Comparison of Growth Responses of Southern Highbush Blueberry ‘Scintilla’ to Different Growing Types, ‘Evergreen’ and ‘Deciduous’

This study analyzed the evergreen condition of 'Sintilla' southern highbush blueberries managed with nutrient solution cultivation in a heated greenhouse located in Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do, focusing on the shoot growth and fruit characteristics of the deciduous shoots.The red-leaf harvest season was April 3, which was about 10 days later in flowering than the evergreen shoots.The shoots with evergreen leaves were 19% thicker than those of deciduous ones, and the length of shoots was 20.9 cm, which was 52% longer.The total number of shoots also tended to be 35% more than deciduous shoots.As a result of examining the fruit characteristics, the weight was 2.4 g in the evergreen shoots, which was 0.4g larger, but there was no significant difference.There was no significant difference in diameter and soluble solids content according to the results.The A value of the leaves was 2.9 times higher than the evergreen shoots on November 28, changing from -6.7 (green) on October 11 to 5.6 (red) on November 28, while the deciduous shoots grown in the open field went from -6.7 (green) on October 11 to 16.7 on November 28.The SPAD value of the leaves was 35.7 on December 20, which was similar to the early December trend, while the deciduous shoots of 23.7, showing tendency to recover to green leaves compared to December 5. However the SPAD value decreased by 34% compared to the evergreen result.As a result, it was concluded that the evergreen blueberry 'Scintilla' variety should be cultivated in a facility house according to the characteristics of the tree, as leaf growth would decline in autumn and tree growth would weaken if cultivated in the open field.