Blueberry harvesting is in full swing in Appling County. Overall southern highbush production this year has been good, although due to the drought we do not have as large in size of blueberries this year. Looking at the 10- day forecast there are a few rainy days in the forecast including a large rain for Saturday that is forecasted to be an inch or more of rain. This rain is very much needed but will bring challenges to blueberry harvesting. I have not seen or heard of much issues with fruit quality so far this harvest season either which is likely due to the dry weather and cooler nights we have had.
One positive outlook though on the drought we have been experiencing is that it gave us the opportunity to conduct a blueberry irrigation study that was impacted by only a minimal amount of rainfall. We made our first harvest in this study this week and will make 2 more harvests on the study over the next couple of weeks. In this trial we have four irrigation treatments, 1. Farmer Standard 2. SmartIrrigation App 3. Soil Moisture Sensor – Refill Point 4. Soil Moisture Sensor – Wilting Point. Each treatment is replicated 4 times, each replicate will be harvested and evaluated for yield. A cost comparison of amount of water applied per treatment will also be considered to determine the most economic irrigation method. This will be a multi-year study, although preliminary data will be available at the end of the harvest season. This trial is being conducted in Farthing at the Blueberry Research Farm in Alma, GA.
Other extension work being done in and around Appling County include a Fungicide Efficacy Study in SHB and RE lead by Dr. Jonathon Oliver as well as a Blueberry Leaf Tissue Sampling Study lead by Dr. Zilfina Rubio Ames. We will sample the fungicide efficacy study next week and evaluate the fruit for common blueberry fruit rot diseases. The blueberry leaf tissue sampling study began last week and consists of collecting blueberry leaf tissue samples every 2 weeks from now until September to determine the best time to collect blueberry leaf tissue samples. The current UGA recommendation is to collect from mid portion of current season’s growth during first two weeks after harvest. This study is also being conducted in both SHB and RE and is being conducted in multiple counties in SE Georgia.
I would also like to share the recent posts from extension specialists on the UGA Blueberry Blog. If you have not already i recommend subscribing to the UGA blueberry blog for timely updates by our UGA Extension Blueberry team.