2014 ASHS Annual Conference

Objective(s):
This workshop will review research on low-chill blueberry cultivars grown in warm climates and production systems with current challenges and knowledge gaps.

Many temperate-zone fruit plants require a period of low temperatures in winter to grow vegetatively and produce flowers uniformly in the spring.  Insufficient chilling of some blueberry cultivars results in delayed and erratic budbreak, as well as poor fruit set.  Chill-hour accumulation in Central and South Florida can be less than 150 hours, but blueberry production in these two areas is increasing.  Low-chill blueberry cultivars, innovative cultural methods, and the use of hydrogen cyanamide in early winter have allowed blueberry growers in these regions to harvest fruit in March and April when the price of fresh blueberries is high (>$13/kg).  This workshop will summarize breeding efforts to develop low-chill blueberries with high fruit quality, application of chilling models to predict plant responses, the role of plant growth regulators for producing blueberries in tropical and subtropical environments, and novel practices used to mitigate lack of chilling.