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- Author or Editor: Craig Chandler x
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Experiments were conducted in two seasons in Dover, Fla. (central Florida), with bare-root and containerized (plug) strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) transplants to evaluate transplant establishment-period water use, plant growth, and flowering responses in the 3-week transplant establishment period. Strawberry plug plants were established with 290 gal/acre water applied only with the transplant at planting time, while 200,000 gal/acre from microjet or 1 million gal/acre of water from sprinkler irrigation were used to establish bare-root transplants. Root, shoot, and crown dry matter of plug plants rapidly increased during the establishment period, while there was a decline in leaf area and root and crown mass of bare-root plants, even with sprinkler or microjet irrigation. Water applied with the bare-root transplant only at planting was not enough to keep the plant alive during the establishment period. Large plug plants, but not irrigated bare-root plants, began flowering at 3 weeks after planting. Plug plants were used to successfully establish strawberry crops with low water inputs.
Strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) crops were transplanted in two seasons in central Florida with bare-root and containerized (plug) plants under three transplant establishment-period irrigation methods to evaluate crop fruiting responses and production economics associated with the various establishment systems. Irrigation was not required to establish plug transplants in the field. Early (first 2 months) fruit yield with nonirrigated plug plants was greater than early yield with sprinkler-irrigated bare-root plants (the current commercial system) in one of two seasons and equal in a second season. Total-season yields were similar in each season between the two establishment systems. Large or medium plug plants led to greatest early fruit yields in one season while large plug plants resulted in greatest early yield in a second season. Total yield was greatest with medium plants in one season and large plants in another season. The extra cost for the plug plant system was $1853/acre. In one out of two seasons there was increased net income amounting to $1142/acre due to greater early yield associated with the plug plant cultural system. Strawberry plug transplants showed promise for earlier and more profitable crops in addition to substantial savings in water used for plant establishment in the field. The ability to establish strawberry crops without irrigation will be important in areas where growers are required to reduce farm water consumption.
A greenhouse hydroponic system, which uses suspended plastic troughs, was found to be an efficient system for the production of high quality strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) plantlets. In this system micropropagated mother plants of `Oso Grande' and `Sweet Charlie' produced an average of 84 and 80 daughters per mother plant, respectively, in 1996, at a plant density of 3 mother plants/ft2 (32 mother plants/m2). Nearly 100% of the plantlets harvested from the system were successfully rooted in plug trays, and showed no symptoms of leaf or crown diseases.
Transplant quality can have a major effect on the productivity of many crops. Bare-root, green-top transplants for Florida winter strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) production are produced mainly in highlatitude (>42° N) nurseries. Mechanical digging machines are used to remove plants from the soil at these nurseries before transport to production fields in Florida. In the course of this operation, crowns, petioles, and leaves may be crushed and broken. Machine and hand-dug bare-root transplants of `Camarosa' and `Sweet Charlie' were obtained from a Nova Scotia, Canada nursery, planted at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, Dover, Fla. field facility on 2 Nov. 1999 and 10 Oct. 2000, and grown using standard annual-hill production practices. Plots were harvested twice weekly beginning 5 Jan. 2000 and 15 Dec. 2000. Hand-dug transplants produced significantly higher monetary returns both seasons. Therefore, fruit producers may consider paying the higher cost associated with changes in harvesting and packing operations needed to reduce damage to transplants.
Hydrocooling was evaluated as an alternative to forced-air cooling for strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) fruit. `Sweet Charlie' strawberries were cooled by forced-air and hydrocooling to 4 °C and held in different storage regimes in three different trials. Quality attributes, including surface color, firmness, weight loss, soluble solids, and ascorbic acid content, pH and total titratable acidity, were evaluated at the full ripe stage. Fruit hydrocooled to 4 °C and stored at different temperatures for 8 or 15 days showed overall better quality than forced-air cooled fruit, with significant differences in epidermal color, weight loss, and incidence and severity of decay. Fruit stored wrapped in polyvinylchloride (PVC) film after forced-air cooling or hydrocooling retained better color, lost less weight, and retained greater firmness than fruit stored uncovered, but usually had increased decay. There is potential for using hydrocooling as a cooling method for strawberries.
The use of locally grown transplants in Florida strawberry (Fragari×ananassa Duchesne) production has increased since the release of the cultivar Sweet Charlie by the University of Florida in 1992. Previous research has shown that nursery region can influence production patterns of other strawberry cultivars through differences in photoperiod and temperature exposure. Transplants of `Sweet Charlie' strawberry (bareroot and plug plants) from sources representing northern (Canada, Massachusetts, Oregon), southern (Alabama, Florida) and mid latitude (North Carolina) transplant production regions were compared for plant vigor, production, and pest incidence at Dover, Fla. in 1995-96 and 1996-97. Total fruit production was not significantly different forplants among the plant source regions in 1995-96, but total yield from southern source plants in 1996-97 was significantly lower than northern and mid latitude plant sources. Monthly production of marketable fruits varied among the three plant source regions in December, January, and February, during which time market prices fell 46% in 1995-96 and 56% in 1996-97. Plants from northern and mid latitude sources produced significantly greater fruit yield in December than plants from southern sources. Differences among plant sources were detected for early flowering, initial crown size, incidence of foliar disease, arthropod pests, mortality, and fruit weight. Geographic location of strawberry transplant sources influenced fruiting patterns and other components that may affect profitability of `Sweet Charlie' strawberry production in west central Florida.