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Does that mean that these blueberries don’t need 400+ hours of frost to fruit? That’s the primary obstacle to growing them here in California and I’m really cu

Does that mean that these blueberries don’t need 400+ hours of frost to fruit? That’s the primary obstacle to growing them here in California and I’m really curious if they bred the frost requirement out of the Eureka blueberries, or if Australia is colder than I thought. I’d kill to experiment with growing my own because the blueberries sold here are nothing like the wild blueberries from my childhood

girvo 3y ago
Parts of Australia are indeed colder than you think, at least out in Lismore during the winter.
- civilitty 3y ago
  20 days of below zero temperatures though? Wikipedia lists Lismore’s record low temperature as -3 C and an average low of 6.5 C in the depth of winter. That’s way too hot for blueberries to fruit. I figured inland Australia got significantly colder but without the rainfall to support blueberries. The farm does have Mountain in the name though so I assume they grow at a higher altitude, but I grow at a significant altitude in California too and it doesn’t drop the temperature enough, at least in high desert climates. Still seems like they've made some progress on reducing frost requirements.
  - girvo 3y ago
    > Still seems like they've made some progress on reducing frost requirements. Most likely, it's just that the common assumption is that all of Australia is hot and miserable, whereas not all of it is. They're not actually in Lismore, they're near it. My blueberries fruited without needing frost (we get none where I am in South East Queensland); it's definitely been bred out of them as a requirement I think?
    - civilitty 3y ago
      > My blueberries fruited without needing frost (we get none where I am in South East Queensland); it's definitely been bred out of them as a requirement I think? That’s awesome! Do you know what varieties you have? Did you buy seeds online or get plants from a nursery?
  - Perenti 3y ago
    The Northern Rivers area (where Lismore is) has a lot of gullys and valleys, whereas the towns there tend to occupy flatter areas. Winter in the gullys gets bloody cold. The official temperature in Lismore is measured at the Post Office. I grew up in the Northern Rivers, and saw frost most years in the gullys and on the slopes of our farm. We were closer to the coast than Lismore, so they'd get more frosts than we did.
  - Jedd 3y ago
    Chill hours I thought were anything under 10 degrees (Celsius, of course), but I gather officially it's probably closer to 7 or 8 degrees. Sub-zero isn't necessary, in any case. You're right that they've doubtless been selecting for quite a while at their site - and will therefore have varieties that are happy with chill hours for the region. Though I'm surprised they get as cold as -3 given how far north, and how close to the coast (20km) they are. Lismore - to their west, away from the coast - has an elevation of only ~10 metres. The township they're closer looks to be Wollongbar, and that's showing as ~160 metres elevation. I believe the soil around there is superb (volcanic, not depleted like 'average Australian farming land') which is probably a bigger factor. I'm south of them by 4 degrees, same elevation, and have Much Optimism for my half dozen new blueberry plans ... once I get them out of pots. Shame that these Eurekas plants don't seem to be for sale. EDIT: meant to add - some varieties that are popular here in AU - Sharpe Blue, Biloxi - have low chill hour requirements, around 300-400 say, BUT really don't like frosts, so it's quite the juggle.
chris1993 3y ago
They grow warm-climate blueberry varieties commercially in this sub-tropical coastal region (Coffs Harbour). No frost. The ones in my garden fruit quite happily.
- caf 3y ago
  Yes, blueberries have almost entirely displaced bananas and sugar cane from that area.
ggillas 3y ago
The reason you're seeing blueberries year-round in stores is due to a huge improvement in naturally hybridizing commercial blueberries to remove this requirement for frost and chill hours. The industry owes a big debt mainly to U of Florida's Dr. Lyrene for discovering blueberries that could fruit without the need for a winter. https://floridaaghalloffame.org/2011/11/dr-paul-lyrene/ https://floridaaghalloffame.org/2011/11/dr-paul-lyrene/ You'll have good luck with any of his varieties in California.
rmm 3y ago
Some awesome varieties these days. I got some bixoli and sharp blues and they fruit like crazy, where we are lucky to get a few days of frost per year
hinkley 3y ago
Blueberries do fine in Oregon and Washington, west of the Cascades, so I'm not sure what's going on with yours.

