Effect of Chilling on Bud Break in Rabbiteye Blueberry1,2

Abstract

Abstract Cultivars of rabbiteye blueberry ( Vaccinium ashei Reade) differed in cold requirements for bud break. ‘Woodard’ and ‘Tifblue’ plants required 400 and 600 hr, respectively, of constant chilling (6-7°C) for normal flowering. Two hundred and 400 hr of chilling, respectively, were insufficient for bud break. Additional chilling increased the amount and rate of bud break. Defoliation hastened vegetative bud break but did not affect flower buds.