Botanical designation:Vaccinium corymbosum.

Cultivar denomination: ‘FV1908’.

CROSS-REFERENCED TO CLOSELY-RELATED APPLICATIONS

Title: Blueberry Plant Named ‘FV1904’

Inventor: Niels Arts

Filed: Concurrently with the instant application having application Ser. No. 17/357,809

Title: Blueberry Plant Named ‘FV1906’

Inventor: Niels Arts

Filed: Concurrently with the instant application having application Ser. No. 17/357,842

Title: Blueberry Plant Named ‘FV1907’

Inventor: Niels Arts

Filed: Concurrently with the instant application having application Ser. No. 17/357,863

STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY INVENTOR & APPLICANT/ASSIGNEE

An European Community Plant Breeder's Rights application for the instant plant was filed by the Applicant/Assignee, FV B.V. of De Kwakel, The Netherlands on Jan. 13, 2021, application number 2021/0121. Foreign priority is not claimed to this application.

The Inventor and Applicant/Assignee assert that no publications nor advertisements relating to sales, offers for sale or public distribution occurred more than one year prior to the effective filing date of this application. Any information about the claimed plant would have been obtained from a direct or indirect disclosure from the Inventor and/or Applicant/Assignee. Inventor and Applicant/Assignee claim a prior art exception under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(1) for disclosure and/or sales prior to the filing date but less than one year prior to the effective filing date.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Blueberry plant, commonly referred to as Highbush Blueberry, botanically known asVaccinium corymbosumand hereinafter referred to by the name ‘FV1908’.

The new Blueberry plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in De Kwakel, The Netherlands and Lepe, Spain. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new early-fruiting Blueberry plants with large fruits and good fruit quality, productivity, uniformity and postproduction longevity.

The new Blueberry plant originated from a cross-pollination in 2014 in De Kwakel, The Netherlands by the Inventor ofVaccinium corymbosum‘Emerald’, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,165, as the female, or seed, parent withVaccinium corymbosum‘Snowchaser’ disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 19,503, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Blueberry plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Lepe, Spain in February, 2017.

Asexual reproduction of the new Blueberry plant by stem cuttings in a controlled environment at Lepe, Spain since June, 2017 has shown that the unique features of this new Blueberry plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Plants of the new Blueberry have not been observed under all possible combinations of environmental conditions and cultural practices. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environmental conditions such as temperature and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.

The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of ‘FV1908’. These characteristics in combination distinguish ‘FV1908’ as a new and distinct Blueberry plant:1. Upright and bushy plant habit.2. Moderately vigorous growth habit.3. Freely branching habit.4. Early fruiting with relatively low chilling requirement.5. High fruit yield.6. Large dark blue-colored spherical fruits.7. Sweet fruit taste.8. Good fruit postharvest longevity.

Plants of the new Blueberry differ primarily from plants of the female parent, ‘Emerald’, in the following characteristics:1. Plants of the new Blueberry are not as vigorous as plants of ‘Emerald’.2. Plants of the new Blueberry produce fruit about two months earlier than plants of ‘Emerald’.3. Plants of the new Blueberry have a 100 hour chilling requirement whereas plants of ‘Emerald’ have a 250 hour chilling requirement.

Plants of the new Blueberry differ primarily from plants of the male parent, ‘Snowchaser’, in the following characteristics:1. Plants of the new Blueberry are not as vigorous as plants of ‘Snowchaser’.2. Plants of the new Blueberry produce larger fruit than plants of ‘Snowchaser’.3. Plants of the new Blueberry have a 100 hour chilling requirement whereas plants of ‘Snowchaser’ have a 150 hour chilling requirement.

Plants of the new Blueberry can be compared to plants ofVaccinium corymbosum‘FV1904’, disclosed in U.S. Plant Patent application filed concurrently having application Ser. No. 17/357,809. In side-by-side comparisons, plants of the new Blueberry differ from plants of ‘FV1904’ in the following characteristics:1. Plants of the new Blueberry are not as vigorous as plants of ‘FV1904’.2. Plants of the new Blueberry have a 100 hour chilling requirement whereas plants of ‘FV1904’ have a 150 hour chilling requirement.3. Plants of the new Blueberry produce larger fruits than plants of ‘FV1904’.4. Fruits of plants of the new Blueberry are not as sweet as fruits of plants of ‘FV1904’.5. Plants of the new Blueberry produce less fruit per plant than plants of ‘FV1904’.

Plants of the new Blueberry can be compared to plants ofVaccinium corymbosum‘FV1906’, disclosed in U.S. Plant Patent application filed concurrently having application Ser. No. 17/357,842. In side-by-side comparisons, plants of the new Blueberry differ from plants of ‘FV1906’ in the following characteristics:1. Plants of the new Blueberry are not as vigorous as plants of ‘FV1906’.2. Plants of the new Blueberry have a 100 hour chilling requirement whereas plants of ‘FV1906’ have a 150 hour chilling requirement.3. Fruits of plants of the new Blueberry are not as firm as fruits of plants of ‘FV1906’.

Plants of the new Blueberry can be compared to plants ofVaccinium corymbosum‘FV1907’, disclosed in U.S. Plant Patent application filed concurrently having application Ser. No. 17/357,863. In side-by-side comparisons, plants of the new Blueberry differ from plants of ‘FV1907’ in the following characteristics:1. Plants of the new Blueberry are more upright than plants of ‘FV1907’.2. Plants of the new Blueberry are not as vigorous as plants of ‘FV1907’.3. Fruits of plants of the new Blueberry are not as sweet as fruits of plants of ‘FV1907’.

Plants of the new Blueberry can also be compared to plants ofVaccinium corymbosum‘Star’, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,675. In side-by-side comparisons, plants of the new Blueberry differ from plants of ‘Star’ in the following characteristics:1. Plants of the new Blueberry are more upright than plants of ‘Star’.2. Plants of the new Blueberry are not as vigorous as plants of ‘Star’.3. Plants of the new Blueberry have a 100 hour chilling requirement whereas plants of ‘Star’ have a 400 hour chilling requirement.4. Plants of the new Blueberry produce fruit about four months earlier than plants of ‘Star’.5. Plants of the new Blueberry produce larger fruit than plants of ‘Star’.6. Plants of the new Blueberry produce more fruit per plant than plants of ‘Star’.

