General Description
Chickadee is a very early season cultivar for the evergreen production system, with excellent fruit ripening timing for the Florida market window.
Cultivar name: Chickadee (selection code FL04-235)
Recommended for Florida: yes
FL region best adapted to: central and south-central Florida.
Production system: evergreen
Hydrogen cyanamide: not recommended
Machine Harvestability: no data yet
Per plant yields (Density 1,452-1,742 plants/acre):
o North Central FL (2018-2020): 1.1 – 5.9 lbs/plant, average 3.7 lbs/plant
o Central FL (2015): 2.6 – 5.0 lbs/plant (reported by growers)
o South FL (2019): 2.5 lbs/plant
Known disease susceptibility: algal stem blotch
Known insect damage susceptibility: none observed to date
Fruit quality data:
o Fruit firmness: 233 – 311 g/mm, average 261 g/mm, much higher than Emerald, similar to Colossus
o Berry Weight: 1.8 – 2.6 grams, average 2.1 grams, similar to Avanti and Kestrel
o Berry Diameter: 15.0 – 18.4 mm, average 16.7 mm, small than Emerald, similar to Avanti
o Brix: 8.9 – 12.3, average 10.5, lower than Emerald, similar to Endura
o Brix/Acid Ratio: 14.9 – 75.8, average 30.7, higher than Emerald
o Fruit scar: normal (small, dry), similar to Emerald
o Wax/bloom: medium, similar to Emerald
o Fruit defects: none observed
o Flavor Score: 23.9 – reference Emerald (19.9), Kestrel (29.0)
o Aroma: none
Cultivars with overlapping timing of flowering: Arcadia, Kestrel
Other information: Very early production of high-quality fruit, with excellent timing for the Florida market window. Canopy can tend to be a bit sparse, and plants may not respond well to hard pruning when mature. Longevity has not yet been determined. May require supplemental nutrition for good performance.
License availability: For a list of current nursery licensees in the USA, click here
Performance 2018-2019 Season
Fruit Quality and Yield
The following plots show the most important fruit quality traits and yield, across the season.
The vertical lines in the yield plots indicate when 10%, 50% and 90% of the harvest was achieved during the season.
Dotted lines indicate the desired values for new cultivars:
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Berry weight greater than 2g
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Fruit Diameter greater than 14mm
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Firmness higher than 150g/mm
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Brix higher than 10%
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TTA less than 1%
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Brix/TTA higher than 14 units
Warning: Yield plot coming from harvesting of two bushes. Values may seem overestimated as all the fruit from the bush is harvested, and because this is harvest yield and no packed yield. Use this data to compare among cultivars and no to predict potential yield on your farm.
Measurements are in grams (g). To convert from grams to pounds (lb) use the following formula:
lb of fruit per bush = (g of fruit) x (0.002204)
Chickadee Gallery
License Availability
For licensing availability contact Florida Foundation Seed Producers (FFSP):