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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Poplarville, Mississippi » Southern Horticultural Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #313919
Title: 'Bluesfest' Rabbiteye Blueberry

Author
item Stringer, Stephen
item DRAPER, ARLEN - Retired ARS Employee
item Shaw, Donna
item Sampson, Blair
item Adamczyk, John

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/9/2015
Publication Date: 7/8/2015
Citation: Stringer, S.J., Draper, A., Marshall-Shaw, D.A., Sampson, B.J., Adamczyk Jr, J.J. 2015. 'Bluesfest' Rabbiteye Blueberry. HortScience. 50:934-935.

Interpretive Summary: 'Bluesfest' is a new mid-season ripening blueberry developed at the USDA ARS Thad Cochran Southern Horticultural Laboratory, Poplarville, MS. Important attributes of ‘Bluesfest’ include its mid-to-late season ripening period, exceptionally light blue color, and berry size exceeding that of fruit of ‘Powderblue’, an industry standard.

Technical Abstract: ‘Bluesfest’ is a productive new rabbiteye blueberry developed and released by the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS). The mid-season ripening rabbiteye blueberry ‘Powderblue’ is currently among the more popular rabbiteye blueberries mostly due to its exceptionally light blue colored fruit that like that of 'Bluesfest, result from the “bloom” or relatively thick natural waxy coating on berry skins. However, the relatively small berries of ‘Powderblue’ may at times sell for less than larger berries of other cultivars. Important attributes of ‘Bluesfest’ include its mid-to-late season ripening period, exceptionally light blue color, and berry size exceeding that of fruit of ‘Powderblue’, an industry standard.