars, ‘Magnolia’, ‘Tifblue’, ‘Homebell’, and ‘Gloria’, flowered in February and March 2011. According to these results, it is possible to extend the harvest period and harvest fruits continuously including the off-season in some low-chill cultivars such as ‘Emerald’ and ‘sharpblue’ under high temperature and long-day conditions before endodormancy.
