Blueberries: Growing Beyond Production Challenges
Blueberries: Growing Beyond Production Challenges
Blueberries: Growing Beyond Production Challenges
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Blueberries: Turn a Challenge into an
Opportunity with Drip Irrigation
Blueberries are a high value cash crop with very good revenue potential.
However, they also come with steep production costs, and as a perennial shrub,
are quite sensitive and demanding.
They are a challenge to grow with unique water and soil requirements, and susceptibility to disease. Investing in a
drip irrigation system to provide the right amount of water and fertilizer at the right time is one of the best ways to
significantly increase your blueberry crop yields and quality.
Mihaiolo Stanišić,
Blueberry Grower,
Serbia
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High Transpiration
Despite having a shallow root system, the blueberry shrub has a high evapotranspiration (ETo) of 7 – 10 mm per day.
Blueberries require frequent applications of water, especially during summer.
Susceptibility to Disease
With a tendency for leaf disease when exposed to humidity, the use of sprinklers as an irrigation method for blueberries is
not recommended. By delivering the water directly to the root zone, drip irrigation prevents water exposure to the leaf.
That’s why drip irrigation was included in the project from the
very beginning."
3
Two Techniques for Growing Blueberries
Option 1: Growing in Soil
Growing in soil is the most common method for growing blueberries
and they can be grown in open field or in tunnels for weather/climate
protection.
Due to a combination of raised beds, weed mats/mulching, and a short root zone, blueberries are almost
completely dependent on the irrigation system for water and nutrients and in most cases you need to irrigate
as if it is a soilless/hydroponic system and not an in soil application.
Blueberries require 200 – 300 mm/ha of irrigation per year. Almost all this water must come from the drip
irrigation system.
Most blueberry roots are in the raised bed making them dependent on precise irrigation and fertigation
Root Zone
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"We use Rivulis drip lines because of their long term
performance… That gives us piece of mind when we
have significant investment in our blueberry crop.
One less thing to worry about."
Alex Cornelius
Blueberry Grower,
Georgia. USA
Raised Beds
Blueberries have a shallow root system and are susceptible to water stress. Planting
blueberries in raised beds is important for drainage and allows the roots to develop
above the wet zone to prevent water logging. Beds should be raised 15 – 20 cm.
Substrate
As many soils do not have the optimum conditions for growing blueberries, it is
often recommended to dig a trench and create a raised bed with the application of a
substrate that is light in texture, for good air to water ratio, and has a pH of 4.0 – 5.0.
Irrigation Timing
Irrigation periods should be short (less than 15 minutes). With a small root structure
and most of the root zone being in the raised bed, extended irrigation risks water
logging and will cause water and nutrients to pass out of the beds and into the soil
below where it cannot be accessed by the roots.
To prevent water from draining at shutdown, anti-siphon (AS) or a no-drain (ND) drip
line should be used. Additionally, mainlines and submains should be designed so
that their holding content is minimal and that their drainage through the drip lines
at shutdown is minimal to prevent water logging.
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"Fertilizer use is optimized using drip irrigation;
waste and losses are reduced because everything
goes directly into the root zone."
Blueberries are shallow rooted but will extend to the width of the raised beds (up to 1 meter width).
Providing water to more of the total root diameter will lead to increased nutrient uptake, reduced plant stress,
better growth of young stems, and larger berry size1.
1
O’Dell How to match drip irrigation to improve berry water management. Growing Produce (2017)
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Cumulative Production according Harvest Date
5000 1 Drip Lateral
2 Drip Laterals
4500 4335.3
4157.7
3935.2
4000
3593.7
3500
3167.1
3000 2499.1
2499.1
2500
2436
2368
2000 2238.8
2036
1499.8 1805.9
1500
1526.4
1106.8 1389.1
1000 768.6
405.6 799.5
500 588.3
72.3 449
110 277
0
Harvest Date
Pannunzio, Alejandro, Vilella, Fernando, Texeira, Pamela, & Premuzik, Zdenka. (2011). Impact of drip irrigation systems in blueberries
Revista Brasileira de Engenharia Agrícola e Ambiental, 15(1), 03-08.
