North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Stephen Sadler" <Docshiva@Docshiva.org>]

I appreciate the blueberry thread/responses.  I think the reason my yields
were light before is that I used bushes that were in place when I had my old
garden.  They were too shaded, and were not likely the right variety for
that zone 7a garden.  For my new garden, I've been looking at Southern
highbushes.  I've been considering Sharpblue, Legacy, and the rabbiteye
Premier because of their reputed flavor as well as yields.  I'll add your
recommendations to my list!

Stephen Sadler, Ph.D.
USDA 9, AHS heat zone 8, 
Sacramento CA - Mediterranean climate

-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Hal Love
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2005 11:43 AM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Blueberries

David,

I find it hard to understand why northern highbush would not do well for
you. Generally, the reasons for failure are 1) really hot, dry summers, 2)
insufficient winter chill,  3) heavy, poorly drained soil, or 4) pH too
high. You don't seem to qualify for any of these.

You may want to try southern highbush. There are a number of newer southern
highbush, that usually do very well in areas were rabbiteyes do well. The
ones released from Maryland, North Carolina, and Arkansas should thrive in
your climate. Avoid the varieties bred for growing in Florida, these have
really low chill requirements, and break bud and flower way too early. Some
I have grown and would highly recommend are, O'neal, Sierra, and Ozark Blue.
If you want to stick to rabbiteyes, you may want to consider two of the
newer releases from North Carolina, Yadkin and Montgomery. These are
reported to have the best tasting berries of any rabbiteyes released to
date. Yadkin is also self-fertile and highly resistant to spring frost
injury as well. However, I have not tried either of these yet.

Hal
zn 6 TN