Florida Blueberry Growers Exploring Evergreen Varieties
September 22, 2015 Avanti, Arcadia, and Endura are a series of new southern highbush varieties released from the UF/IFAS blueberry breeding program.
Avanti, Arcadia, and Endura were tested as FL06-203, FL07-399, and FL06-377 respectively. All were released in 2015, and U.S. Plant Patents were applied for on Feb. 12, 2015.
Avanti, Arcadia, and Endura were released as a trio of varieties that had outstanding performance when grown under an evergreen management system in South-Central Florida. Although there is no absolute definition for evergreen management, the four key attributes include: 1) Growing blueberry bushes in an environment where hard freezes are not present; 2) Maintaining the leaves that developed during the previous growing season in a healthy condition through bloom and fruit maturity in the following season; 3) Continuing some level of fertilization and irrigation through the winter months in Florida; and 4) A long production season measured over months rather than weeks, but often with a few larger peak production periods.
As one might imagine, there are multiple different recipes to achieve these goals, but in northern areas of Florida, prevention of hard freezes requires protected cultivation using high tunnels or similar structures, while in areas of South-Central Florida, particularly in southern Polk, Hardee, DeSoto, Highlands, and Okeechobee counties, these conditions can be met with typical outdoor field production.
Avanti, Arcadia, and Endura have been trialed in this South-Central Florida evergreen region and possess attributes that appear to make them ideally suited for this type of production. Although the impact of chill accumulation in evergreen production is still under debate, for those wanting to trial the three varieties under more typical deciduous production using hydrogen cyanamide, the chill requirement of all are less than 200 hours (below 45° F).
Avanti
Photo courtesy of UF/IFAS
Avanti
Avanti is a vigorous, upright-growing bush with firm, high-quality fruit and a small dry picking scar. Avanti is the earliest maturing of the three releases — often with significant production in late January and early February in trials in South-Central Florida. Bloom is very early. And when grown in more northern regions, it will require extensive periods of frost protection. Avanti can be grown using hydrogen cyanamide, but expect some yield loss because of the early flower development. The biggest drawback to Avanti is that it often matures too early for the current market window when grown in South-Central Florida. Additionally, the fruit are quite susceptible to scarring and deformation following Botrytis fungal infections that happen during flowering and early fruit development.
Arcadia
Photo courtesy of UF/IFAS
Arcadia
Arcadia is a vigorous, upright-spreading bush with excellent plant survival and overall leaf disease tolerance. The fruit are very large, sweet, with a good scar and firmness. Arcadia has had much higher yields when grown under evergreen production (both in high tunnels and South-Central Florida) than when grown in more typical deciduous production. When trialed in South-Central Florida, the majority of Arcadia fruit are harvested in March and April during the high-value window. However, production is not concentrated, and harvestable fruit are on the plant from February through May. This very long harvest season when grown as an evergreen, plus the significantly reduced yield potential and mid- to late-season maturity timing when grown as a deciduous plant are the primary drawbacks to Arcadia.
Endura
Photo courtesy of UF/IFAS
Endura
Endura is a vigorous, upright-growing bush with firm, large fruit and excellent blue color. Of the three new releases, Endura performed best in South-Central Florida trials closer to the I-4 corridor. In that region, it had high yields under both evergreen and deciduous management systems using hydrogen cyanamide.
Like other varieties, the earliest fruit in the season tends to be tart, but the sugar/acid balance becomes better over the course of the season.
Endura is susceptible to leaf rust, but the infected leaves do not readily drop. The biggest drawback to Endura is the mid- to late-season maturity timing, similar to Emerald.
Initial budwood distribution is limited, so licensed propagators are strongly encouraged to establish a mother block that can be maintained as a source of cutting material for future propagation.
Avanti, Arcadia, and Endura are protected varieties and a license must be obtained for propagation and sale of plants. License information can be obtained from Florida Foundation Seed Producers (FFSP) at 352-273-3656 or by visiting ffsp.net.
A list of currently licensed propagators can be found at the FFSP website for growers wanting to purchase plants.
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