Effects of pruning and fertilization on the growth of highbush blueberry ‘Jersey’

This study examined the effect of different pruning and fertilization methods on the growth and development of highbush blueberry ‘Jersey’. A higher degree of thinning resulted in the formation of more suckers on the crown of the plants compared to other thinning methods. Combinational use of recommended fertilization and heavy thinning (HT) induced the highest average number of sucker formation. The average lengths of the shoots were 21.4-25.2, 17.4-20.1, and 12.0-15.3 cm for HT-, LT-(light thinning), and HP-(heading-back pruning) treated plants, respectively. HT also induced the highest number of mother shoots that were longer than 20 cm (36.6-41.1%), while LT (27.5-33.8%) and HP (15.8-23.8%) treatments produced fewer mother shoots. Analysis of fruit characteristics revealed that a higher degree of thinning increased fruit weight in 2013 as well as total soluble solid content in 2014. The pruning method had a greater impact on fruit yield than fertilization, as increased thinning led to a higher growth rate (HT 467.4-1036.2%, LT 234.9-314.3%, and HP 171.7-203.9%).