Producing blueberry trees for sustainable blueberry production

View the project final report

Commodities

• Fruits: berries (blueberries)
• Additional Plants: trees

Practices

• Crop Production: grafting, nurseries, nutrient management

The project goal was to develop propagation methods and nursery production practices for a new monopodial rootstock (Vaccinum arboreum L.) developed by the North Willamette Research and Extension Center of the Oregon State University. Working with two commercial tissue cultural labs and a production nursery in Oregon, we have successfully established tissue culture methods to produce stage I, stage II, stage III, and a liner production cycle for the new rootstock. More than 73% rooting rate was achieved from stage II to stage III plants. The nursery growing techniques, optimum nitrogen, and media pH levels were determined. The goal of grafting clonally produced rootstock plants was accomplished in the production nursery. A nursery production cycle was successfully developed for the rootstock commercialization. Two producers in the project have pending sales of the rootstock using newly developed propagation methods. The outcome of this research has been communicated to targeted nursery growers via workshops, presentations, and publications. The funding also helped the submission of a plant utility patent to the USDA. A survey of targeted potential nurseries indicated most of them have interests to commercially adopt the nursery practices developed and are willing to produce grafted blueberry plants from growing the rootstock to grafting, and sales of the blueberry trees.

1. Improving the efficiency of producing stage II tissue culture Vaccinium arboreum plantlets (Producer one).
2. Enhance the rooting percentage of Vaccinium arboreum plantlets (Producer two).
3. Growing blueberry rootstock (V. arboreum) plants (Principle investigator and producer three).
4. Grafting blueberry cultivars onto the blueberry rootstock to produce blueberry trees (Principle investigator and producer three).
5. Disseminate information to nursery growers on how to grow the V. arboreum rootstock and use grafting to produce blueberry trees (Principle investigator).