This dataset contains all data and R statistical software code needed to reproduce the analyses presented in the paper:

Smith, B.J., Stafne, E.T. & Read, Q.D. (2025). Establishment of Southern Highbush Blueberry Cultivars and Suppression of Phytophthora Root Rot Using Cover Crop and Soil Amendment Treatments. PhytoFrontiers. https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTOFR-09-24-0096-R

Summary

Phytophthora root rot is a major disease of blueberry that often relies on cultural practices including the addition of soil amendments for disease management. We evaluated the effect of three cover crops on the establishment and growth of southern highbush blueberry (SHB) plants and their ability to suppress Phytophthora root rot infection of plants. This dataset includes data from soil chemical analyses (Table 1), soil pH and electrical conductivity measurements (Table 2), plant leaf, flower, crop load, and fruit ratings (Table 3), plant vigor rating and survival rate (Table 3), stem count, length, weight, and survival (Table 4), root length, diameter, and weight (Table 5). In addition, seedling weight and count data from a blueberry seedling assay (Table 6) and a lupine seedling assay (Table 7) are included.

The associated RMarkdown notebook includes statistical models to analyze all datasets presented here. Linear mixed models, generalized linear mixed models, generalized additive models, and cumulative logistic mixed models are fit where appropriate. A combination of Bayesian and frequentist methods are used; some of the frequentist models include Bayesian-style prior distributions on fixed effects. Models are described in more detail in the notebook.

Files included

• Smith BB cover crop 7 data sets 10.9.24.xlsx: Excel spreadsheet with seven tabs containing all raw data and explanation of contents
• blueberry_covercrop_analysis.Rmd: RMarkdown notebook containing all R code for statistical analysis presented in manuscript, with text explanations
• blueberry_covercrop_analysis.html: HTML rendered output of Rmd notebook

Version history

V2 replaces blueberry_covercrop_analysis.Rmd and blueberry_covercrop_analysis.html with new versions. This corrects an error in the statistical analysis code from the previous version.