Influence of Chilling on Growth and Flowering of Rabbiteye Blueberries1

Abstract

The influence of chilling on rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium ashei Reade) differed among cultivars studied. Growth measurements made 30 days after chilling indicated that maximum vegetative growth for ‘Climax’ occurred after 450 hours; ‘Bluebelle’ and ‘Delite’, after 500 hr; and ‘Tifblue’, after 650 hr of chilling below 7.2°C. Some ‘Climax’, ‘Bluebelle’, and ‘Delite’ flowered after 150 to 200 chilling hr; however, the latter 3 cultivars studied required at least 650 chilling hr for maximum flower development.