The Blueberry News – July 2019

FloridaBlueberryGrowers.org The Blueberry News | 21

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underway, to keep our producers up to date with the different

levels of research occurring in the breeding program, and in

collaboration with several UF/IFAS experts:

UPDATES TO THE BREEDING PROGRAM WEBSITE

An extension tab was added to the blueberry breeding

website (blueberrybreeding.com) that includes information

posted by Doug Phillips (blueberry extension coordinator), as

well as a listing of all available UF EDIS blueberry publications,

with a summary description and link to each. In addition, we

expect the 2019 cultivar performance data to be posted to the

website very soon, which will include yield, production timing,

number of weeks to produce 10%, 50%, and 90% of the crop,

and fruit quality characteristics.

A DISEASE AND INSECT SCOUTING GUIDE

IS BEING DEVELOPED

In coordination with other UF blueberry researchers, we

are developing a Florida-specific scouting guide which will be

released as a phone app. This will provide Florida growers with

a tool to support field diagnosis of disease, insect, and other

plant damage. The app will include descriptions of symptoms,

images, and links to UF EDIS blueberry publications. The idea

of this mobile application is to support blueberry producers;

however, the recommendation is that producers continue to

contact the IFAS plant pathologist and entomologist. and send

samples to the UF/IFAS plant clinic to diagnose major issues.

CENTRAL FLORIDA CULTIVAR TRIALS

Our southern highbush cultivar trial in central Florida is now

one year old, and we are continuing to monitor performance.

When the plants are three years old, we will begin to apply

hydrogen cyanamide to one of the two variety trials and

evaluate performance under both a deciduous and an evergreen

system. At that point we plan to begin to use this trial for field

day demonstrations.

EARLY SELECTION TEST SITES

FOR EVERGREEN PRODUCTION

An additional trial site for early breeding materials was

established in south-central Florida during 2019, for a total of

two such sites. This will allow for earlier selections of materials

that may be successful in the evergreen production system

used in central and south-central Florida. Following the 2019

season, the first set of elite selections under an evergreen

system were made from one of these sites, and will be grown

out as advanced selections in multiple trial sites.

The above items have only been possible because of the

hiring of Doug Phillips, central Florida blueberry specialist.

Doug is providing great support to growers and researchers by

facilitating day-to-day communication. In addition, Doug is

currently carrying out end of season surveys across the state,

with the goal of learning from issues and challenges to avoid

them in future seasons.

NEW PRODUCTION SYSTEM TO MAXIMIZE PROFITABILITY

Substrate production (i.e., soilless or container production)

is trending globally. While it involves a higher investment, this

intensive production system has been shown to be promising

in several respects, and thus could prove to be more profitable.

Together with Dr. Gerardo Nuñez, and in collaboration

with Straughn Farms, we have established a large substrate

experiment where we are testing different substrate mixes, pot

sizes, and plant architectures. The results of this experiment

during the first year were above expectations. In order to make

recommendations, we need to gather more information and

confirm the good performance of the first year. Yang Fang, a

PhD student in the blueberry breeding program, is the project

lead.

MACHINE HARVESTING RESEARCH

With decreasing labor availability, more producers are

hiring imported labor at a significantly higher cost. Harvesting

with machines can decrease this cost to a fraction of the

imported labor cost. Thus, developing cultivars with good

machine harvesting performance is an important goal for the

breeding program. We have intensified our efforts to identify

high yielding cultivars with sufficient fruit firmness and

concentrated fruit production for machine harvesting. Fruit

firmness is probably the most important trait for new cultivars

for use in machine harvesting. Work continues to identify the

genetic basis of fruit firmness, so we can accelerate the process

of selecting for this trait. In addition, we began measuring

pedicel length and detachment strength during the 2019

season, which are also important for machine harvesting.

BETTER FLAVOR AND MORE BLUEBERRY CONSUMPTION

WILL BENEFIT ALL STAKEHOLDERS

Research studies have shown that flavor is one of the most