 SUZIBLUE IS A SOUTHERN HIGHBUSH VARIETY |
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SUZIBLUE was selected in 2002 at the Georgia Experiment Station in Griffin GA from a group of seedlings of the cross Star X TH-474 planted in a nursery in 1999. Suziblue has been tested as selection TH-730 at multiple sites in middle and south Georgia since 2003. Suziblue is an early season southern highbush blueberry flowering and ripening about the same time as Star, but 1 week later than Rebel. Suziblue berries are similar in appearance to Star and Rebel. Table 1 presents multi-year fruit and plant data for Suziblue, Star, and Rebel averaged across multiple locations in south Georgia. |
SUZIBLUE had better berry firmness, berry size, and overall superior cropping than Star. When compared to Rebel, Suziblue typically had larger berry size and better overall flavor. Suziblue also had a high degree of plant vigor across all locations. In Griffin GA, berry weight of Suziblue has been larger than Star, averaging 2.2 to 2.8 grams per berry compared to 1.5 to 2.2 grams per berry for Star. Again in Griffin, Suziblue flavor was noticeably sweeter than Rebel, which has a mild to bland flavor. The new variety has a similar chill hour requirement to that of other early season southern highbush, in the range of 400 hours or less. |
SUZIBLUE Southern Highbush is a release by the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the Georgia Agricultural Experiment Stations. It is a protected blueberry variety that can only be sold by individuals licensed by the University of Georgia Research Foundation (UGARF) under guidelines established in conjunction with the Georgia Seed Development Commission (GSDC) |
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