Cultural and Environmental Improvement of Three Strawberry Cultivars Grown In Controlled Environments for Long Durations

Strawberry is an economically valuable small fruit that is high in sugars and antioxidants and has promising potential for crop production in controlled environments. Strawberry cultivars were evaluated for growth in controlled environments with a goal of long-term, continuous fruit production. The day-neutral cultivars ‘Tribute', Fern', and ‘Seascape' were evaluated in growth chambers set to three different day lengths (14 h, 17 h, 20 h) to examine the least amount of light energy per 24-h period that would not significantly reduce fruit production. All cultivars produced the same fruit fresh weight (FW) over a study period of 217 days. However, fruit number and berry size varied by cultivar, and yield rate changed over time. Additionally, during the same experimental period, three pollination methods were tested for efficacy in a greenhouse environment. Again, cumulative fruit FW depended more on production time than other parameters, however vibrating-wand pollination was selected as the most efficient method to produce uniform fruit. Fruit were also evaluated for organoleptic characteristics such as sweetness, tartness, aftertaste, and overall appeal. Following those studies, further experimentation was performed on ‘Seascape', the most promising cultivar. Plants were grown under 10-h, 12-h, or 14-h photoperiods for 234 days, with other environmental conditions similar to the previous study. Fruit were harvested, counted, weighed, and evaluated organoleptically. Productivity of ‘Seascape' plants appears independent of photoperiod over the experiment duration, but some flavor characteristics are responsive to photoperiod. This study indicates that ‘Seascape', a cultivar with large, highly acceptable fruit, can be grown effectively in controlled environments over long production periods independently of the photoperiods tested.