Articles
EXPERIMENTS WITH BLUEBERRIES IN THE NETHERLANDS.
Nearly the whole production is intended for the fresh consumption and put up for auction.
The harvest period in the open is relatively short.
During this period the sale price drops sometimes even below the cost price.
Therefore growers are very interested in spreading the harvest period.
By using tunnels for advancing and delaying the harvest period, picking can be spread over almost 5 months.
It is possible to advance the harvest of the early cultivars with 5 to 6 weeks.
The most suitable cultivars are Bluetta and Earliblue.
The first berries are picked at the beginning of June.
The cultivars Patriot and Bluejay are also suitable but they follow one week later.
For delaying the harvest period, Darrow and Elizabeth are the most suitable cultivars.
The berries of these cultivars keep an excellent quality on the bush for a long time.
Although Elliott is a very late cultivar, after delaying the harvest period, its berries are less tasteful and firm than Darrow and Elizabeth.
The last berries are picked at the end of October.
Apart from cultivars, succes of growing blueberries in tunnels depends on several conditions such as planting system, irrigation system and ventilation capacity.
Besides research on advancing and delaying the harvest period in the Netherlands, trials are carried out on pruning methods, new cultivars, berry storage, trickle irrigation and fertigation.