Estimation of growth and yielding of highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) cultivated on soil developed from weakly loamy sand

In the years 1996 - 1999 an estimation of the growth and yielding of highbush blueberry cultivated on soil developed from weakly loamy sand was carried out. The study covered the initial years of fruit bearing (3-6 years after planting) of six cultivars of highbush blueberry: ‘Bluecrop’, ‘Blueray’, ‘Darrow’, ‘Ivanhoe’, ‘Northland’ and ‘Spartan’. The strongest vegetative growth was characteristic for bushes of ‘Northland’ and ‘Bluecrop’ cultivars, while the weakest was found in ‘Darrow’ and ‘Spartan’. ‘Northland’ proved to be the best yielding cultivar, although its fruits were the smallest. Berries of the ‘Darrow’ cultivar were the largest. In the study, the highest ranking was awarded to ‘Bluecrop’ (for growth, yielding, fruit size) and ‘Northland’ (for growth and yielding).