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)
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
April May July Aug
Fall '12
Summer '13
Fall '13
kg/h
a
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
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
30-avr. 15-mai 30-mai 15-juin
Pe
r p
lan
t yi
eld
(g)
Titre de l'axe
Ithaca Geneva
AlbionSummer/Fall Yield Planting Year
Albion Yield-Geneva, NY(fall/summer w/tunnels)
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
Apr 15 30-Apr 15-May 30-May 15-Jun
Fall '15
Summer '16kg/h
a
2015 Planting Date
Albion
Seas
cap
e
San
An
dre
as
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)
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
April BareRoot
May BareRoot
July Plugs Aug Plugs
Summer '13
Summer '14
2012 Planting Date and Plant Type
kg/h
a
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