I’m in zone 7b, and want to plant 50-100 blueberry bushes. But I’m not sure which type to go with.
My family had two different varieties of blueberries when I was growing up - I liked one, and didn’t like the other, but can’t remember what variety either of them were.
The one I did not like was smaller in size, and had a grainy texture. The ones I did like, had larger berries, and didn’t have that sandy texture. The leaves on the plants were also different. The hated ones had leaves that were a dull green, while the good ones had leaves that were a more vibrant green.
I’ve attached a picture of the variety I loved. I don’t have a picture of the nasty ones for comparison though.
There are so many varieties. You should try them first to ensure what someone claims as good is good to you.
We have some Alapaha bushes that make medium size berries that are fairly firm. We like them for their strength of flavor.
But we have many others. Premier and Titan are our other Rabbiteyes. Both large sweet berries.
Just planted 2 new Falcon Southern highbush. Very tough to find as it is a new U of F release from 2023. Wanted FL19-006. Both spectacular jumbo berry producers and very resistant.
If recalling a highbush BB, then could be the old standby, sweet, fabulous, my all time fav Blueray. Bluecrop used to be listed as a good pollination partner, not sure what fills that role now but tastes better.
Rabbiteye not as fussy about soil, seem to produce a ton more berries than highbush.
It is much easier to give recommendations when we know the state and area you live in. That said, 7b places you roughly central Tennessee or east/west of that latitude. Your best and most productive varieties will be rabbiteye. Brightwell, Krewer, Vernon, and Titan would be good choices. You might also plant a few O’Neal for comparison though they won’t yield as much as the pure rabbiteye varieties.
Personally, I really like Titan for overall production and Brightwell for good sweet flavor. O’Neal is a tad better flavored but is nowhere near as productive as Brightwell. Ochkoklonee is also rated very highly for production but I don’t have experience with it.
If you contact Finch blueberry nursery, they should be able to set up a shipment early next year. Ison’s has several varieties which are grown in containers and can be picked up any time.
At this time, rabbiteye and southern highbush (a hybrid of rabbiteye and darrowii) have the largest berries. Most southern highbush won’t work in your climate.
I don’t know for sure where “here” is, just going off of your zone 7B. Most southern highbush are rated too low chill to be adapted to zone 7. Typical zone 7 adapted blueberries need 400 to 800 chill hours which describes most rabbiteye varieties. Most southern highbush are 300 hours or less meaning (when grown too far north) they break buds early in the spring and get frozen. There are exceptions, O’Neal for example has been a very good blueberry for me in southern Tennessee. However, it is not productive enough for a pick-your-own operation. By comparison, Titan is a very productive very large good flavored blueberry which outproduces O’Neal 10 to 1.
Rabbiteye varieties would work where you are and produce a lot of fruit, but they take more space. If the bush you remember was over 6 feet tall, maybe it was a rabbiteye? I’ve never tried rabbiteye types so don’t know how they’d compare in terms of taste.
Highbush (both northern and southern) top out at around 5-6 feet and I plant them 3 feet apart to fit more varieties in a smaller area, although I’m sure others with more space would give them more room.
I’m in 7B (Arlngton, VA) and I grow Indigo Crisp (southern highbush) in pots that stay out all year. They do very well, although I’m sure I’d get more production if grown in the ground. I think they’re pretty low chill, but I haven’t had issues and I’ve found blueberry blooms to be surprisingly resistant to frosts here. I also used to grow Sunshine Blue and Misty, two other southern highbush varieties and didn’t have trouble with those either. But I am in a suburb that is part of a large metropolitan area and I imagine the heat sink created by all the buildings and pavement may give me a couple of degrees buffer on those early frosts that you wouldn’t have.
I also grow 8 varieties of northern highbush, 5 of which are fruiting well now and 3 others that are still maturing. Here is what I picked today of the northern highbush varieties, along with blackberries (variety Ponca).
None are grainy and the biggest variation in texture is the crispness. The southern highbush Indigo Crisp, is quite crisp which you’d expect from the name. The northern highbush varieties I grow vary from fairly crisp to a little on the softer side. They are all delicious and grow well for me here.
Your mileage may vary. My experience with southern highbush is mostly based on reading about different varieties and where they grow best. I read that O’Neal is higher chill than most other southern highbush and could grow here where I live. I also have Star which is comparable to O’Neal. Both are good blueberries though Star is harder to find now than O’Neal. Look through the southern highbush varieties developed in Florida and you will find almost all of them rated between 0 and 250 chill hours. A few are rated 300 to 400 chill hours (which we can grow). However, southern highbush don’t really gain much on a pure rabbiteye variety. I mentioned Brightwell earlier. It is a very sweet very good flavored rabbiteye blueberry. I also have Ka-Bluey which has not fruited yet but shows signs of being well adapted to my local climate. I put in some Cara’s Choice this year which I hope will also produce a good crop.
