I’m about 20 miles north of Charlotte, and I had the same problem with very heavy December blooming on a variety of rabbiteyes and SHB (including Sweetcrisp). I thought there’d be no way that they’d have anything left this spring, yet, like you, I was pleasantly surprised by what looks like will be a reasonable crop. Overall, the rabbiteyes bounced back better than the SHB, but even the latter have a decent number of berries. I’m sorry to hear that the cold spell earlier this month got most of your fruit – much to my relief, it didn’t get quite cold enough here to do any damage.
The people who will like Sweetcrisp types are the ones who want sweet and crunchy. Those that like tart or some type of wild blueberry flavor will probably need to look elsewhere. I’ve never tasted wild blueberry. So I’m only comparing Sweetcrisp to the SHB and NHB I’ve tried.
I’d say Sweetcrisp is sort of like sweet crunchy grapes with a blueberry flavor. Not many grapes in my experience are quite as crunchy.
I like both types of blueberries, it depends what i want. Like sweet crunchy blueberries in pancakes, probably not really that good, and crunch will be gone. Tart berries though work very well. Soft gooey balls of goodness. Darrow sounds right, thanks for the suggestion Seth, those do really well here too.
One day I’ll have loads of different cultivars.
I’ve killed more blueberries than anything else. Maybe more than everything else combined.
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Ernie
I’m going into year 3 on my SHB, but I have been disapointed so far. Which SHB perform the best for you?
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Fruitnut, does my ‘Sweet Crisp’ appear to be the real thing? Purchasing from FHN makes one wonder if it is truly 'Sweet Crisp. I bought three, and this is only one left. Apparently I am as good at killing them as Bleedingdirt. 
Based on the pictures of the berries I’d have to say no. The calyx end on Sweetcrisp is nearly smooth. Yours has the 5-6 prominent “ears”. But that can be misleading at times. You’ll know when you eat them. If crunchy it’s SC, if not then something else.
When does Sweet Crisp ripen comped to Misty, Jewel and Star?
Pointers,
Here is a young Sweetcrisp plant photo from about three years ago,when I was trying to ID some from other nurseries. Brady
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Brady’s plant is definitely SC. I can tell that mainly by the berries. But also the growth habit is that of SC.
Your plant has the wrong berry calyx and a compact full canopy of leaves. I’m sorry to have that news. It’s so frustrating and so much effort wasted. I’m still trying to completely sort out my FHN plants.
For me in my greenhouse they all ripen intermixed over 6 weeks or so. Star slightly later than most some yrs.
I’ve only been growing SHB for four years, so I don’t have much have much of a track record at this point. I’m very pleased with a Legacy that I bought from Burnt Ridge in 2014, but it’s still early days (I’ve had problems in years three and four with a South Moon and O’Neal, so I’m being cautiously optimistic). I’m in my third year with a Scintilla and Sweetcrisp, and both of those are doing reasonably well. Scintilla impressed me last year (good crop for its size and excellent flavor), but it was really thrown off by the weird December weather and then took a beating once winter did arrive. It’s still managed to produce a modest crop this spring, but it looks rough. Sweetcrisp produced a very small crop last year, but this year it’s looking much better. Finally, despite its really low chilling requirement, I’ve had very good luck with Sunshine Blue. I bought it in 2012, and it’s reliably produced a good crop (for its size) since 2014.
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Thanks for the update. I’ve been growing mine for 4 years too. Oneil, Legacy, Star and Emerald. Even after incorporating a lot of pine bark and peat moss, they are not as productive as my rabbiteye with the exception of Legacy.
75% or more of my 20 or so bushes are in pots with identical soil mix and fertilization, and rabbiteyes definitely outproduce both southern and northern highbush for me, as well. Bonus looks like it might be an exception, though. I’ve only had it a few years, but it set such a large crop this year that I’m thinking about thinning it to balance the leaves to fruit ratio a bit. I’m glad to hear that Legacy does well for you. What rabbiteye varieties do you grow? Any favorites?
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Here are my 2 Sweetcrisp, 1 Indigocrisp, and 1 Springhigh today May 8, 2016. I have had a single berry of each type so far. I think I picked the Indigocrisp berry a bit early. It was very crisp but a bit tart, same for the single Sweetcrisp I picked this morning. It was crisp (not as crisp as the Indigocrisp in my very unscientific opinion) and had some sweetness but was still on the tart side. The single Springhigh berry I ate was fantastic. It was a lot softer than the other two, but had a wonderful sweetness and flavor.
Sweetcrisp 1:
Sweetcrisp 2:
Indigocrisp:
Springhigh (only 2 berries total this year, already ate one):
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I would grow Springhigh if I could. Probably not a good idea here in Michigan. I do have Sweetcrisp, but so far no fruit. It started growing early on me. I need to figure a way to grow it. Indiocrisp has some berries. This one seems fine here, it’s very cool. I have a Toro northern that is extremely sweet. A very nice berry. I knocked some green one’s off once and tried one, and even green I could taste some sugar.
Yes you need to let them hang for awhile once blue. They need to hang about a week or even two after turning blue. Each cultivar is different. So some may ripen quicker.
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Don’t pick them until the ass of the berry, the part connected to the branch is completely 100% blue
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Yes, for sure!
I know, I just agree too. On my Chandler it is the best way to tell as that blueberry produces ripe fruit for a month or more, so it’s the only way to tell. It’s loaded this year too! Yea!
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