Sentinel

U.S. Patent PPAF
Southern Highbush Blueberry Variety

Sentinel is a vigorous early season, high-yielding cultivar, with no known disease issues

Cultivar name: Sentinel (selection code FL11-155)

Region best adapted to: north-central and central Florida

Production system: performs well in deciduous system in both north-central and central FL; additional data to be gathered for evergreen system

Hydrogen cyanamide: not required

Machine Harvestability: no data yet; trials to be conducted in 2021

Per plant yields:

• North-central FL (2018-2020): 8.8 – 21.0 lbs/plant, average 16.4 lbs/plant
• Central FL (2018-2020): 5.6 – 10.9 lbs/plant, average 8.2 lbs/plant

Known disease susceptibility: none observed to date

Known insect damage susceptibility: moderate level of susceptibility to chilli thrips observed, similar to other cultivars

Fruit quality data:

• Fruit firmness: 174 – 241 g/mm, average 208 g/mm, a little higher than Emerald
• Berry Weight: 1.9 – 3.0 grams, average 2.2 grams, similar to Emerald
• Berry Diameter: 15.9 – 19.6 mm, average 17.2 mm, similar to Arcadia and Avanti
• Brix: 9.3 – 12.7, average 11.1, similar to Emerald
• Brix/Acid Ratio: 12.7 – 70.4, average 30.67, better than Emerald
• Fruit scar: normal (small, dry), similar to Emerald
• Wax/bloom: medium, similar to Emerald
• Fruit defects: none
• Flavor: high flavor score from taste panels (27.5). Higher than Emerald (19.9), very close to Kestrel (29.2).
• Aroma: low

Cultivars similar flowering time:

• North-central FL – Optimus, Patrecia, Vireo, Magnus

• Central FL – Optimus, Arcadia, Avanti, Chickadee

Other information: High vigor, with large yield in the early part of the season. Good performance with no disease problems

License availability: For a list of current nursery licensees in the USA, click here.

Fruit Quality and Yield

The following plots show the most important fruit quality traits and yield, across the season.

The vertical lines in the yield plots indicate when 10%, 50% and 90% of the harvest was achieved during the season.

Dotted lines indicate the desired values for new cultivars:

• Berry weight greater than 2g

• Fruit Diameter greater than 14mm

• Firmness higher than 150g/mm

• Brix higher than 10%

• TTA less than 1%

• Brix/TTA higher than 14 units

Warning: Yield plot coming from harvesting of two bushes. Values may seem overestimated as all the fruit from the bush is harvested, and because this is harvest yield and no packed yield. Use this data to compare among cultivars and no to predict potential yield on your farm.

Measurements are in grams (g). To convert from grams to pounds (lb) use the following formula:

lb of fruit per bush = (g of fruit) x (0.002204)