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Gulf Coast Substation Hosts Strawberry Field Day
FAIRHOPE, Ala.—Commercial strawberry production using plastic-covered raised beds was the topic of discussion during a Strawberry Field Day held at the Gulf Coast Substation in Fairhope on May 6.
The Field Day featured the results of the latest strawberry studies conducted at the Substation, an outlying research unit of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station at Auburn University.
Dr. David Himelrick, a researcher working on small fruit studies, presented the findings of a study at the Substation to evaluate a new production method for commercial Alabama strawberry production. Tours of the research plots were led by Himelrick and Substation Superintendent Emmett Carden, and visitors were able to taste-test new varieties.
This new production method, called annual hill plastic culture, has been used in California and Florida and is gaining acceptance in Alabama. Himelrick explained that this production practice requires producers to form raised beds, about a foot off the ground, which can be fumigated, fitted with a drip irrigation system and covered with plastic. Strawberry plants are planted in the fall through the plastic into the underlying soil as an annual crop.
According to Himelrick, this system is more expensive than the typical matted-row culture used in the state, but it provides several production advantages. He said hill plastic culture berries are easier to harvest, cleaner, have less disease problems and produce larger yields. He noted that, as an annual crop, the plants tend to produce large berries each year rather than increasingly smaller berries commonly produced by daughter plants in matted row cultures.
Himelrick noted that the traditional eastern varieties used in matted row cultures cannot be used in this new system. Instead, producers must use varieties which are bred specifically for hill plastic culture production. He said these varieties produce large, attractive berries. But, he noted, berries from the California varieties tend to be less flavorful than the eastern berries.
Yield data collected from five weeks of harvesting at the Gulf Coast Substation showed that the Chandler variety has consistently higher yields than the other varieties (from 11,761 to 13,649 pounds per acre depending on source of plants). Oso Grande and Irvine varieties also produced high yields, both producing more than 10,000 pounds per acre in the five-week period. Capitola and Douglas varieties both produced more than 8,000 pounds per acre while Selva and Muir were the lowest yielding varieties (6,679 and 6,970, respectively).
A portion of the study also compared performance of plants from different plant sources. "A lot of California varieties come from Canada where they are freshly dug," Himelrick said. These plants are delivered with leaves intact and are available earlier in the planting season. Plants from California nurseries are not available as early, are clipped before shipping and arrive with no leaves.
The study showed that the Canadian plants provided higher yields than the California plants, suggesting that unclipped plants may be a better choice for Alabama production. But Himelrick noted that these plants require a slightly different management program through the winter months than the clipped plants.
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By:
Katie Smith
