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Publication #Circular 1440

New Plants for Florida: Blueberry1

Paul Lyrene2

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In 1948, University of Florida horticulturist Ralph Sharpe noted that the market for fresh blueberries in the U.S. was expanding rapidly, but that no blueberries were available until late May when harvest began in eastern North Carolina. Sharpe also noted that the wild blueberry ripened in north Florida starting in late April. Although these wild berries had excellent flavor and aroma, the berries were too small and the plants too low-yielding to be cultivated profitably.

Commercial blueberry varieties from Michigan, New Jersey and North Carolina survived poorly and produced little fruit when planted in Florida. Florida winters were too warm to satisfy their chilling requirement, and the northern varieties were too susceptible to leaf, root and stem diseases that flourished because of Floridas long, wet summers. After spending two years studying the wild blueberries native to Florida, Sharpe selected the Florida evergreen lowbush blueberry, Vaccinium darrowi, to cross with the northern varieties. During his explorations, Sharpe found some wild blueberry plants growing around a lake near Winter Haven that produced unusually large berries with a powdery blue color, and these plants became the source of the low chilling requirement and heat tolerance of Florida's highbush blueberry varieties. Today, nearly 100 percent of the blueberries harvested in April and early May in the northern hemisphere and during October and early November in the southern hemisphere trace their ancestry back to this Florida lowbush blueberry.

Yet, there remained many obstacles to the establishment of a commercial blueberry industry in Florida. Berry quality and size, diseases and insects, and heat resistance were the major challenges. After several years and cycles of crossing and selection, Paul Lyrene developed today's newer commercial varieties, which have larger berries, stronger bushes and higher yields. These new berries also ripen earlier and are easier to pick and ship. Today's varieties have made Florida blueberry production what it is today – a crop that sells 4 million pounds per year, with a farm-gate value of $20 million.

For more information about Blueberry varieties, see the following EDIS publications:

Cir 1221 Deciduous Fruit for Central Florida

Cir 611 Deciduous Fruit for North Florida

HS 742 Florida's Commercial Blueberry Industry

SS-HS-504 Nursery List for Deciduous Fruit Trees

HS 23 Dooryard Fruit Varieties

Tables

Table 1. 

Blueberry varieties released by FAES.

Variety

Date of Release
Bluegem

1970

Sharpblue, Floridablue

1975

Aliceblue, Beckyblue, Avonblue

1977

Bonita, Chaucer, Choice

1985

Misty

1990

Windy, Snowflake, Marimba

1992

Star, Southmoon

1995

Santa Fe, Bluecrisp

1998

Jewel, Sapphire

1999

Emerald

2000

Windsor, Milennia

2001

Southern Belle, Sebring

2002

Savory, Florida Rose

2003

Footnotes

1.

This document is part of Circular 1440, a publication of the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, the Agronomy Department and IFAS Communication Services, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Publication date August 2003. Originally published as a booklet by IFAS Communication Services June 2003. Visit the EDIS Web Site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2.

Paul Lyrene, professor, Horticultural Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service. Circular 1440 is edited by Richard L. Jones, Mary L. Duryea, and Berry J. Treat, Florida Agricultural Experiment Station. Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.

Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Richard L. Jones, Dean for Research, publishes this information to further programs and related activities, available to all persons regardless of race, color, age, sex, disability or national origin. Information about alternate formats is available from IFAS Communication Services, University of Florida, PO Box 110810, Gainesville, FL 32611-0810.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Millie Ferrer-Chancy, Interim Dean.