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Breakfast? Add a handful and off you go ⏱️
Family: Ericaceae · Pot diameter: 13cm · organically grown · Height: approximately 45cm
Vaccinium corymbosum ‘Reka’ starts the season with energy, carrying early blue berries that combine lively flavour, good firmness and an attractive natural bloom. The vigorous upright shrub fills its space quickly, looks generous without sprawling and ends the year in striking orange-red tones. It is an excellent choice when you want to open the blueberry harvest early and add a fruiting shrub with a clean confident presence to an acidic bed or a large terrace container.
Pair it with another early highbush cultivar and leave ample room around the crown for vigorous new stems.
‘Reka’ brings early fruit, strong basal renewal and autumn colour together in a clean upright shrub.
Berries ripen early and open the harvest before classic mid-season cultivars.
Firm berries with a small dry scar pick cleanly and keep well after harvest.
Strong new basal stems rise readily and keep the shrub productive after correct thinning.
Why you will love it: It gives you one of the first generous bowls of the year and a handsome vigorous shrub that responds quickly to good care.
Give full sun in a cool climate or morning sun with afternoon shade in a very hot region. Leave space for vigorous upright growth.
Acid-loving evergreen shrubs, low cranberry and a fine fern create a productive woodland corner.
Sun or bright partial shade; more light gives firmer growth and deeper autumn colour.
Even moisture with low-mineral water, without waterlogging.
Very good winter hardiness; protect container roots from prolonged deep freezing.
Wash fully ripe fruit before eating.
Plant only in ericaceous compost at about pH 4.5–5.5. In lime-rich ground, use a large container so roots remain in the correct conditions.
Water as the surface begins to dry, preferably with rainwater or another low-mineral source. Never allow the root ball to dry completely.
Retain 7–9 upright stems of mixed ages and remove low tips touching the ground.
In spring use an ericaceous feed according to its label. Small regular doses are safer than one heavy application.
Keep roots cool with pine bark and protect the container from fierce reflected heat. Foliage needs light, while roots must not overheat.
Monitor acidic pH, thin the especially vigorous crown and maintain gaps so leaves dry quickly.
It is self-fertile, but another early highbush cultivar with overlapping bloom often improves berry size and fullness.
It ripens early, often from late June into mid-July, depending on climate.
Pick when the berry is blue to the stalk and falls into the palm with a light touch. Return every few days.
Install netting before the first flush turns blue and keep it away from the upright crown on a firm frame.
After planting: water deeply, spread pine bark and allow strong upright stems to establish.
Late winter, before early growth begins
Vigorous ‘Reka’ needs more thinning than a compact blueberry. Clean out low and crossing branches, keep the centre lit and gradually remove the oldest thick stems at the base.
Action: Remove only a weak or broken basal stem.
Retain: Retain the straightest strong stems and every healthy tip.
Action: Remove a branch crossing the centre and one low tip.
Retain: Retain 7–9 stems with clear gaps for light.
Action: Cut one or two very old thick stems at the base.
Retain: Retain strong young basal stems as replacements.
Use sharp, clean tools suited to the diameter of the wood.
Remove prunings and leave a clear ring around the crown.
Do not do this: Do not retain every new stem simply because it looks strong; excessive density shades fruit and makes picking difficult.
Many upright new stems quickly build the framework.
Flowers on short laterals turn early into firm blue berries.
The upright green crown turns vivid orange and red before leaf fall.
Mature ‘Reka’ has tall straight stems, open gaps in the crown and early blue clusters along the laterals.
A small dry picking scar limits juice loss and helps fruit remain firm.
What to expect after planting: Many upright new stems quickly build the framework.
The story of ‘Reka’ began in 1969, when USDA sent seed from controlled blueberry crosses to New Zealand. P. Bates of Ruakura Agricultural Research Centre and American breeder Arlen Draper organised the collaboration to develop cultivars suited to New Zealand conditions.
More than a thousand seedlings were evaluated at Ruakura. From an ‘Earliblue’ × ‘Bluecrop’ family, Franklin H. Wood selected a vigorous upright bush that ripened early, cropped heavily and carried firm berries with a small dry scar. It entered wider trials in 1982.
The selection was patented in the United States as PP6700 in 1989 and named ‘Reka’, a Māori word meaning ‘sweet’. It became one of the notable successes of the first New Zealand blueberry generation and then travelled back into gardens around the world.
The known ‘Earliblue’ × ‘Bluecrop’ cross links the early ripening of the first parent with the vigour and fruit quality of the second.
At picking, the stalk separates leaving a small dry opening. This morphological trait reduces water loss and improves post-harvest behaviour.
Six practical answers for choosing, growing, harvesting and pruning this exact cultivar.
It is self-fertile, but another early highbush cultivar with overlapping bloom often improves berry size and fullness.
1.5–2m high and approximately 1–1.3m wide, with the habit described above.
Yes, in a container of at least 50–60 litres with ericaceous compost and room for its vigorous crown.
Usually late June to mid-July, once berries are blue to the stalk and release easily.
Vigorous renewal is characteristic. Retain the best positioned stems and thin the rest in winter.
In late winter, opening the centre and gradually removing the oldest thick stems.
