Fall Blueberries From Florida Growing To Be a Possibility
November 28, 2023 Fresh blueberries from Florida in the fall? University of Florida researchers might have found the right plant genes to develop Florida-grown blueberries in what is normally considered the off-season.
A typical Florida blueberry season features a harvest that runs from February to May. In a newly published study, scientists evaluated 536 varieties of the Southern Highbush blueberry on two commercial farms in Waldo, FL – northeast of Gainesville — during fall 2019 and fall 2021.
“Blueberries are a short-day plant, meaning that flower organs are formed when days are short in the fall and then flower in the spring,” says Patricio Muñoz, UF/IFAS associate professor and blueberry breeder. “But we always observed a few varieties that will produce in the fall, meaning they have the capacity to develop flowers when days are long. Basically, these are day-length insensitive. So, we developed a study to determine whether we could promote a profitable fall production in Florida.”
Scientists confirmed their hypothesis.
“Our results tell us that there is a genetic mechanism operating in those off-season plants that is different from the conventional plants with the traditional spring flowering,” adds Mariana Neves da Silva, who led the study as part of her doctoral dissertation under the supervision of Muñoz in the UF/IFAS College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
So, how do the findings from the study help Florida blueberry growers?
“In the fall, blueberries are imported to the U.S., and prices can be high due to the lack of domestic production,” Neves da Silva says. “Producing blueberries in the fall could help Florida growers to reach that high-price market window by providing fresh blueberries. Further research is required in order to improve that trait, and also to gather more data regarding yield and management.”
In the future, horticultural scientists expect to develop cultivars and management practices.
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