Fruiting Responses and Economics of Containerized and Bare-root Strawberry Transplants Established with Different Irrigation Methods

The productivity of containerized and bare-rooted plants of strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) was investigated over 4 years in southeastern Queensland, Australia. In the first experiment, plants in small, 75-cm3 cells were compared with bare-rooted plants of ‘Festival’ and ‘Sugarbaby’. A similar experiment was conducted in year 2 with these two cultivars, plus ‘Rubygem’. In year 3, plants in large, 125-cm3 cells were compared with small and large bare-rooted plants of ‘Festival’ and ‘Rubygem’. Treatments in each of these experiments were planted on the same date. In the final experiment, plants in large cells and bare-rooted plants of ‘Festival’ were planted in late March, early April, mid-April, or early May. The plants grown in small cells produced 60% to 85% of the yields of the bare-rooted plants, whereas the yield of plants in large cells was equal to that of the bare-rooted plants. Containerized plants are twice as expensive as bare-rooted plants (A$0.60 vs. A$0.32) (A$ = Australian dollar), and gave only similar or lower returns than the bare-rooted plants (A$0.54 to A$3.73 vs. A$1.40 to A$4.09). It can be concluded that containerized strawberry plants are not economically viable in subtropical Queensland under the current price structure and growing system. There was a strong relationship between yield and average plant dry weight (leaves, crowns, and roots) in ‘Festival’ in the last three experiments, where harvesting continued to late September or early October. Productivity increased by about 18 g for each gram increase in plant dry weight, indicating the dependence of fruit production on vegetative growth in this environment.

Section: Time Of Plantingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 93%

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confidence: 99%

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An Evaluation of Containerized Plants for Strawberries Growing in a Subtropical Environment

Menzel¹,

Toldi²

2010

“…Several studies have evaluated the performance of out-of-state conditioned SP in comparison with BR in Florida (Bish et al, 1997(Bish et al, , 2003Cantliffe et al, 2007 et al, 2006a, 2006bSouthwest Florida Water Management District, 2000). However, few researchers have evaluated the response of unconditioned Florida-produced SP to time in nursery before field transplanting.…”

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confidence: 99%

Production Techniques for Strawberry Plugs in West-central Florida

Torres-Quezada

Zotarelli

Whitaker

et al. 2020

Florida-produced strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) plug transplants (SP) are a potential alternative to bare-root transplants (BR). The adoption of this technology could represent a reduction in water usage for plant establishment and potentially higher early yield, as SP may establish more quickly than BR. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of time in nursery and tray sizes, on early and total strawberry yield for Florida-produced SP for ‘Florida Radiance’, ‘Strawberry Festival’, and Sweet Sensation® ‘Florida127’. Runners from Florida-produced mother plants were collected in mid and late August from 2012 to 2015. SP were grown for either 4 or 6 weeks according to the treatment and established in 30-, 40-, 50-, and 72-cell trays, and compared with BR (control). Additionally, strawberry tips from California were evaluated for SP production. BR consistently had higher early yield than SP, ranging from 36% to 91%, between 2012 and 2016. SP produced the same or higher total yield than BR. Florida-produced SP should be grown for 4 weeks before field transplanting in 50-cell trays based on the results of this study. Furthermore, there was no difference between California and Florida tips for total yield. In all seasons, all SP were established with 20% of the total irrigation water used for the BR. Thus, SP could potentially result in water savings of almost 820,800 gal/acre per season, but the early yield of SP would need to be improved to match BR performance.

“…Between 8 and 14 hÁd -1 of continuous sprinkler irrigation are used to reduce the air temperature around the strawberry crown and keep leaves moist (Bish and Cantliffe, 2002;Bish et al, 1997). This irrigation practice accounts for one third of the total water required by the crop throughout the season (Hochmuth et al, 2006a), and it can impact the crop negatively by increasing disease dissemination and leaching nutrients out of the rooting zone (Bish et al, 1997;Hochmuth et al, 2006b). Lack of uniformity of bare-root transplants combined with plant damage created by sprinkler irrigation can contribute to reduction of early yield (Bish et al, 2001).…”

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confidence: 99%

Planting Dates and Transplant Establishment Methods on Early-yield Strawberry in West-central Florida

Torres-Quezada

Zotarelli

Whitaker

et al. 2018

Earlier fall planting dates for strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) in west-central Florida tend to promote earlier onset of flowering and fruiting. However, warm air temperatures (>28 °C) can result in excessive growth and runner production. Sprinkler irrigation is a common practice to reduce air temperature in the first 10 to15 days after transplanting, requiring large volumes of irrigation water. An alternative to sprinkler irrigation is the application of crop protectants such as kaolin clay after transplanting. The objectives of this study were to determine the optimal planting dates and to assess the most appropriate establishment practices for strawberry bare-root transplants in Florida. Four establishment practices—10 days of sprinkler irrigation (DSI), 10 DSI + kaolin clay, 7 DSI, and 7 DSI + kaolin clay were evaluated for ‘Florida Radiance’ and Sweet Sensation® ‘Florida127’ transplanted in mid September, late September, and early October in consecutive seasons. For ‘Florida127’, September planting dates increased early yield compared with early-October traditional planting dates, with no difference in total yield. Seven DSI followed by the foliar application of kaolin clay at day 8 was also found to increase early yield compared with 10 DSI for strawberry establishment, with annual water savings of 108.7 mm.