THE EFFECT OF CROSS-POLLINATION OF SOUTHERN HIGHBUSH BLUEBERRIES ON FRUIT SET AND FRUIT CHARACTERISTICS

Commercial production of southern highbush blueberries is relatively new in South Africa.
Questions from producers as to the need for single or multi-cultivar commercial blocks to aid cross-pollination, have arisen.
Four experiments to evaluate the self-compatibility and the effect of cross-pollination on fruit set and fruit characteristics of the cultivars ‘Emerald’, ‘Jewel’, ‘Bluecrisp’ and ‘Snowchaser’ were conducted in Villiersdorp, Western Cape Province, South-Africa.
All experiments comprised a control where no hand pollination was applied, a self-pollination treatment (selfing) where pollen of the same cultivar was used for pollination, and three to five cross-pollination treatments depending on the overlapping bloom periods of the different cultivars.
The effect of cross-pollination on fruit set, berry weight, berry diameter and fruit development period was cultivar specific.
The following recommendations can be made: ‘Bluecrisp’ seems self-incompatible and ‘Misty’ and ‘Emerald’ would be recommended as cross-pollinators.
For ‘Jewel’, ‘Misty’ would be recommended although all pollination treatments gave satisfactory yields.
For ‘Emerald’, cross-pollination with ‘Jewel’, ‘Misty’ and ‘Bluecrisp’ is recommended when early maturing fruit and fruit size are important. ‘Snowchaser’ seems self-compatible and is the only cultivar where solid block plantings are recommended.

II All Africa Horticulture Congress

J.L. Müller, W.J. Steyn, K.I. Theron

Vaccinium corymbosum, pollination, ‘Jewel’, ‘Emerald’, ‘Bluecrisp’, ‘Snowchaser’

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2013.1007.66