Pruning Method and Trellising Impact Hand- and Machine-harvested Yield and Costs of Production in ‘Legacy’ Highbush Blueberry

Abstract

A 6-year trial was established in Oct. 2015 in western Oregon to evaluate the effects of pruning and trellising on yield, hand- and machine-harvest efficiency, fruit quality, and costs of pruning and harvest of ‘Legacy’ highbush blueberry (complex hybrid based largely on Vaccinium corymbosum L. and Vaccinium darrowii Camp.). Pruning treatments began in Winter 2017–18 (before year 3) and continued each year through 2020–21 (year 6). Treatments included 1) recommended pruning for ‘Legacy’, removing less wood and leaving more short, thin laterals and a denser bush than is typical for most northern highbush cultivars (“control” with standard T-trellis), 2) control pruning and training to a V-trellis (“V”), and 3) standard northern highbush style pruning (“HB” with standard T-trellis). Fruit were harvested solely by hand in 2017 and 2018, and by hand for early harvests followed by machine for later harvests from 2019 to 2021. In most years, more wood was removed from HB- than control-pruned plants. On average, HB-pruned plants had a lower yield (6.7 kg/plant) than control-pruned plants, particularly those trained to a V-trellis (7.5 kg/plant). There was little effect of pruning treatment on fruiting season and hand- (7% drop) or machine-harvest efficiency (23% drop). Pruning method had no effect on berry weight, diameter, total soluble solids, or firmness over the study period or percent internal bruising in 2019. All of the ‘Legacy’ pruning methods studied required more time (358 to 561 h·ha−1) than the industry standard, ‘Duke’ (247 h·ha−1). Control and HB pruning did not differ in time to prune per unit area; however, in 2 of the 4 years, adding a V-trellis increased pruning time. On average, control and HB pruning had a similar cost per harvested fruit ($0.20 to $0.21/kg), whereas control pruning with a V-trellis ($0.23/kg) cost more than HB pruning. All treatments required the same amount of time to harvest (12.7 and 0.5 min·kg−1 for hand and machine picking, respectively). Total cost to prune and harvest ranged from $1.63/kg in 2019 to $3.43/kg in 2021 but was most heavily influenced by harvest costs rather than pruning. The one-time installation cost of $637/ha for the V-trellis was not compensated for by increased yield or efficiency of pruning or harvest compared with the control method with a standard T-trellis. Pruning according to recommended methods for ‘Legacy’ (control) increased yield without having a negative effect on fruit quality and had similar or lower costs to prune per kg of fruit harvested as typical northern highbush pruning.