Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Water and Soil Management Practices to Enhance Plant Growth, Berry Development, and Fruit Quality of Northern Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.)

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  • Drought and mandatory water restrictions are limiting the availability of irrigation water in many important blueberry growing regions and new strategies are needed to maintain yield and fruit quality with less water. Three potential options for reducing water use, including deficit irrigation, irrigation cut-offs, and crop thinning, were evaluated for 2 years in a mature planting of northern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L. ‘Elliott’). Treatments consisted of no thinning and 50% crop removal in combination with either full irrigation at 100% of estimated crop evapotranspiration (ETsubscript c]), deficit irrigation at 50% ET[subscript c] (applied for the entire growing season), or full irrigation with irrigation cut-off for 4–6 weeks during early or late stages of fruit development. Stem water potential was similar with full and deficit irrigation but, regardless of crop thinning, declined by 0.5–0.6 MPa when irrigation was cut-off early and by > 2.0 MPa when irrigation was cut-off late. In one or both years, the fruiting season was advanced with either deficit irrigation or late cut-off, whereas cutting off irrigation early delayed the season. Yield was not affected by deficit irrigation in plants with a full crop load but was reduced by an average of 35% when irrigation was cut-off late each year. Cutting off irrigation early likewise reduced yield, but only in the second year when the plants were not thinned; however, early cut-off also reduced fruit soluble solids and berry weight by 7% to 24%compared to full irrigation. Cutting off irrigation late produced the smallest and firmest fruit with the highest soluble solids and total acidity among the treatments, as well as the slowest rate of fruit loss in cold storage. Deficit irrigation had the least effect on fruit quality and, based on these results, appears to be the most viable option for maintaining yield with less water (2.5 ML·ha⁻¹ less water per season). A second study was conducted in a 7-year-old field of certified organic highbush blueberry. Two cultivars (‘Duke’ and ‘Liberty’) mulched with either porous polyethylene ground cover (“weed mat”) or yard debris compost topped with sawdust (sawdust+compost) and each fertilized with either feather meal or fish emulsion were evaluated. One-year-old fruiting laterals were randomly-selected at three heights (top, middle, and bottom) on the east and west side of the plants. Bud, flower, and fruit development were monitored through fruit harvest. There was relatively little effect of mulch type or fertilizer source on the measured variables. Fruit harvest occurred ≈8 d after the fruit were fully blue and ranged from 2-25 July 2012 and 26 June-3 July 2013 in ‘Duke’ and from 1-20 Aug. 2012 and 17 July-7 Aug. 2013 in ‘Liberty’. Proportionally more fruit buds occurred on middle laterals than upper and lower laterals. The dates of bud swell and bud break were not affected by cultivar or lateral position. ‘Duke’ and ‘Liberty’ produced 6-8 and 7-9 flowers/bud, respectively. Fruit set was high in both cultivars, averaging ≈95%. However, 13-18% and 29-38 % of the initial set fruit dropped in ’Duke’ and ‘Liberty’ in late May to early June. Fruit ripening was more uniform within clusters in ‘Duke’ than in ‘Liberty’, and average fruit size was similar among harvests in ‘Duke’ but decreased by 25-40% between the first and last harvest in ‘Liberty’. Fruit matured 3−5 d earlier on the east side of the canopy than on the west side. The results suggest that pruning proportionally more on the lower part of the canopy than on the upper part will result in larger fruit at harvest than uniform pruning throughout the bush. The final study was conducted to determine the potential of applying micronized elemental sulfur (S°) by chemigation through the drip system to reduce high soil pH in a new planting of ‘Duke’ blueberry. The S° was mixed with water and injected weekly for 2 months prior to planting, as well as 2 years after planting, atrates of 0, 50, 100 and 150 kg·ha⁻¹ per year, and was compared to the conventional practice of incorporating prilled S° into the soil prior to planting (two applications of 750 kg·ha⁻¹ each). Chemigation quickly reduced soil pH (0-10 cm) within a month from 6.6 with no S° to 6.1 with 50 kg·ha-1 S° and 5.8 with 100 or 150 kg·ha⁻¹ S°. The change was short-term, however, and by May of the following year, soil pH averaged 6.7, 6.5, 6.2, and 6.1 with each increasing rate of S° chemigation, respectively. The conventional treatment, in comparison, averaged 6.6 on the first date and 6.3 on the second date. In July of the following year, soil pH ranged from an average of 6.4 with no S° to 6.2 with 150 kg·ha⁻¹ S° and 5.5 with prilled S°. Soil pH declined thereafter to as low as 5.9 with additional S° chemigation and at lower depths (10-30 cm) was similar to the conventional treatment. None of the treatments had any effect on winter pruning weight in year 1 or on yield, berry weight, and plant dry weight in year 2. Chemigation with S° can be used to quickly reduce soil pH following planting and, therefore, may be a useful practice to correct high pH problems in established blueberry fields. However, it was less effective and more time consuming than applying prilled S° prior to planting.
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