Blueberries can also be harvested for processing as frozen or canned fruit. An explosion drying process for blueberries has been developed and is currently being tested in Georgia. Not all the blueberries on a plant can be picked on a single date because they do not all ripen together. Growers may therefore choose to hand harvest the earliest ripening berries and machine harvest the rest. Labor and Capital Rabbiteye blueberry cultivars can be harvested by hand or mechanical methods.
Highbush cultivars have to be hand harvested.
Grading of the fruit is done by hand. High-density plantings, complete with pine bark beds and bird netting, can cost even more. Planting and Establishment Site selection criteria have changed in Florida during the last five years. These upland soils are predominately sand and usually require preplant incorporation of organic matter and sometimes adjustment of soil pH. Many such sites were previously planted with citrus and are located in Lake, Polk, and Highlands counties along Florida's central ridge. Growers who plant on well-drained, sandy soils of the ridge and irrigate from the Florida aquifer must deal with problems associated with high bicarbonates in the irrigation water.