An Update on Blueberry Growing in China

Abstract

The early ripening date of mid-April for rabbiteye blueberries in Chengjiang signals a bright future, with a total of 338 kg of fruit harvested from 780 2-year-old plants on 0.1 ha of paddy land. In Lishui, a 0.65 ha rabbiteye blueberry orchard produced 6,000, 8,000, and 12,000 kg of fruit in the fourth, fifth, and sixth year, respectively. In 2009, in Shandong Peninsula, fruit development time was shortened by about 4 weeks because of a very late spring and sudden high summer temperature, and the fruit were difficult to separate from the peduncle and were greenish flesh. The insect pest, Sardoscelis sphenias Mayrickin, was found in mainland China for the first time.