girvo 3y ago

Parts of Australia are indeed colder than you think, at least out in Lismore during the winter.

civilitty 3y ago
20 days of below zero temperatures though? Wikipedia lists Lismore’s record low temperature as -3 C and an average low of 6.5 C in the depth of winter. That’s way too hot for blueberries to fruit. I figured inland Australia got significantly colder but without the rainfall to support blueberries. The farm does have Mountain in the name though so I assume they grow at a higher altitude, but I grow at a significant altitude in California too and it doesn’t drop the temperature enough, at least in high desert climates. Still seems like they've made some progress on reducing frost requirements.
- girvo 3y ago
  > Still seems like they've made some progress on reducing frost requirements. Most likely, it's just that the common assumption is that all of Australia is hot and miserable, whereas not all of it is. They're not actually in Lismore, they're near it. My blueberries fruited without needing frost (we get none where I am in South East Queensland); it's definitely been bred out of them as a requirement I think?
  - civilitty 3y ago
    > My blueberries fruited without needing frost (we get none where I am in South East Queensland); it's definitely been bred out of them as a requirement I think? That’s awesome! Do you know what varieties you have? Did you buy seeds online or get plants from a nursery?
- Perenti 3y ago
  The Northern Rivers area (where Lismore is) has a lot of gullys and valleys, whereas the towns there tend to occupy flatter areas. Winter in the gullys gets bloody cold. The official temperature in Lismore is measured at the Post Office. I grew up in the Northern Rivers, and saw frost most years in the gullys and on the slopes of our farm. We were closer to the coast than Lismore, so they'd get more frosts than we did.
- Jedd 3y ago
  Chill hours I thought were anything under 10 degrees (Celsius, of course), but I gather officially it's probably closer to 7 or 8 degrees. Sub-zero isn't necessary, in any case. You're right that they've doubtless been selecting for quite a while at their site - and will therefore have varieties that are happy with chill hours for the region. Though I'm surprised they get as cold as -3 given how far north, and how close to the coast (20km) they are. Lismore - to their west, away from the coast - has an elevation of only ~10 metres. The township they're closer looks to be Wollongbar, and that's showing as ~160 metres elevation. I believe the soil around there is superb (volcanic, not depleted like 'average Australian farming land') which is probably a bigger factor. I'm south of them by 4 degrees, same elevation, and have Much Optimism for my half dozen new blueberry plans ... once I get them out of pots. Shame that these Eurekas plants don't seem to be for sale. EDIT: meant to add - some varieties that are popular here in AU - Sharpe Blue, Biloxi - have low chill hour requirements, around 300-400 say, BUT really don't like frosts, so it's quite the juggle.

chris1993 3y ago

They grow warm-climate blueberry varieties commercially in this sub-tropical coastal region (Coffs Harbour). No frost. The ones in my garden fruit quite happily.

caf 3y ago
Yes, blueberries have almost entirely displaced bananas and sugar cane from that area.

ggillas 3y ago

The reason you're seeing blueberries year-round in stores is due to a huge improvement in naturally hybridizing commercial blueberries to remove this requirement for frost and chill hours. The industry owes a big debt mainly to U of Florida's Dr. Lyrene for discovering blueberries that could fruit without the need for a winter. https://floridaaghalloffame.org/2011/11/dr-paul-lyrene/ https://floridaaghalloffame.org/2011/11/dr-paul-lyrene/ You'll have good luck with any of his varieties in California.

rmm 3y ago

Some awesome varieties these days. I got some bixoli and sharp blues and they fruit like crazy, where we are lucky to get a few days of frost per year

hinkley 3y ago

Blueberries do fine in Oregon and Washington, west of the Cascades, so I'm not sure what's going on with yours.