I’m afraid I am 13 years late but I can say a little about those varieties. First, is that I would never trade a rabbiteye for a southern, and I have both. Rabbiteyes produce more, are more resistant to extreme climate conditions, diseases and accept fertilization better than southerns. Rabbiteyes can take drought and lack of nutrients better than southerns, also will adapt to different soils better than southerns. In no way southerns are better than rabbiteyes, the only thing southerns are "better" is the thin skin on fruits, because I dont even consider the seeds thing, blueberry seeds are already very small in rabbiteyes. Now, for the varieties. I dont have all, but I have some, Woodard is a must, simply, because is an awesome pollinator, it flowers so heavily and I'm sure its flowers have some smell on it because it attracts bees like no other. Climax is a heavy producer and the fruit does taste good and sweet when ripe, it will be gritty if you harvest too early, leave it hanging on the bush a few days after it turns blue. Briteblue is a beast, what it has in compact size, it doubles in production, big fruits, will tolerate Ph on the 6 range better than other varieties, fruits are more on the tart side, good for recipes. Delite will not blow your mind with production like Briteblue, but it is the most tasty among rabbiteyes, simply delicious. The ones that I dont have but heard good things are Powderblue and Premier. Southerns I have: Emerald, good fruits, a litte bland on taste, but big and beautiful, less feeble than other southerns. Biloxi, it only lives to one mission: produces in no chill conditions, the rest is a nightmare. Will go into shock with Ph a little over 5, get spotted with more than two rains, the growth is just desordenated, it grows too much and that is why its roots can never keep up with its metabolism, because it overgrows, it will require lots, lots lots, lots of nitrogen, but it cant take salts! So you go for organic matter, but it is slow release so you won't be able to keep its needs, how growers in Peru and Mexico deal with that? They prune the whole plant to the ground level every year, that is crazy! Yes the fruits can be delicious, but only a few because most will be tart due to its bad root system, the size of the fruit can vary a lot in the same crop and the crop is small. The few that are good are really delicious. Misty, also overproduces, in the case, too much flowers, so much that it wont have enough leaf to support and some advise to clip some flowers, the bush is just stupid to the point it does not know how much energy it should spend on flowering and growing, the plant is prone to fungus infection, the fruits are delicious, I give it that, the most sweet after Delite.

Nice set up Barberberry, I must say I've got a little garden envy after seeing your spread! I would love to one day be able to run a operation like that. For now I will just keep grinding away in my yard. Thanks for your input on Rabbiteyes. Not many people on here seem to have to much to say about them and I may have a few questions for you in the near future about them. Foolishpleasure, are you getting Brightwell or Sharpblue? Sounds like you may not have to worry too much about pollination with your rabbiteye that's flowering now if they are indeed self fertile. As far as 2 crops in one season, that's a good question! The only variety I have that has that potential is Emerald but it's grown out doors, not in a green house. Fruitnut could probably answer that for you as he grows his in a green house. That being said, the fall crop on Emerald is very light and I haven't got a good berry yet in fall. I've left a few on there that last 2 falls to see but they never sweetend up for me. There is a new variety called Sweet Heart, Berries Unlimited carries it and they claim you get two crops, spring and fall. If I lived in your zone I think I would add that one to my collection. If I recall right it's a NHB/SHB cross. Don't hold me to it though! I was going to get one just to see how it performed here but the zone ratings haven't been nailed down yet, at least not zone 9a/b where I am. Sunshine blue is a SHB and I believe it's rated to zone 5??? It's a easy plant to grow as well and suppost to be pretty darn cold hardy. Good luck and keep us posted with your results.

"So how many blues are you up too now? How many different varieties? Which were your favorites this past spring?" At present, I have 7 northern highbush, 6 southern highbush, 17 rabbiteyes, one half high, and one low bush hybrid. I wouldn't mind replacing six of the seven northern highbush with better cultivars -- four are Duke, which I find a bit bland, and two are Bluecrop, which had a real problem with anthracnose during our very wet spring and summer. I'm thinking about picking up three or four new varieties this winter, and, even though I'm supposed to be focusing on norther highbush, Legacy is definitely on the list. I should have ordered one sooner, because, as you mentioned, it seems to get a lot of praise. Even though it's really pushing it for my climate, I did pick up a Sweetcrisp last summer, and I should have the opportunity to sample a few berries this spring. I have it tucked away under a frost blanket, but I probably need to check on it. I have a feeling it's going to bloom way too early and will need some protection. Your comments on Snowchaser almost swayed me, as well, but I decided to pass on it because it's such an early bloomer. Your description of our fall and winter thus far matches up perfectly with my own recollection, Ray. It got cold earlier than I expected -- we often make it into November before the first frost and freeze, but I lost my tomatoes in October this year, as well as some figs that weren't quite ready to pick.

You don't even have to determine the soil pH if the water you use on your blueberry bushes is in the 4.5-5.5 range. Whenever I water them, I add 30 drops of sulfuric acid / 1 tbsp of ammonium sulfate in a 5 gallon bucket of 7.2 pH water and pour it on. I know that drops the pH to 5 because I kept adding drops of sulfuric acid until it reached the pH I desired. Whatever you water your plants with is what will ultimately determine what your soil pH will be. Rain water? Great, you don't have to acidify and lug buckets of water around. Otherwise, 7.0+ pH tap water will be what your blueberry plants will have and you will wonder why they are starting to have reddish brown spots on their leaves. The soil you plant them in doesn't matter much as well as far as pH goes. Peat moss and pine bark mulch work well because they don't clump up like clay soils do and allow the blueberry's roots to spread easily. Sulfur granules? I wouldn't bother with those either. It makes the pH of your soil even harder to get right because it takes so long for it to take effect. You'll find yourself testing your soil and the pH will be too high and you'll think, "Well crap, the pH is not going down and the plants are starting to look bad. I better add more sulfur granules to drop that pH". Fast-forward 6 months, your pH is below 4 and your plants are on the verge of dying because you added too much sulfur. How do you even know how much to add? You don't. Generally, you have to prep your soil a year in advance for this guessing game to work. Who has the foresight and time for that? Not me and neither do you. Get your watering right and everything else will fall into place. One of my 2.5 year old blueberry plants: Good luck!