ABSTRACT
Rabbiteye blueberries (Vaccinium ashei Reade) are the major type (species) planted and have dominated the field in the Southeastern United States. Chilling requirements are an aspect that is necessary to insure the plants are grown in the proper region. Rabbiteye plants usually require 400 to 700 hours of chilling at 6-7°C for budbreak (Spiers and Draper, 1974; Spiers 1976). To determine chilling requirements, plants are typically moved into a greenhouse after receiving increasing amounts of chilling hours. A number of methods have been used to determine budbreak and thus fulfillment of chilling hour requirements. Austin and Bondari (1987) measured the diameter of the buds two weeks after cutting. Norvell and Moore (1982) considered chilling requirements met when four buds on a stem exhibited 1.0 cm of growth. Spiers (1976) defined budbreak as the period when a bud broke and elongated and the corolla opened on at least one flower.
