Site Selection and Preparation If you want to grow blueberries in Georgia, it is critical you choose the rabbiteye variety for the most success. The rabbiteye is native to the Gulf Coast states and fruits well from eastern North Carolina, southward to central Florida, and westward to eastern Texas and Arkansas. Rabbiteye blueberries are the most adaptable of all the types and will tolerate a range of soil and warm cli-matic conditions. Rabbiteye blueberries are most common in the southern and southeastern states of the United States. While two types of blueberries can grow in the state, rabbiteye (Vaccinium ashei) and southern highbush (Vaccinium darrowii), only rabbiteye berries are recommended for the home grower.Southern highbush blueberries can grow between zones 6 and 10, but are much higher … Blueberries have a high amount of fiber and low calories. Both kinds of blueberries require acidic, well-drained soils. Rabbiteye blueberries can be grown successfully in most areas of the state, except in the extreme southern coastal areas, where the lack of sufficient cold to satisfy chilling requirements may limit production. The best type of blueberries to grow in the North Carolina Piedmont are Rabbiteye varieties, which are better adapted to clay soils than the southern highbush types grown on commercial blueberry farms in the coastal plain. They require cross pollination for fruit set and this will increase the yield. Because southern highbush varieties flower early, they are best adapted to areas south of Gainesville with some varieties growing further north. Types or Species of Blueberries Grown in Georgia Three types of blueberries are grown in Georgia: rabbiteye, southern highbush, and northern highbush. Can be consumed directly as fruits or as substituent forms like jams, jellies, etc, too. They are useful for cold climates (hardiness zones 3-7) where a highbush equivalent is desired. These fruits are rich in vitamin C, vitamin B6, Vitamin K, folate, copper, potassium, and manganese. If you’re in the northern half of the state, plant rabbiteye, but if you’re in the southern half, choose the southern highbush. The world of blueberries is populated by a diverse and colorful cast of characters. Two types of blueberries grow well in Florida, rabbiteye (Vaccinium virgatum) and southern highbush (interspecific hybrids of V. darrowii, V. virgatum, and V. corymbosum). Split applications (2-3 times per year) of fertil-izer at low rates is preferable to single, high dosage feedings. 1. South Carolina includes only U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 7 and 8. The originators were reminded of the eyes on a white rabbit when the fruit was a beautiful pink color in its early ripening stage. Rabbiteye Blueberries. Types of Blueberries. Rabbiteye Blueberries. The flowers are white, bell-shaped, 5 mm long. Highbush Blueberries. Blueberries go through many color changes before they are ripe. Rabbiteye varieties require cross pollination for maximum fruit set. The native range of the highbush blueberry extends from Wisconsin eastward to Maine and southward to North Carolina. Rabbiteye blueberries (Vaccinium spp.) Half-High Blueberries are hybrids of highbush and lowbush types. Named for the resemblance of the form of the flower scar to the eye of a rabbit, these shrubs have better drought resistance than blueberries and need time. The leaves are spirally arranged, oblate to narrow elliptic, 3 inches long and start out red-bronze in the spring only to develop into a dark-green. Two types of blueberries are grown in Florida - southern highbush and rabbiteye. Some, such as the northern highbush types, can be long-lived, bearing fruit for more than 50 years. Tables 1 and 2 list cultivars that are suit- Rabbiteye. Rabbiteye produces a smaller, sweeter berry then highbush. We planted in October of 2013 but began work way before that. Note on other types of blueberries grown in Georgia. Two types of blueberries are grown in Florida; southern highbush and rabbiteye. Bush height can range from 1.5 feet (half-high cultivars) to 9 feet (rabbiteye). Avoid fertilizers that contain nitrate Choose the right variety of blueberry bush! Types of Blueberry Bushes for Zone 9. Vaccinium virgatum is a deciduous shrub growing to 3 to 6 feet tall and with up to a 3-foot spread. In general, the rabbiteye blueberry is the most productive and easiest to grow in Georgia. In a research planting at Bald Knob, Arkansas, which contained Bluecrop and rabbiteye cultivars only, samples from Bluecrop and the sod had similar numbers (288 and 334/250 cm³), and the rabbiteye samples had significantly lower numbers (6-14/250 cm³). Rabbiteye blueberries are sensitive to overfer-tilization and to certain types of fertilizers. There are two general types of cultivated blueberries: highbush and rabbiteye. They grow well on many types of acidic, fairly low organic matter (1-2%) soils from