Fruit Set and Fruit Characteristics of Highbush Blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum cvs. Bluecrop, Coville, and Northland) in an Open Field and a Rain Shelter

Abstract

Three highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum cvs. Bluecrop, Coville, and Northland) grown in an open field and in a rain shelter were compared to evaluate the potential benefits of rain-sheltering systems on growth and fruit quality. Shrubs grown in rain shelter flowered 5-14 days earlier and were in full bloom earlier than those in the open field. All three cultivars set fruit by nearly 90% of flowers when they were grown in the open field, but was markedly reduced when they were grown in the rain shelter, to approximately 50% for ‘Bluecrop’ and ‘Coville’. Fruit sets ratio of ‘Northland’ grown in the in the rain shelter was 14.5. Fruit from greenhouse-grown ‘Northland’ were larger, heavier, and had more seeds per berry. Soluble sugar content (SSC) of fruits varied both with the cultivars and growing conditions. SSC of fruits grown in the greenhouse was higher in ‘Bluecrop’ compared to that grown in the field, but this pattern was reversed in ‘Northland’. Titratable acid was significantly higher in fruits from rain shelter-grown shrubs of both ‘Bluecrop’ and ‘Northland’ than in fruits from open field-grown shrubs (P < 0.05), although there was no difference in TA with respect to growing conditions for ‘Coville’. The number of seed per fruit, fruit length and diameter, weight, SSC, and TA were similar in ‘Coville’ shrubs grown in the open field and the rain shelter. Fruit firmness of ‘Bluecrop’, ‘Coville’, and ‘Northland’ was higher in the rain shelter than in the open field. ‘Coville’ and ‘Northland’ fruits harvested in the open field had higher blue chroma than those harvested in the rain shelter. However, this pattern was reversed for ‘Bluecrop’. On the whole, sheltering from rain affected most fruit characteristics of the three cultivars differently. Therefore, suitable blueberry cultivars for the rain shelter should be chosen by purpose.