Moss Competition Dynamics and Suppression Technologies in Wild Blueberry Production

Abstract

Increasing moss pressures have been observed in wild blueberry fields, which have been attributed to increased precipitation, reliance of fertilizers to provide adequate yield potential, and increasing soil organic matter content. This has coincided with uncertainty regarding the distribution and diversity of mosses present in fields, the competitive nature of selected mosses, and if required, effective suppression technologies. Research conducted from 2006 to 2009 indicated that mosses were present in every sampled field (n = 40), hair cap moss (Polytrichum commune) was the most prevalent moss species observed, and there was no apparent influence of blueberry canopy cover, soil texture, soil pH, or soil moisture on moss incidence. In addition, hair cap moss was observed to physically compete with the wild blueberry for space and remain actively growing late into the autumn and winter. Autumn applications of the herbicide Chateau® (a.i., flumioxazin) were observed to be very effective in suppressing hair cap moss pressures with minimal damage to the wild blueberry, and rapid wild blueberry growth occurred the following growing season.