Is it necessary?

I finally -- after waiting literally decades! -- got a pair of
blueberry bushes that had been adapted to need much less winter chill,
so can be grown in So. Calif coastal.

The "O'Neal" bush is loaded with big fat delicious blueberries

Its companion, "Sunshine", is also loaded -- but with tiny, miserable-
looking berries that are drying up by the day.
I am returning it to the nursery.

Questions:

1. Is "cross-fertilization" necesssary? Some of the sites I visited
said yes; others said (AFAIK) that O'Neal was self-pollinating but
would be better with cross.

2. If so, why can't it be between same varieties, rather than across
varieties?

I am dizzy trying to evaluate the many varieties listed on the sites I
visited. My #1,2,3, and so on requirement is FLAVOR. Prefer more
tangy than mild.

Your input appreciated -- keeping in mind this is So. Calif. Coastal.

TIA

HB

On Sat, 4 Jun 2011 17:23:46 -0700 (PDT), Higgs Boson
wrote:

Is it necessary?

I finally -- after waiting literally decades! -- got a pair of
blueberry bushes that had been adapted to need much less winter chill,
so can be grown in So. Calif coastal.

The "O'Neal" bush is loaded with big fat delicious blueberries

Its companion, "Sunshine", is also loaded -- but with tiny, miserable-
looking berries that are drying up by the day.
I am returning it to the nursery.

Questions:

1. Is "cross-fertilization" necesssary? Some of the sites I visited
said yes; others said (AFAIK) that O'Neal was self-pollinating but
would be better with cross.

2. If so, why can't it be between same varieties, rather than across
varieties?

I am dizzy trying to evaluate the many varieties listed on the sites I
visited. My #1,2,3, and so on requirement is FLAVOR. Prefer more
tangy than mild.

Your input appreciated -- keeping in mind this is So. Calif. Coastal.

It's called cross-pollenation. Although blueberries are self-fertile,
you will get larger berries and more of them if you have two different
cultivars to cross pollinate. And some varieties do need a separate
pollenator (rabbit eye). There are early, mid-season, and late
cultivars... make sure the pollenators you choose flower at the same
time. I suggest buying your plants from a reliable local nursery that
grows their own.
http://gardening.about.com/od/berries/a/Blueberries.htm

In message
,
Higgs Boson writes
Is it necessary?

I finally -- after waiting literally decades! -- got a pair of
blueberry bushes that had been adapted to need much less winter chill,
so can be grown in So. Calif coastal.

The "O'Neal" bush is loaded with big fat delicious blueberries

Its companion, "Sunshine", is also loaded -- but with tiny, miserable-
looking berries that are drying up by the day.
I am returning it to the nursery.

Questions:

1. Is "cross-fertilization" necesssary? Some of the sites I visited
said yes; others said (AFAIK) that O'Neal was self-pollinating but
would be better with cross.

2. If so, why can't it be between same varieties, rather than across
varieties?

One means used by plants to avoid self-fertilisation is
self-incompatibility alleles, where the population contains lots of
different alleles at the locus, and an individual can't be fertilised by
pollen from a plant (such as itself) with the same allele.

In the case of vegetatively propagated varieties of such plants all
individuals of the variety have the same self-incompatibility allele,
and you need a different variety for fertilisation.


I am dizzy trying to evaluate the many varieties listed on the sites I
visited. My #1,2,3, and so on requirement is FLAVOR. Prefer more
tangy than mild.

Your input appreciated -- keeping in mind this is So. Calif. Coastal.

TIA

HB


--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

On Jun 6, 8:54*am, Stewart Robert Hinsley
wrote:
In message
,
Higgs Boson writes









Is it necessary?

I finally -- after waiting literally decades! -- got a pair of
blueberry bushes that had been adapted to need much less winter chill,
so can be grown in So. Calif coastal.

The "O'Neal" bush is loaded with big fat delicious blueberries

Its companion, "Sunshine", is also loaded -- but with tiny, miserable-
looking berries that are drying up by the day.
I am returning it to the nursery.

Questions:

1. *Is "cross-fertilization" necesssary? *Some of the sites I visited
said yes; others said (AFAIK) that O'Neal was self-pollinating but
would be better with cross.

2. *If so, why can't it be between same varieties, rather than across
varieties?

One means used by plants to avoid self-fertilisation is
self-incompatibility alleles, where the population contains lots of
different alleles at the locus, and an individual can't be fertilised by
pollen from a plant (such as itself) with the same allele.

In the case of vegetatively propagated varieties of such plants all
individuals of the variety have the same self-incompatibility allele,
and you need a different variety for fertilisation.

REALLY interesting; thank you very much!

HB

[...]
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley