Friday, May 25, 2012

Where have all the blueberry flowers gone?

 Yesterday, Thursday, was another rainy day in Corbett.  When I checked conditions in the afternoon, about 1:15, I was surprised to see that the flowers on the blueberry plants were gone!  They seem to be in full bloom on Wednesday when I checked, so this means there must have been a heavy rain or hailstorm.  This morning I noticed that there seemed to be patches of white dots under every blueberry plant.  Looking closer under the blueberry plant that I photographed yesterday, you can see the blossoms scattered.


This is not good for blueberry yield.  I hope at least some fruit has been set.  I can't tell if there are still flower buds on the plants that may bloom in a few days.  I hope so.  




So far today in Corbett the sun has been coming out intermittently and temperatures are in the 60oF range.  As soon as the sun came out, about 9:40am, the orchard bees, Osmia lignaria, poked their heads out of the nests, and soon were flying.  Hopefully they will replenish their nectar supplies at the black raspberries and start working on their nests again. 


1 comment:

  1. As it turns out, the flowers on the ground are probably not the result of bad weather. Rosie tells me that workers came through the field and pulled off most of the flowers to prevent the young blueberry plants from setting fruit. That way they will put more of their resources into growing larger. The extra vegetative growth means an even larger berry crop next year.

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