PERFORMANCE OF OWN-ROOTED `PREMIER' RABBITEYE BLUEBERRY VS. `PREMIER' GRAFTED ON V. ARBOREUM THROUGH THREE HARVEST SEASONS ON A FUQUAY SOIL

Abstract

Own-rooted `Premier' blueberry ( V. ashei Reade) was compared to `Premier' grafted on V. arboreum Marsh. (sparkleberry) for yield and fruit characteristics in a five-rep RCB design with three plants/rep. With grafted plants, three reps were on rootstock #17 and two on rootstock #10, and results were combined for statistical analyses. Production of suckers by rootstocks was also recorded. Plants wereestablished on an upland doughty mineral Fuquay soil, modified with sawdust, at Jackson Springs, N.C. Supplemental irrigation was applied only in the establishment year and the following year, and landscape fabric was installed in the rows for weed control also in the year following establishment. `Premier' grafted on V. arboreum yielded significantly higher than own-rooted `Premier' in all three harvest seasons. Fruit size on grafted plants was also significantly larger than on own-rooted plants in harvest years 2 and 3. There were no differences in fruit color, picking scar, firmness, or flavor in years 2 and 3, and only small differences in harvest year 1. The data for years 2 and 3 indicated that there were differences among stocks in yield; however, both graft combinations were higher-yielding than own-rooted plants. There were also differences among stock clones for the number of suckers produced in harvest years 2 and 3. The highest-yielding graft combination also had the lowest number of rootstock suckers.