ARS | Publication request: HYDROPONIC STRAWBERRY RUNNER-TIP PRODUCTION

Submitted to: Mid Atlantic Fruit Vegetable Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: January 29, 2000
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: New techniques of producing strawberry plants are needed because of the impending loss of methyl bromide (MB) as a soil fumigant. In California and Florida, the yield of strawberry plants in non-fumigated soils is estimated to decrease by 50%. One alternative production technique for growing strawberries without MB is non-soilbased cropping systems. Such a system may be suitable for production of plug plants needed for summer planting and rapidly expanding plasticulture system in the Middle Atlantic seaboard states. We evaluated the performance of: 1) runner tips taken in May, June, and July from greenhouse-grown mother plants and 2) plug plants of "Chandler" strawberry made from daughter plants of different size and maturity. The results suggested that in some cultivars sufficient numbers of runner tips can be produced from mother plants grown in hydroponics. In others, the time at which the runners are harvested, length of cold storage, and the maturity of runner tips affected the amount of vegetative and reproductive development. These findings suggest that hydroponic systems are useful for transplant production and facilitate means to effect vegetative and reproductive development of strawberry plants.