Light Environment Within Mature Rabbiteye Blueberry Canopies Influences Flower Bud Formation

Yañez, Paola; Retamales, Jorge B.; Lobos, Germán; Pozo, Alejandro del

doi:10.17660/actahortic.2009.810.61

Cited by 16 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Photosynthesis may also have been reduced if CO 2 levels were high in the tubes as has been reported by others (Dupraz and Bergez, 1999). Reduced light or shade has also been shown to decrease shoot number and increase shoot length in blueberry (Kim et al, 2011;Lobos et al, 2013;Yáñez et al, 2009). Shade has also reduced shoot number or budbreak in other crops (e.g., Bell et al, 1995;Perez and Kliewer, 1990).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

Grow Tubes Reduce Root and Crown Growth but Not Early Production during Establishment of Highbush Blueberry

Strik¹,

Buller²,

Tarara³

2014

horts

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Grow tubes are sometimes used in blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) to establish plantings or replace dead plants in older fields. Two experiments were conducted at a commercial farm to evaluate the effect of various grow tubes used during planting establishment of highbush blueberry cultivars. The treatments in the first experiment were cultivar (‘Aurora’, ‘Elliott’, ‘Liberty’) and grow tube treatment (no tube, control; opaque cardboard tube in the first growing season; and opaque plastic tube in the first season or first through the second season). The treatments in the second experiment were cultivar (‘Aurora’, ‘Elliott’, ‘Liberty’, ‘Ozarkblue’) and grow tube treatment (control; translucent plastic; opaque plastic; and wire mesh tube over plants in the first growing season). The presence of a grow tube from spring to fall of the first growing season decreased crown dry weight (DW) by an average of 37% to 50% and root DW by 30% (all except translucent plastic in Expt. 2) and increased the aboveground:belowground DW ratio relative to the control by an average of 34% to 67%, depending on the experiment. Plants grown in tubes were taller, had a narrower canopy, and had fewer whips, likely a response to low light levels inside the tubes; the fewest whips were found in the opaque plastic or cardboard tubes and the most in the translucent plastic tube with an intermediate response in the wire mesh tube. Removal of grow tubes during the summer led to plant damage from sudden sun exposure. The opaque grow tubes (present in Year 1) reduced yield/plant in Year 2 for ‘Elliott’ and ‘Liberty’ (cardboard tube only) but not ‘Aurora’. Pruning plants to allow for limited early fruit production (≈0.6 kg/plant) in Year 2 did not reduce yield in Year 3 (≈2.7 kg/plant). Whereas grow tubes reduced root and crown growth in the first season, there appeared to be no longer-term adverse effect on aboveground plant growth or yield.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

Grow Tubes Reduce Root and Crown Growth but Not Early Production during Establishment of Highbush Blueberry

Strik¹,

Buller²,

Tarara³

2014

horts

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The differences in the number of fruiting buds below the top of the tube were more dramatic than were growth indicators, where NT bushes had 6-fold more fruiting buds than TR and 10-fold more than OP. Shading has been shown to reduce fruit bud number (Retamales and Hancock, 2012;Yáñez et al, 2009). Under 75% to 80% shade, there were significantly fewer fruiting buds per cane than under 30% or 60% shade (Lobos et al, 2013).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Under 75% to 80% shade, there were significantly fewer fruiting buds per cane than under 30% or 60% shade (Lobos et al, 2013). Within a cultivar, the number of fruiting buds is positively correlated with shoot diameter and incident solar radiation (Retamales and Hancock, 2012;Yáñez et al, 2009). With respect to the initiation of fruiting buds in highbush blueberry cultivars, the quantity of solar radiation required is not known, although in one study, fruiting bud number increased with the length of time shoots were exposed to short daylength (Bañados and Strik, 2006).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grow Tubes Change Microclimate and Bush Architecture but Have Little Effect on Bush Biomass Allocation at the End of the Establishment Year in Blueberry

