The effect of NP fertilization on European blueberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) development on cultivated land in mid-Norway
Abstrakt
BACKGROUND: European blueberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.; EB) is one of the most common shrubs in Nordic forests. It has been exploited through centuries by man and is considered a valuable food.
However, it has not been domesticated and all EB fruit is harvested from forest fields. The investigations reported here were undertaken to examine the possibility of EB domestication.
OBJECTIVE: With the aid of knowledge achieved through examinations of EB in natural forests and in cultivated fields of lowbush blueberry, the following trials were started to examine if EB could be grown on rich farmland by adaption of fertilization and addition of natural peat as mulch; and by planting EB mats from a forest field and EB seedlings in a strip of top soil (O-layer) from the same field, with the aim to introduce ericoid mycorrhizal (ErM) fungi.