Highbush Blueberry Crops in a Trial in Norway, 1988-1998

Abstract

Two Vaccinium corymbosumcultivars, ‘Northland’ and ‘Patriot,’ were evaluated at Ås (60 degree N) over the 11 years from 1988-98 after planting bushes spring 1983. All plants survived a minimum temperature of −30 C during winter per year 1984/85. On average, earliest fruit was harvested August 20 and the number of harvests averaged 3.0. Starting in 1993, biennial bearing was more pronounced for ‘Northland’ than for ‘Patriot.’ This trend for alternate bearing was broken in 1998 after an unusually warm July-September 1997. Based on one plant per square m, the total yield per year averaged about 0.9 kg fruit per square m during the first 10 years of the trial for both cultivars. However, in the eleventh year ‘Northland’ produced 3.4 kg per square m, exceeding ‘Patriot’ by almost 50% in total fruit yield. Fruit size varied from year to year in a similar manner for both cultivars with ‘Patriot’ having an average of 2.38 g per fruit, while ‘Northland fruit averaged 1.19 g. Both cultivars were judged to produce fresh fruit of acceptable quality. These results are the first records of successful highbush blueberry culture in Norway.