Two drip lines also act as an insurance policy. Because blueberries are so dependent on irrigation for water and
nutrients, they are more sensitive to dripper failures. If only one drip line is used and the drip line is under mulch
or a weed mat, it is difficult to detect blockages. By the time you know, it will be too late.
If using one drip line, placement is critical. The ideal location for single drip line is a minimum of 10 cm away from
the base of the plant as that is where blueberry feeder roots are located.
You should avoid placing the drip line near the center of the crown as it increases the risk of root diseases such as
phytophthora.
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Two Techniques for Growing Blueberries
Option 2: Growing in Bags
Growing in grow bags is a method of blueberry production in greenhouses
and tunnels.
Although the growing method is difficult, it is often chosen to provide optimum growing conditions including
low pH and adequate drainage.
If growing in bags, there are a number of important considerations to take into account as you set up your system:
Greater Sensitivity
Growing in bags means a smaller margin of error than growing in soil. The grow bags have less nutrients, and
therefore you need to carefully prescribe the exact nutrient application that needs to be delivered through the drip
irrigation system
Bag Sizes
Growing in bags may require progressively larger bags over time.
Irrigation Methods
There are two common drip irrigation methods used for irrigation in grow bags.
Drip line over bags Online Drippers with tube and pegs
A PCND (pressure compensated no-drain) Polytube runs the length of the greenhouse.
Drip Line is laid over the top of the grow bags Online drippers are inserted into the tube.
Each dripper has a tube leading to a peg that is
inserted into the grow bag
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Save Labor (and your Blueberry crop) with Automation
“Soilless/Hydroponics is a very tough thing. All plants are relying on the fertilizer
and the water that you give. If this system doesn’t function well, the whole farm
can go into hell actually.
We had 2 options, buy cheap equipment and on the other side recruit 10 – 20
people just to go and check all the sectors to ensure the irrigation is working fine, if
the quality of the fertilization is working fine, plus 2 operators who would need to
work in the machine segment.
With the full automation solution, we are greatly saving on labor costs. While
the automation equipment does cost a bit more, the return on investment is
quick and in the first year, we have achieved the payoff in full.”
Bogdan Stojakov
Blueberry Grower,
Serbia
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Product Spotlights
Rivulis features a number of drip irrigation solutions to help you grow the
highest quality, highest yield blueberry crops. From drip line to drippers, we
have a solution no matter your terrain or field challenge.
Rivulis D5000 AS
Rivulis HydroPCND
Water is sealed in the drip line when the pressure drops below 1.0 meter.
The no-drain feature makes HydroPCND the ideal drip line for pulse irrigation as the water remains in the tube.
Dalibor Džodan
Blueberry Grower.
Serbia.
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Rivulis Supertif PC Drippers
Trusted the world over for performance and flexibility, each Rivulis Supertif PC dripper features a self-cleaning
mechanism and precision manufacturing for maximum reliability.
Additionally, Rivulis Supertif PC provides multiple outlet configurations, variable flow rates, no-drain options with
multiple sealing and opening pressures, and a wide range of accessories.
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" We use the full range of Rivulis, we have our filters, fertilizing
system, dripping system, piping, completely Rivulis…
The whole issue here is you are building up a system that has to
function for the next 10, 20 years. It has to be reliable, particularly
in our segment that is soilless/hydroponics with blueberries in pots.
The heart of the whole system is irrigation."
Bogdan Stojakov,
Blueberry Grower,
Serbia
BLUEBERRIES
Case study outcomes are for information purposes only and actual results may vary. This literature has been compiled for
worldwide circulation and the descriptions, photos, and information are for general purpose use only. Please consult with an
irrigation specialist and technical specifications for proper use of Rivulis products. Because some products are not available in all
regions, please contact your local dealer for details. Rivulis reserves the right to change specifications and the design of all products
without notice. Every effort has been used to ensure that product information, including data sheets, schematics, manuals and
brochures are correct. However information should be verified before making any decisions based on this information.
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