🫐Wild Blueberry Phenology in the Field 🌿

What is Phenology?

Phenology is learning how plants grow and change over time, especially in response to things like weather, animals, and people. 

🌱 The Life Cycle of Wild Blueberries

Blueberries go through a cycle of growth stages every year. These stages have been taught and learned by many people for thousands of years and are a major reasons we can all eat blueberries. 

1. Prune Stage (winter and spring) 🌿

 Leaf emerges : 

• Green Tips: Tiny green tips start to appear at the tips of the branches.

• Shoot Expansion: The shoots grow longer, and leaves start to spread out.

• Bud Swell: The buds on the plant begin to grow as the plant gets ready to bloom.

• Tip Dieback: The tips of old stems from last year dry out and fall off, making room for new growth.

• Leaf Drop: The plant, getting ready for winter, loses its leaves, and buds turn brown to contain their nutrients. 

This stage happens twice. During the winter, the plant drops its leaves and hardens, but during the spring into summer, the leaves drop and the berries grow.  

2. Bud Stages (spring) 🌱

The first steps toward blooming rather than leaf fall!

• Bud Swell: The buds continue to swell and get larger. Inside, the flower starts to become noticeable and rounder.

• Early Bud Burst: The buds grow bigger and begin separating into distinct parts.

• Bud Burst: The buds are now fully separated, and the flowers inside are rounding out and becoming more visible.

• Tight Cluster: The leaves are fully visible and elongated but still tightly sealed within the bud cluster.

These changes are getting the plant ready to produce flowers — and eventually, berries!

3. Crop Stage (summer) 🫐

Now, the plant starts to make flowers that will turn into berries. This is where the magic happens!

• Early Green Fruit: Little hard green berries start to grow.

• Late Green Fruit: The berries ends grow bigger, still green, but are becoming a more unique color.

• Red Fruit: The berries grows as it start to turn red. They are extremely sour, but they’re almost ready!

• Blue Fruit: The berries turn a deep, beautiful blue and are finally ready to be picked!

Those are all the steps to get you a blueberry! 

🌟 Why Are These Stages Important?

Understanding these stages helps farmers know exactly what to do to take care of the blueberries. By using these methods it shows famers how the plant grows. They need to know :

• The time to harvest the berries for the best flavor.
• When to protect the plant from pests or diseases.
• Makes farmers know the right amount of fertilizer and water the plant needs. 

All of these are need-to-knows for all blueberry farmers. 

💡 Fun Fact!

Did you know that wild blueberries have been growing in Maine for over 10,000 years? Native people of Maine have been harvesting them long before settlers arrived, and today, Maine is the largest producer of wild blueberries in the world!

🍃 How Can You Help?

• Keep an eye on the changes in your own backyard or school garden! You can track the green tips, the blooming flowers, and the ripening berries.

• Help your local farmers by understanding the best time to harvest and what the plant needs to grow.