Articles
BLUEBERRY CULTURE IN GREENHOUSES, TUNNELS, AND UNDER RAINCOVERS
Because almost the whole production in both countries is intended for the fresh market, the sales price drops below the cost price in the middle of the harvest period.
Therefore growers want to spread their harvest period by growing blueberries in greenhouses, tunnels and under raincovers.
In a heated greenhouse it is possible to advance the harvest period with 2 months, in a plastic tunnel this will be 5 – 6 weeks.
The most suitable cultivars to advance in greenhouses or tunnels are Bluetta, Duke, Earliblue, Puru, Nui, PBBB and Sunrise.
Under a raincover it is possible to delay the harvest period with 2 – 3 weeks.
The most suitable cultivars to delay are Darrow, Elizabeth and Elliott.
The latest development in spreading the harvest period is advancing the harvest period of the rabbiteye cultivar Powderblue in a greenhouse.
The berries are picked two months after the harvest of highbush blueberries in the open.
Normaly rabbiteye blueberries do not ripen and survive in our climate.
Although the financial results for growers are good, the culture of blueberries in greenhouses, tunnels and under raincovers is hard.
There are problems with the climate, pests, Ec of the soil and pollination.
The last two years, delaying the harvest period under raincovers has become less interesting because of the fairly good results of controlled atmosphere storage of berries.
In the near future the advanced berries have to compete with berries of the open from Southern Europe.