Southern highbush blueberry cultivation has expanded into non-traditional growing areas worldwide due to elite cultivars and improved horticultural practices. This article presents a comprehensive review of current production systems—alternatives to traditional open field production—such as production in protected environments, high-density plantings, evergreen production, and container-based production. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each system and compare their differences to open field production. In addition, we provide potential solutions for some of the disadvantages. We also highlight some of the gaps existing between academic studies and production in industry, providing a guide for future academic research. All these alternative systems have shown the potential to produce high yields with high-quality berries. Alternative systems, compared to field production, require higher establishment investments and thus create an entry barrier for new producers. Nevertheless, with their advantages, alternative productions have the potential to be profitable.

‘Flicker’ is a southern highbush blueberry (SHB, Vaccinium corymbosum ) cultivar frequently selected by growers in Central and South Florida. In 2014, several growers in Central Florida experienced issues with anthracnose stem lesions and twig dieback on ‘Flicker’, resulting in a reduction in new plantings and the removal of many existing plantings. The objective of this study was to determine the level of anthracnose susceptibility of certain commercially available SHB cultivars, which information can be used to limit further use of susceptible cultivars in the University of Florida blueberry breeding program. The screening was performed using a spray inoculation of a virulent Colletotrichum gloeosporioides isolate onto whole V. corymbosum plants, followed by measurement of incidence and severity of disease over time. In repeated experiments, ‘Flicker’ and two other cultivars had a significantly higher mean number of lesions and area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) than any other tested cultivar, and in both experiments, the observed lesions were similar in many respects to those previously reported on northern highbush blueberry (also V. corymbosum ). Although the results of these experiments may ultimately indicate that Flicker has a unique genetic susceptibility to this form of anthracnose among SHB cultivars commercially grown in Florida, screening of additional cultivars must be performed for confirmation.