Response of young blueberry plants to irrigation in Florida

Abstract

Two-year-old, container-grown rabbiteye (Vaccinium ashei Reade) and highbush (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) blueberry plants were used in a 3-year study of water requirement for blueberry production in Florida. The rabbiteye cultivars Powderblue and Premier and the highbush cultivar Sharpblue were grown under three irrigation regimes. Irrigation events were triggered when soil water tensions in the upper 15 cm of the containers reached either 10, 15, or 20 kPa. Neither yield nor vegetative growth of rabbiteye cultivars differed among treatments. During the third year, the growth increase in highbush blueberry was significantly greater in the 10-kPa than in the 15- and 20-kPa treatments. The highest water treatment (10 kPa) resulted in a significant yield increase for the highbush cultivar.