blueberry all Phloem!

[Jluke33]

I have a blueberry I'm attempting to airlayer one of the branches on. When I cut into the bark and attempted to remove down to the cambial layer I found myself scraping almost to the very middle of the branch, about 2/3rds reduction in diameter (if I were to scrape until there was just no green all the way around). I stopped after wounding the tree this deeply down to the hardwood, because I was concerned if I continued all the way around the weigh of the branch alone might break it off.

question is, is the phloem of a blueberry branch really that thick, or is color not the best indicator in this case of when I've reached the heartwood on a branch?

 

[Carol 83]

You need @Leo in N E Illinois. He has a blueberry farm an generally knows everything.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

When looking at images of branch cross sections of vaccinium, you can see that some varieties have greenish heartwood. But I'd wait too for what Leo has to say, he's the blueberry expert.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

The outer bark on blueberry is relatively thin, a millimeter or two, and the cambium similarly is only 2 millimeters, maybe 3 mm. Color is not a reliable way to determine when you are through the cambium. You can see a slight texture difference.

News off the press, I just sold my share in the blueberry farm. It was more work than I wanted, so I have retired again. Sold my share to one of the "young bucks" in the family. They can take over. My back is not strong enough anymore for everything that needs doing.

So in 5 years I have "bought the farm" and "sold the farm". It was fun while it lasted. Learned a lot about blueberries. May get into something "completely different".