Article 7453 of misc.rural:
Newsgroups: rec.gardens,misc.rural
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From: thomasr@cpqhou.sys.hou.compaq.com (G. Thomas Rush)
Subject: Rabbiteye Blues (Was: Re: Fruit trees in zone 5)
Organization: Compaq Computer Corp
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 19:04:53 GMT
Message-ID: <CJL106.FC@cpqhou.sys.hou.compaq.com>
References: <1994Jan6.232333.27877@infonode.ingr.com> <CJH9pv.EBH@apollo.hp.com>
Lines: 33
Xref: bigblue.oit.unc.edu rec.gardens:25349 misc.rural:7453

In article <CJH9pv.EBH@apollo.hp.com> rehrauer@apollo.hp.com (Steve Rehrauer) writes:
>In article <1994Jan6.232333.27877@infonode.ingr.com> debradfo@ingr.com writes:
>> Rabbiteye blueberries are on my MUST PLANT list
>>for anyone. No pests, no pruning, great fruit, and beautiful fall color!
>
>Sounds great!  Naive questions time: is "rabbiteye" a variety, or
>a colloquialism for "highbush" (or etc), or... ?

Rabbiteye blueberries are the variety of blueberries that are
grown south of North Carolina.  My reading tells me they are
descended from wild stock found on the northern Florida border.
In growth, the plants are a super-highbush, growing up to twelve
feet high.  Recommended spacing is at least eight feet apart.

Some varieties are Tifblue, Brightwell, and Climax.  WalMart sells
them in one gallon containers ($3.00 last year; don't know the
price this year, but they're already in stock here in Houston). 
Sixteen of the eighteen we planted have survived so far without a
lot of care.  Plant at least two and preferably three varieties
for best polination.

Our first small crop was last year; they were good, but not as
sweet as I had hoped.  That (as well as yields) should improve in
the coming years.  Average yield for mature plants is about eight
quarts per plant if I remember; high-yielding years give as much
as 25 quarts a plant.


-- 
thomas rush			compaq computer corporation	
thomasr@cpqhou.compaq.com	their employee, not their opinions.
It's time to tell President Clinton to cut spending _first_.  Write him
at President@WhiteHouse.Gov.  Please do it today (and tomorrow and...).


