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Fruit & Orchards

Had my first blueberry of the season today

12 years ago

Stopped over to a friends house today to pick up some peach and plum trees he had picked up for me at a wholesaler. We took a walk through some of his 12 acres of blueberries and he was showing me the bushes. He has already brought in 20 rented bee hives and his bushes are almost in full bloom. What surprised me the most was that the plants were putting out new leaves. Even for Florida this is strange and a bit surreal strolling through the plants in 80 degree temps the week before Christmas. The fruit was ok....just barely ok....but should get better as the bushes leaf.

My Mysore raspberries are blooming profusely and should have ripe fruit in a couple of weeks which is also very odd. Normally the plants don't bloom until March.

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Comments (8)

fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX
12 years ago
bamboo:

Does that grower have sprinklers for frost protection? That is usually recommended in FL for blueberries that bloom before March or at least late Febr.

What variety? Must be very low chilling to be leafing already. The Scintilla, Star, and Jewel I'm pushing to fruit aren't leafing yet and they are on the tail end of blooming.
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User
Original Author
12 years ago
Fruitnut,

Yes overhead sprinklers for frost protection.

As you said our normal bloom time is March. He grows a lot of different varieties but the plants we were eating fruit from were Emeralds and springhigh but I would say 70% of his different varieties are in bloom. His plants had already lost their leaves while mine still have leaves. The difference is with 12 acres he has more of a fungal load which you know reduces the longevity of the leaves.

I have 2 bunches of bananas that are not even close to being ripe so I am hoping it stays warm:)
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riverman1
12 years ago
Incredible...........dead of winter here, my plants won't have a bloom on them until late April. Sigh.

RM
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User
Original Author
12 years ago
Well when you consider our frost free date is March 1. I looked at my pictures and last year my BB were in full bloom by mid February.
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riverman1
12 years ago
I need to move!
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User
Original Author
12 years ago
I took a closer look at the plants today and the sweet crisps are putting out new leaves but so far they are the only ones. Planted 10 more Emeralds today and picking up the 55 sweetcrisps tomorrow.
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blueboy1977
12 years ago
I noticed a new leaf on my sweetcrisp today also! These are the really tiny plants I recieved in Oct. My Emerald has continued to break buds. If we get another freeze (which im sure we will) could I just drape a long sheet of plastic over my plants with a little heater to protect them from the cold and not pull off any more flowers?
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User
Original Author
12 years ago
I suppose you could but don't expect much from those early ..or late flowers (depending on how you look at it). I have yet to get a good berry from those off season flowers. It is a strange year.
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