Impact of Runner Development of Mother Plants during Seedling Strawberries on Daughter Plants Growth and Development during Phase of First Cluster

Abstract

To investigate the impact of the number of runners developed from daughter plants during seedling on sapling growth and development during phase of first cluster, we examined four treatment groups that had 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, and 9-10 runners. As of June 5 th , the group with 9-10 runners showed the highest number of saplings with more than 2 leaves, followed by groups with 7-8, 5-6, and 3-4 runners. Although observation on June 25 th and July 15 th showed a similar tendency for sapling numbers, no significant difference was detected between groups with 7-8 and 9-10 runners. The length of runners in the treated groups was similar to that in groups with 3-4 and 5-6 runners, with lengths of 49.4 mm and 48.0 mm, respectively, but runner length was significantly shorter in the group with 7-8 runners. Both the thickness and the weight of runners were highest in the group with 3-4 runners. The growth and development of daughter plants and root weight were similar between the groups with 3-4 and 5-6 runners, whereas both values were lower in groups with 7-8 and 9-10 runners. While stem crown thickness values were 8.7 mm and 8.5 mm in groups with 3-4 and 5-6 runners, respectively, groups with 7-8 and 9-10 runners had thinner stems of 7.1 mm and 6.2 mm, respectively. The fresh weight of saplings decreased as the number of runners increased. From the phase first cluster, leaf area and fresh weight were remarkably low in groups with 7-8 and 9-10 runners. Taken together, these results can be used to increase the production of high-quality saplings by providing a foundation for studies to investigate the impact of the number of runners developed from daughter plants on growth and development during the seedling period and the phase first cluster.