Strawberry Varieties Under Tunnels - Agri-Réseau · Tunnels Courtney A. Weber School of Integrative Plant Science-Horticulture Section, Cornell University, Cornell AgriTech, Geneva,

Strawberry Varieties Under Tunnels

Courtney A. Weber

School of Integrative Plant Science-Horticulture Section, Cornell University, Cornell AgriTech, Geneva, NY 14456

Why Low Tunnels?

Advantages

• Lower cost than high tunnels

• Improved fruit quality and yield

• Reduced fungicide use

• Extended season

Disadvantages

• Higher infrastructure cost compared to open field

• Potential difficulty harvesting

• Potential powdery mildew problems

• More precise management requirements

• Potential increase in insect and mite pests

– Difficult to manage chemically

Variety Trials at Cornell AgriTech

• Planting date comparisons– Day neutral cultivars

• Albion, Seascape, San Andreas, Portola, Evie 2, Tribute, Monterey

– Short day cultivars• Jewel, Chandler, Ovation, Clancy, Seneca, Ventana,

Archer, Dickens

– Evaluation plots• Sonata, AC Valley Sunset, Record, Rubicon, Malwina,

Herriot, Rutgers Scarlet, Deluxe, Dream, Amandine

Albion Yield(no tunnels)

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Fall '12

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Fall '13

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Planting Month

Low Tunnel Trial Specifications

• Two cultivars– Seascape– Albion

• Bare-root/dormant crowns

• Four planting dates– April 30– May 15– May 30– June 15

• Double rows– 25 cm offset spacing– 1.67 m row centers– ~47,000 plants/ha

• Single T-tape drip irrigation– Weekly fertigation

• Dubois Agroinovation low tunnels

• Weed management only– No fungicides or

insecticides

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30-avr. 15-mai 30-mai 15-juin

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Ithaca Geneva

AlbionSummer/Fall Yield Planting Year

Albion Yield-Geneva, NY(fall/summer w/tunnels)

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Apr 15 30-Apr 15-May 30-May 15-Jun

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2015 Planting Date

Albion

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Port

ola

DN Variety Comparisons

• Eating quality was best in Albion and Seascape– San Andreas very attractive but can exceedingly firm– Evie 2 is very attractive but soft and pale with many small fruit

• Evie 2 and Seascape had max yield • 15-20% reduction in fruit size for the second harvest season

in overwintered plants – 9 (Albion) and 11 (Seascape) crowns per plant in second year

• Portola had highest early yield– Middle of the pack for overall yield

• Albion and San Andreas had the largest mean fruit size– Tribute the smallest

Newer Day-neutral Varieties

Amandine-very upright laterals interesting for breeding. Very firm, relatively small (no known U.S. source)

Verity-relatively low production, strong DN parent (no known U.S. source)

Wasatch-low yield in first season

Redstart-low yield in first season

Sweet Ann-very promising, excellent flavor, good productivity in 1st trial

Jewel Yield(no tunnels)

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April BareRoot

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2012 Planting Date and Plant Type

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Jewel

Ch

and

ler

Arc

her

Dickens(NY02-56)

Newer Short Day Varieties

Dream-late ripening, moderate yield (no known U.S. source)

Deluxe-very late ripening, moderate yield (no known U.S. source)

Rutgers Scarlet-relatively small and low yielding, susceptible to leaf spot

Yambu-reported as early mid-season, orange-red fruit, from the Netherlands

Flavorfest-productive, good eating quality, susceptible to late summer powdery mildew

SD Variety Comparisons

• Jewel produces excellent quality fruit

• Ventana produced high yield but poor eating quality

• Wendy and Valley Sunset susceptible to post-harvest leaf powdery mildew

• Chandler produced quality fruit but low yield

• Ovation was overly vigorous

• Archer and Dickens both show promise

Overall Conclusions

• With spring or summer planting, earlier is better

– Especially critical for fall DN yield

– Summer plug planting produced best SD yield and best 2 year survival

• Albion is the DN variety of choice

– Some success with Seascape, San Andreas and Portola

– Overwintered plants produce high crown numbers and smaller fruit

– Summer yields reduced by previous fall crop

Breeding for Low Tunnel Production

• Same season evaluation of DN seedlings

• Superior plant growth and development

• Superior fruit quality for evaluation

• System encourage runner development for propagation of selections

• Early evaluation of powdery mildew susceptibility

Day-neutral Flowering in Seedling Populations

• Flowering in the planting year very variable– 60% or better in DN x DN populations

• Percentage generally increased in 2nd fall

– As low as 20% in some DN x SD crosses• Also increased in the second fall to 40% better

– Most selections produced some runners for propagation

• Selections in the day neutral material also made based on the spring fruit– Some of these selections may not be day-neutral– No selections made on second season DN fruit

• Small fruit due to crown multiplication• Overgrowth made selection difficult

Acknowledgements

• This project is funded in part with funds provided through the Federal Hatch Act from the Cornell Federal Capacity Funds Competitive Grant Program

• Also funded by the New York State Department of Ag & Markets in cooperation with the NYS Berry Growers Association