Ochlockonee Blueberry Plant

Ochlockonee is a vigorous, highly productive rabbiteye blueberry that helps extend the harvest season. It produces medium-to-large, firm blue berries with good flavor and a small, dry picking scar. The fruit generally ripens about one week later than Tifblue, making Ochlockonee a valuable variety for home orchards, farms, and U-pick plantings seeking blueberries later in the season.

The plants grow upright with a moderately narrow shape and produce abundant fruiting stems. Ochlockonee also flowers later than many older rabbiteye varieties, which may help the blooms avoid some late spring freeze damage.

Plant Details

• Plant Type: Deciduous fruiting shrub
• Botanical Name: Vaccinium virgatum ‘Ochlockonee’
• Blueberry Type: Rabbiteye
• Mature Size: Approximately 6–10 feet tall and 5–8 feet wide
• Growth Habit: Vigorous, upright growth with a moderately narrow crown
• Sun: Full sun for the best flowering and fruit production
• USDA Zones: 7–9
• Chill Hours: Approximately 650–700 hours
• Bloom Time: Late for a rabbiteye blueberry
• Harvest Time: Late season, usually about one week after Tifblue
• Fruit: Medium-to-large blue berries with good color
• Flavor: Good, traditional blueberry flavor
• Fruit Quality: Firm berries with a small, relatively dry picking scar
• Pollination: Requires another compatible rabbiteye blueberry nearby for the best fruit production
• Soil: Moist, acidic, well-drained soil with a preferred pH of approximately 4.5–5.5
• Water: Keep evenly moist, especially during establishment and fruit development, but do not allow the roots to remain waterlogged
• Landscape Uses: Home orchards, edible landscapes, blueberry hedges, wildlife gardens, farms, and U-pick plantings
• Wildlife Value: Flowers attract bees and other pollinators, while ripe berries attract birds

Best Pollinator Partners

Ochlockonee should be planted near another rabbiteye blueberry with overlapping bloom times.

• Powderblue: The strongest recommended pollinator partner for Ochlockonee
• Tifblue: A good late-season rabbiteye with bloom and harvest timing close to Ochlockonee
• Centurion: Another late-blooming rabbiteye that may provide helpful bloom overlap

For dependable pollination, plant at least two different rabbiteye varieties within approximately 50 feet of one another. Southern Highbush varieties such as Jewel, Emerald, Farthing, Galaxy, Pearl, Gupton, Sweetcrisp, and Springhigh should not be relied upon to pollinate Ochlockonee.

North Florida Growing Note

Ochlockonee has a relatively high chill requirement of approximately 650–700 hours. It is best suited to colder inland areas of the Florida Panhandle and nearby South Alabama. In warmer locations or during unusually mild winters, the plant may not receive enough winter chilling for its most dependable flowering and fruit production.

Plant Ochlockonee in full sun and acidic, well-drained soil. Blueberries have shallow roots and benefit from a 2- to 3-inch layer of pine bark or pine-straw mulch. Keep the mulch slightly away from the base of the plant.

Available for local pickup at our nursery in DeFuniak Springs, Florida. Shipping is not available for this plant at this time.

Wholesale quantities may be available for farms, landscapers, garden centers, and other qualified buyers.

Advanced Nursery Growers
1911 McLeod Road
DeFuniak Springs, FL 32435
Call: 850-391-2228
Email: info@advancednurserygrowers.com