Tarara

Cháves²,

Strik³

2014

horts

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Microclimate variables were integrated over a 6-month period during which blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum cv. Liberty) bushes were grown in 51-cm high, 20-cm diameter round grow tubes (opaque or translucent) on a sawdust mulch-covered raised bed with the mulch incorporated into tilled soil. Grow tubes were installed around plants in the spring of 2006, 5 months after planting. Total photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) density was 55% and 21% of ambient in translucent and opaque tubes, respectively. Daily maximum vapor pressure deficit consistently was highest in translucent tubes. Air (Ta) and stem (Tstem) temperatures in both grow tube types exceeded Ta and Tstem in non-tubed plants (ambient). Maximum mulch surface temperature (Tm) was lowest in opaque tubes, whereas there was no difference in Tm between ambient and translucent tubes. The soil–mulch interface temperature (Tsm) was warmer outside tubes than Tsm inside tubes. Soil temperatures directly under the tubes differed very little between tube types and ambient, generally less than 1 °C. Root and crown dry mass (DM) did not differ between tubed plants and ambient at the end of the establishment year. Leaf area, leaf DM, and fruit bud number were suppressed inside tubes. All plants were greater than 51 cm tall at the end of the growing season. Substantial compensatory growth occurred above tubes: tubed plants were more upright and had more leaf area, leaf DM, and shoot growth than ambient plants above 51 cm. However, there was no difference between tubed and ambient plants in fruit bud number, total plant leaf area, shoot:root, or DM of 1- and 2-year-old wood. Grow tubes can alter microclimate and architecture of young blueberry bushes but have no significant influence on size and distribution of total DM after one growing season in the field.

show abstract

“…As an additional benefit, such repositioning would allow better sunlight penetration into the interior of the bush for flower bud formation and increased yields. Yáñez et al (2009) reported that low sunlight levels caused the interior fruit twigs to set fewer flower buds, and as the light levels drop below 20% of full sunlight these shoots eventually die. However, the effect of pruning and trellising the remaining canes has not been studied for ground loss.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Techniques for Increasing Machine Harvest Efficiency in Highbush Blueberry

Takeda

Krewer

et al. 2013

hortte

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Northern highbush (NH) blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) and southern highbush (SH) blueberry (V. corymbosum hybrids) have fruit that vary in firmness. The SH fruit is mostly hand harvested for the fresh market. Hand harvesting is labor-intensive requiring more than 500 hours/acre. Rabbiteye blueberry (V. virgatum) tends to have firmer fruit skin than that of NH blueberry and has been mostly machine harvested for the processing industry. Sparkleberry (V. arboreum) has very firm fruit. With the challenges of labor availability, efforts are under way to produce more marketable fruit using machine harvesting. This could require changing the design of harvesting machine and plant architecture, and the development of cultivars with fruit that will bruise less after impact with hard surfaces of machines. The objectives of this study were to determine the fruit quality of machine-harvested SH blueberry, analyze the effect of drop height and padding the contact surface on fruit quality, investigate the effect of crown restriction on ground loss, and determine the effect of plant size on machine harvestability. The fruit of ‘Farthing’, ‘Scintilla’, ‘Sweetcrisp’, and several selections were either hand harvested or machine harvested and assessed during postharvest storage for bruise damage and softening. Machine harvesting contributed to bruise damage in the fruit and softening in storage. The fruit of firm-textured SH blueberry (‘Farthing’, ‘Sweetcrisp’, and selection FL 05-528) was firmer than that of ‘Scintilla’ after 1 week in cold storage. Fruit drop tests from a height of 20 and 40 inches on a plastic surface showed that ‘Scintilla’ was more susceptible to bruising than that of firm-textured ‘Farthing’ and ‘Sweetcrisp’. When the contact surface was cushioned with a foam sheet, bruise incidence was significantly reduced in all SH blueberry used in the study. Also, the fruit dropped 40 inches developed more bruise damage than those dropped 20 inches. Ground loss during machine harvesting was reduced from 24% to 17% by modifying the rabbiteye blueberry plant architecture. Further modifications to harvesting machines and plant architecture are necessary to improve the quality of machine-harvested SH and rabbiteye blueberry fruit and the overall efficiency of blueberry (Vaccinium species and hybrids) harvesting machines.

show abstract

Light Environment Within Mature Rabbiteye Blueberry Canopies Influences Flower Bud Formation

Cited by 16 publications

References 2 publications

Grow Tubes Reduce Root and Crown Growth but Not Early Production during Establishment of Highbush Blueberry

Grow Tubes Reduce Root and Crown Growth but Not Early Production during Establishment of Highbush Blueberry

Grow Tubes Change Microclimate and Bush Architecture but Have Little Effect on Bush Biomass Allocation at the End of the Establishment Year in Blueberry

Techniques for Increasing Machine Harvest Efficiency in Highbush Blueberry

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About