Michigan
Lowbush Blueberries
Lowbush
blueberries are different than the highbush blueberries grown commercially in Michigan.
Both the highbush and lowbush blueberries grow wild in Michigan. Lowbush blueberries grow
wild in Northern Michigan and across the Upper Peninsula. Highbush blueberries are found
in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula. Commercial highbush blueberry varieties are
derived from the species Vaccinium corymbosum L. Most commercial highbush
blueberry varieties are hybrids between V. corymbosum and other blueberry
species. The lowbush blueberries are actually two other species Vaccinium
angustifolium Ait. and V. mytilloides Michx. with a similar growth habit.
Lowbush blueberries are short about a foot or less in height and spread by underground
stems so the lowbush fields form low mats of plants. Lowbush blueberries are often called
wild blueberries because their culture is so different than highbush blueberry culture.
Commercial Lowbush Blueberries
Most of the lowbush blueberries are grown in Maine and the Canadian
Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. New acreage is being developed in
Quebec, Labrador and on the island of Newfoundland.
Typically a lowbush blueberry planting is developed where lowbush blueberries
already grow. Trees and other competing vegetation are removed and the site is managed to
encourage lowbush blueberry growth while weeds and other vegetation are removed or
suppressed. Original planting were logged and or burned to remove all the above ground
vegetation then new shoots would sprout from below ground. Where lowbush blueberries were
common in the forest understory many or most of these shoots would be from blueberry
plants. After several years the site would be burned again so that eventually the site
would become a pure planting of lowbush blueberries. Lowbush blueberry fields are very
interesting because each plant or clone covers a large area and there are visible
differences between plants so that the different clones are easily recognizable. There is
a lot of variability in growth, leaf color fruit color and taste and many other aspects of
the plant. Since lowbush blueberry growers are managing stands of wild plants for fruit
production, not improved plant varieties like highbush growers, lowbush blueberries are
often marketed as "Wild Blueberries."
Budset, end of the First Year |
Bloom, beginning of the Second Year |
Harvest, end of the Second Year |
There is another big difference between highbush and lowbush blueberry production
systems. Highbush blueberries produce a crop of berries every year and so do wild lowbush
blueberries but managed lowbush blueberry stands produce a crop every other year. After
harvest lowbush blueberry fields are burned or mowed to the ground. The next year, new
sprouts emerge and grow forming flower buds in the fall. The next spring these shoots
flower and bear fruit, which is harvested, and the field is mowed again. This results in a
two year crop cycle for the field. Commercial lowbush blueberry growers normally have half
their fields in the off or sprout year and half in the on year with fruit. Yields from
this cultural system are comparable to where the berries are harvested every year because
the plants stores energy up for a year before using is during the next or fruiting year.
Having short one-year shoots is an advantage when harvesting because lowbush
blueberries are raked off the plants using hand rakes or mechanical harvesters. The
two-year growing system produces lots of long unbranched shoots that make it easy to
harvest the fruit off the stems. The two year cycle also makes insect and disease control
easier because the lack of fruit makes it hard for the population to exist in the field
from one year to the next so that pests and diseases need to continually recolonize the
field from the outside.
A commercial lowbush blueberry harvester. This machine rakes berries off the plant. A
cylinder made up of overlapping ranks of metal tines or teeth rotates in the cover on the
left of the tractor and rakes the berries off the plants. A conveyor carries the fruit
from the picking cylinder to platform in back and fills the picking lugs visible on the
back of the tractor. Unlike highbush blueberries which are picked several times as the
fruit ripens, lowbush blueberries are picked at the end of the season when almost all the
fruit has ripened.
Other links to
Lowbush Blueberries
The University of Maine
Blueberry Pages have extensive postings on how to maintain lowbush blueberries
The Wild Blueberry Association of North
America has a lot of information on the health benefits of blueberries.
Return to MSU Blueberry Page
In August of 2002, the MSU Blueberry team attended NABREW 2002, the North American
Blueberry Research and Extension Workers, Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Comments on this web page are always welcome. E-mail
me at: longstr7@msu.edu
