EFFECT OF GROWTH MEDIA ON HIGHBUSH BLUEBERRIES GROWN IN POTS

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different ingredients in the container substrate on highbush blueberry production.
The experiments were carried out in a greenhouse with 10 l pots.
The first experiment started in 2000 and included six different mixtures and the ‘Bluecrop’ as two-year-old plants.
The ingredients in the substrates were 60 % peat (different proportions of pure and fertilized peat), 5 % sand and different proportions of pine bark (35 or 10 %) and perlite (0 or 25 %). The second experiment started in 2001; in this experiment the best substrate from the first experiment was compared with a recommended commercial container substrate (Klasmann Container Fibre Substrate plus 20 % wood fibre). The cultivars in the second experiment were ‘Nui’ and ‘Puru’, as three-year-old plants.
In the first experiment, the mixtures including 35 % pine bark had the highest root density.
The different proportions of ingredients in the mixtures had no significant effect on plant height and fruit yield.
Mean cumulative yield of ‘Bluecrop’ for three years in the first experiment was 3.26 kg/m² and the mean fruit weight was 1.77 g.
In the second experiment there were no significant differences between the substrates.
Our conclusion is that highbush blueberry plants are not very sensitive to ingredients in the growth substrate and the plants grow well in containers.
Both ‘Bluecrop’ and ‘Nui’ can be recommended for pot production in the greenhouse.

VIII International Symposium on Vaccinium Culture

N. Heiberg, R. Lunde

Vaccinium corymbosum, out-of-season production, yield, vegetative growth, growth substrate, container

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2006.715.30