Small Fruit News

The Southern Region Small Fruit Consortium posts articles and sends the SMALL FRUIT NEWS to subscribers four times annually.
 

  • By Elina Coneva, Extension Specialist, ACES, Auburn University Blueberries are a high value fruit crop that are becoming increasingly popular worldwide. Rabbiteye blueberries are historically an important commercial crop for Alabama, and many farms produce rabbiteye blueberries for sale in the fresh market either exclusively, or as a supplemental crop. Proper cultivar selection is one…

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  • By John R. Clark, University of Arkansas Prime-Ark® Freedom was released in 2013 by the University of Arkansas, the first thornless, primocane-fruiting blackberry ever developed. At the time, I recommended it primarily for home-garden use along with possible local-market production. I gave this limited-use recommendation largely due to its yield and postharvest storage shipping potential…

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  • By Renee Threlfall, Research Scientist, Dept of Food Science, University of Arkansas At the University of Arkansas System (UA System) Division of Agriculture, 80 consumers looked at and tasted fresh-market blackberries to help us determine attributes they liked. The consumers looked at individual blackberries and preferred oblong, large blackberries as opposed to round or small…

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  • By Amanda McWhirt, University of Arkansas; Jayesh Samtani, Virginia Tech University; Mark Hoffmann, North Carolina State University; Barclay Poling, Professor Emeritus, North Carolina State University; and Guido Schnabel, Clemson University During the fall of 2020 much of the Southeastern region experienced above-average temperatures during November. These warmer than average temperatures resulted in above-average growing degree…

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  • Eric T. Stafne, Extension and Research Professor, Mississippi State University Fall is coming soon, and winter is just around the corner. With the cold temperatures coming, it is important that grapevines are prepared. Irrigation should be stopped in September to allow plants to acclimate to the lower light conditions and cooler temperatures. Vines native to…

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  • Southern Fruitcast

    Dr. Aaron Cato, IPM Specialist, University of Arkansas The Southern Fruitcast is hosted by Aaron Cato and Amanda McWhirt, extension IPM and production specialists for fruits and vegetables at the University of Arkansas. This podcast aims to cover the people, technology and latest developments in small fruit production in the Southeast. These topics are covered…

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  • Dr. Elina Coneva, Fruit Crops Extension Specialist and W. A. Jr. & C. Dozier Endowed Professor, Department of Horticulture, Auburn University Studies to establish the feasibility of growing Pierce’s Disease (PD) resistant, predominantly European grape hybrids are ongoing at Auburn University, Alabama since 2010 https://www.asevcatalyst.org/content/early/2020/07/06/catalyst.2020.19008. We have evaluated advanced selections with early-, mid-, and late season of ripening trained to the traditional vertical shoot…

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  • Ouachita a 2003 release from Division of Agriculture fruit breeding program  By Fred Miller – July 28, 2020  Ouachita blackberry, a 2003 thornless variety from the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, received the Outstanding Fruit Cultivar Award from the Fruit Breeding Professional Interest Group of the American Society of Horticultural Science.  Read the full article on…

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  • Patrick Conner, University of Georgia – Tifton Campus  ‘RubyCrisp’ is a new muscadine cultivar released from the University of Georgia muscadine breeding program. ‘RubyCrisp’ was selected from a cross of ‘Supreme’x‘Tara’ and was tested as Ga 8-1-338 in replicated trials in Tifton, GA. Single vine replicates were planted in randomized order in 2012. Vines were spaced…

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  • Renee Threlfall, Research Scientist, University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture  The Arkansas Quality Wine program, or AQW, will set quality standards for Arkansas-made wine, provide professional development for growers and winemakers and entice consumers to taste Arkansas wines. The program will be established in the fall of 2020 as part of a project funded…

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