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These pictures are of "BlueCrops" |
Description of Actual Growth Stages |
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Dormant |
 |
No
swelling of the fruit buds |
|
Bud Swell |
 |
Fruit Buds become swollen. This bud stage can tolerate 15 - 20 F
temperatures. |
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Leaf Bud Break |
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Leaf buds begin to swell and leaves emerge from the tip. |
Early
Green Tip |
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Green leaf tissue is visible as leaves begin to emerge from the leaf
buds. |
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Bud Burst |
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The fruit buds pop open and the individual flowers can be seen between the
bud scales. |
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0.25" Green |
 |
A
1/4 inch of leave tissue is visible, this often is at about the time of
bud burst. The flower bud stage shown is often called tight cluster. This
bud stage can tolerate 18 to 25 F. |
|
Early Pink Bud |
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The partly formed flowers are readily visible and the flowers have
seperated. This bud stage can tolerate 25 to 28 F. |
|
Late Pink Bud |
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Most of the flowers on the bush are nearly fully developed. This will
overlap into first bloom. |
|
25% Bloom |
 |
25
% of the flowers on the bush or in the field are open. |
|
Full Bloom |
 |
Most of the flowers on the bush have opened. The bloom stages can tolerate
28 to 31 F. |
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Petal Fall |
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The Corolla tubes or petals are falling off the flowers, revealing small
green fruit. This is the most vulnerable stage to frost damage. It can be
damaged at 31 F. |
Early
Green Fruit |
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Early in fruit growth when the fruit are growing by cell division. |
Late
Green Fruit |
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Late in fruit growth when the fruit are growing by cell expansion. |
|
Fruit Coloring |
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The fruit are changing color from green to blue. |
|
First Harvest |
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The first fruit are ripe and ready to be harvested from the cluster. |
|
Harvest |
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Blueberries are picked several times as the fruit ripens. There may be 2
to 5 pickings, depending on the variety. |
|
Post Harvest |
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The blueberry stores reserves for next years growth. |