Snowchaser
U.S Patent PP19,503
Southern Highbush Blueberry Variety
General Description
Snowchaser is a mid-to-high vigor cultivar that flowers very early and requires frost protection in Florida.
Cultivar name: Snowchaser
Recommended for Florida: no, too early for the Florida market window.
FL region best adapted to: none
Production system: deciduous
Hydrogen cyanamide: not recommended
Machine Harvestability: not recommended
Per plant yields (Density 1,452-1,742 plants/acre):
o North-central FL (2018-2019): 5.0 – 6.2 lbs/plant, average 5.6 lbs/plant
Known disease susceptibility: Botryosphaeria stem blight
Known insect damage susceptibility: none observed to date
Fruit quality data:
o Fruit firmness: 177 – 202 g/mm, average 197 g/mm, similar to Emerald
o Berry Weight: 1.6 – 1.9 grams, average 1.8 grams, lower than Emerald
o Berry Diameter: 14.2 – 16.2 mm, average 15.0 mm, smaller than Emerald
o Brix: 9.3 – 11.8, average 10.6, lower than Emerald
o Brix/Acid Ratio: 16.1 – 40.7, average 29.0, similar to Emerald
o Fruit scar: wet scar
o Wax/bloom: mid-low
o Fruit defects: some red-back fruit observed
o Flavor Score: 21.3 – reference Emerald (19.9)
o Aroma: high
Cultivars with overlapping timing of flowering: Farthing, Kestrel, Springhigh
Other information: early flowering and ripening, slow to attain fall dormancy.
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:
-
Berry weight greater than 2g
-
Fruit Diameter greater than 14mm
-
Firmness higher than 150g/mm
-
Brix higher than 10%
-
TTA less than 1%
-
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)
License Availability
For licensing availability contact Florida Foundation Seed Producers (FFSP):