Early Performance of Rabitteye Blueberry Cultivars under Conventional and Organic Practices, Poster Board #284

Two rabbiteye blueberry trials were planted in Hope, Arkansas in February, 2009.  One planting was prepared and managed using organic practices and the other using standard conventional practices.  Each planting included cultivars Alapaha, Ochlockonee, Austin, Vernon, Tifblue, and Columbus, and each planting was a randomized complete-block design with cultivar as treatment factor and four blocks based on location within the planting.  The first harvest was collected in 2011.  Results indicate that Tifblue may remain one of the highest yielding varieties in southern Arkansas.  Each cultivar produced a unique harvest dynamic.  Alapaha peaked in late May; Austin, Vernon, and Columbus peaking in mid-June; and Tifblue and Ochlockonee peaking in early July.  Although, results are not statistically comparable, yields in the organic planting were higher in every cultivar, especially in Tifblue, where yields in the organic planting were twice those in the conventional planting.  The consistency of higher yields in the organic planting was not expected, because disease susceptibility was expected to be seen in some cultivars in the organic planting.  However, because there were not blueberries present prior to the current planting, initial disease and insect pest presence was low.  Additionally, better weed control was acquired in the organic planting using a fabric weed barrier above the mulch layer in the summer.  Herbicides were only temporarily effective constant encroachment of bermudagrass in the conventionally managed planting.