Pest management solutions for strawberries

Added on 30 June 2022

Tags

Pest management solutions for strawberries

Hydroponic, or soilless, strawberry production is a fast-growing industry sector of U.S. controlled-environment agriculture (CEA). Its production typically targets off-seasons fall, winter, spring, and early summer. To expand markets and increase yields, growers in the Northeast and Midwest have adopted new production strategies, such as continuous production or double cropping systems.

There are two types of photoperiodic strawberries, short-day and everbearing. Their flowering response is affected by temperature and photoperiod interactions. Short-day cultivars have an obligate short-day response. In most geographical locations, the high temperatures and long days of the summer season will not allow year-round production with short-day cultivars.

Everbearing have a facultative long-day response and will produce year-round with optimal temperatures. Growers can expect repeated flowering, with gaps between flowering flushes. However, targeting a first harvest to maximize the holiday market is difficult. By using a super-forced conditioning technique with short-day cultivars, growers can overcome this problem.

Starting in mid-August, short-day strawberry cultivars are conditioned with a short-day photoperiod and lower temperatures 16-hour nights at 57şF to 59şF for three to five weeks until flower primordia are confirmed. A first harvest can be expected in late November, with continuous flowering throughout the season.

Continue reading.

Photo created by Karolina Grabowska - www.pexels.com