Nice! I may need to pick up a Oneal this year. Just so I can say I have one. They are a tasty berry!

Some sources say the oneal needs 500 chill hours.
I guess that is wrong? When did it bud out ?

As I said elsewhere, for me tracking chill hours is about as useful as tracking the tides. O'Neal has been bouncing around here in low-chill So Cal for some time, and is known to perform well.

Seems like it was blooming through Winter. I've got a picture of fruitset that I took on 1/25.

Yikes awful thin stems......a good rule of thumb is 6 fruit buds per branch as it indicates good health, perhaps they need a bit more feeding.

blueboy1977, O'Neal is the earliest BB that I grow, and I think it is very good and produces well. If anything, extending the season makes it a worthwhile addition.

I think Snowchaser is earlier than O'Neal. I don't have O'Neal but I already picked some from Snowchaser . I have another unknown variety that is even earlier. I picked almost 1.5lb from that bush last Sunday. I bought the unknown bush because it was cheap, only $6.99. It was labeled bush berry. The berry is huge. The biggest one I got last year is 5g. However it tastes not as good as other varieties.

sandiego4s, good to know! How is the flavor on Snowchaser? I've never seen it in nurseries here locally.

I like Snowchaser, it's sweet and with more "blueberry" aroma. To my taste, it's better than Emerald. The berry size is smaller than Emerald. The plant is very vigorous and quite productive. I got the plant from HomeDepot by chance. It was among other blueberry plants, mostly Sunshine Blue and Emerald. I were actually buying a Sunshine Blue. But at home, I found the red label on the pot showing Snowchaser. I would like to believe the label because it is very earlier. I have never seen any of those FL varieties in HomeDepot again.

I was surprised to see Misty ripening a few BB this morning. I know better than to harvest any Misty berries early, as they can be extremely tart. It's amazing how variable these bushes are between cultivars. Misty didn't even lose very many of its leaves over-winter, but has a new growth flush. O'Neal is ripening fruit having lost all its leaves and hasn't started a growth flush.

Not sure why you are surprised? The commercial BB harvest in Florida will start in 2 weeks. Have a friend in Santa Barbara and she has been harvesting berries the last month a cup or two a day. Her plants though are quite healthy and strong.

I've been very happy with both 'Emerald' and 'Sunshine Blue'. SB seems to be my latest ripening berry and stays evergreen.

Sunshine Blue is my latest SHB as well. It was the only SHB I was still picking at the same time with rabbiteys. I need a few more SB to round out a late harvest. I may have to propigate a few this year.

blueboy1977, I really like SB a lot. It might be my favorite BB, all things considered Their dwarfing form is a big plus as BB get huge in a hurry. It's a highly ornamental plant in its own right with very tasty berries.

SB is a cool plant, it even grows well here. I'll have to add one in the future. Snowchaser from what others said is a really good blueberry. Those early SHB usually don't do well in my environment. But at some point I want to try some. Hoping they will adapt to the area.

Agreed on SB, Snowchaser is execellent and I would like to try a few other varieties in the next year or two. I want to try Palmetto but not sure how the chill hour requirement will mesh with my area. Also I want to try Springwide and Raven. Hopefully Bam will get his hands on those Ravens soon.

SB has the flashiest flowers out of my plants and Snowchaser is right behind it with a lighter pink flower than SB but still eye catching. The two coolest looking plants Ive grown were Southmoon and Bountiful Blue. They were both stunners, expecially in the fall!

I think the red color come from NHB genes. All my NHB plants are a deep red in the fall, beautiful looking plants. Why I have hope for SHB, as they have a lot of NHB genes in them. I myself want to try Bonus NHB it sounds like a really good one for me. You guys I would avoid NHB, the heat just kills them. Also Sweetheart a NHBxSHB cross is supposed to have 2 crops. Speaking of early bloomers, Spartan NHB is supposed to be the best tasting of the early NHB. Like peaches most NHB early fruiting types are not that good, with Spartan being the exception. Plus I was a Spartan myself! MSU class of 81!
If I didn't have a dog my whole backyard would be plants. Poor thing needs room tough, I really need to get my butt going and get out of this house and into a huge yarded house! I have years of junk to sell on EBay...

This post was edited by Drew51 on Sat, Mar 15, 14 at 11:04

Blueboy, I am impressed with Springwide. This was a liner
plant which I planted last July. I counted 8 canes coming out
of the ground. Will update you on the taste
In a few weeks.

Very nice Chad, the tissue culture plugs I received grew like gang busters. By the second summer they looked like 3 or 4 year cutting started plants. Some were even bigger and fuller than my 3 year old plants from JF&E. If you know how to grow them, the tissue cultur liners are the way to go for sure. Plus there cheap and your not out much money if one or two croaks. I didnt let any of my first spring plants fruit. It was tough to to do but I removed every flower bud. Im sure thats why they were so big going into the following year.

Blue boy how do you do your blueberry cuttings?