FC11-164

Blueberry

Variety Description

Varieties used for comparison: 'Cargo' and 'Draper'

Summary: The plants of ‘FC11-164' have a semi-upright growth habit while those of ‘Cargo' have an upright growth habit. The upper half of the one-year-old shoot of ‘FC11-164' has short internodes while that of ‘Draper' has medium length internodes. The leaf of ‘FC11-164' is longer than that of both reference varieties. The leaf of ‘FC11-164' is elliptic shaped whereas the leaf of ‘Cargo' is lanceolate shaped. The leaf margin of ‘FC11-164' is entire whereas that of ‘Cargo' is serrated. Excluding the peduncle, the inflorescence of ‘FC11-164' is longer than that of ‘Draper'. The corolla shape on the flower of ‘FC11-164' is cylindric while it is globose for that of ‘Draper'. The corolla tube of the flower of ‘FC11-164' is whitish green while that of ‘Cargo' is white and that of ‘Draper' is whitish yellow. The conspicuousness of the ridges on the corolla tube of ‘FC11-164' is absent or weak while that of ‘Draper' is strong. The receptacle of the flower of ‘FC11-164' is blue whereas it is green for the reference varieties. Without the bloom, the unripe fruit of ‘FC11-164' is medium to dark green while it is light to medium green for ‘Cargo'. In longitudinal section, the fruit shape of ‘FC11-164' is oblate while it is circular for ‘Cargo'. The calyx basin of the fruit of ‘FC11-164' is smaller in diameter than that of ‘Draper'. The calyx basin of the fruit of ‘FC11-164' is deep whereas that of ‘Cargo' is of medium depth. The intensity of bloom on the fruit of ‘FC11-164' is strong while that of ‘Cargo' is medium and that of ‘Draper' is weak to medium. On one-year-old shoots, the plants of ‘FC11-164' begin flowering late season while those of ‘Cargo' begin flowering early and those of ‘Draper' begin flowering early to mid-season.

Description:

PLANT: medium to strong vigour, semi-upright growth habit, fruiting on one-year-old shoots only, first vegetative bud burst begins early season
ONE-YEAR-OLD SHOOT: green, short internode length on upper half

LEAF: medium length to width ratio, elliptic shape, medium green on upper side, absent or weak glaucosity on upper side, entire margin

FLOWERING: begins late season on one-year-old shoots
RECEPTACLE: blue
FLOWER BUD: very strong intensity of anthocyanin colouration
COROLLA: cylindric shape
COROLLA TUBE: medium to large, whitish green, absent or very weak intensity of anthocyanin colouration on outer side, absent or weak conspicuousness of ridges

INFRUCTESCENCE: sparse
UNRIPE FRUIT: medium to dark green colour (with bloom), fruit ripening begins mid to late season on one-year-old shoots
FRUIT: large, oblate in longitudinal section, deep calyx basin, very firm, high sweetness, medium acidity
FRUIT SKIN: strong bloom intensity, dark blue skin (after removal of bloom)
SEPALS: straight

Origin & Breeding History: 'FC11-164' originated from an open pollinated cross conducted between the female parent variety ‘ZF06-168' and an unknown male parent in 2008 in Lowell, Oregan, USA. 'FC11-164' was planted in 2009 in Lowell, Oregon and selected in 2011 based on its plant growth habit and vigour, fruit productivity, size and texture, as well as duration of storage. Subsequent asexual propagation occurred by softwood cuttings and tissue culture.

Tests & Trials: The comparative trial for ‘FC11-164' was conducted by Expert Agriculture Team Ltd., in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada during the 2024 growing season. The plants were in rows, which were covered in black mulch and plastic, and irrigated with single strand trickle irrigation. The plots were arranged in an RBC design with 4 replicates. Each replicate consisted of 3 plants for a total of 12 plants per variety. Plants were spaced approximately 90 centimetres apart within rows with 3 metres between rows. Measurements were taken from 10 plants, or parts of plants, of each variety. Mean differences were significant at the 5% confidence probability level based on a paired Student's t-test.

Comparison tables for 'FC11-164' with reference varieties 'Cargo' and 'Draper'

Leaf length (cm)

Inflorescence length, excluding peduncle (cm)

Calyx basin diameter of fruit (cm)

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Blueberry: 'FC11-164' (centre) with reference varieties 'Cargo' (left) and 'Draper' (right)

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Blueberry: 'FC11-164' (centre) with reference varieties 'Cargo' (left) and 'Draper' (right)

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Blueberry: 'FC11-164' (centre) with reference varieties 'Cargo' (left) and 'Draper' (right)