Re: The blueberries I grow in Berkeley.

Cyndi Norman <cnorman@best.com> had asked:

>Am I correct that most blueberries (Sunshine being an exception) need to
>have another blueberry variety around to produce fruit?  How close do they
>need to be and does the Sunshine count?

I don't remember seeing a reply (maybe there was a private reply).
Anyway, from my reading there seems to be some confusion concerning the
extent that blueberries are self-fertile. Many (most?) of the common
cultivars are self-fertile but if cross-pollinated would have more and
larger fruit. As far as I can tell, only a few blueberry cultivars
absolutely need cross-pollination. However, sometimes I will read something
like the following: "Rabbiteye and Southern Highbush culitvars, in contrast
to [Northern] highbush, are partially or completely self-incompatible, &
require pollinizers usually in alternate rows." It's a good idea anyway to
get more than one cultivar to extend the time you can pick blueberries.


The following website describes a blueberry variety trial for San Jose
(southern San Francisco Bay Area; a typical Mediterranean climate), which
also gives information on growing blueberries:
http://www.mastergardeners.org/recommend/bluebery.html

And the following gives good descriptions of cultivars:
http://www.mastergardeners.org/recommend/bluevar.html

--Mark
Mark Doster
central San Joaquin Valley, California
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