Growing Day-neutral Strawberries in High Tunnels to Target Fall Markets in Southern Indiana

Producing strawberries in the fall has great economical potential for small farmers. While typical June-bearing varieties require short days to initiate flower clusters and only have one peak harvest around June, day-neutral strawberry varieties are insensitive to day-length, and can have multiple harvests throughout the year. High tunnel systems are an effective tool for achieving season extension of several vegetables and fruit. It provides additional heat units and moderate frost protection that make it possible to produce day-neutral strawberries in the fall. The production practices were seldom explored in the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6, and there is little information available on day-neutral varieties suitable for high tunnel production. In this study, day-neutral strawberry varieties: Albion, Sweet Ann and San Andrea were evaluated for the potential of fall harvest in a high tunnel in southern Indiana. Strawberry plugs were planted on 27 Aug. 2015. Runners were removed and recorded weekly in the fall. The first bloom dates of ‘Albion’, ‘San Andrea’ and ‘Sweet Ann’ were on 20 Sep., 24 Sep., and 2 Oct., respectively. First harvest dates were on 20 Oct. for ‘Albion’ and ‘San Andrea’, and on 26 Oct. for ‘Sweet Ann’. Strawberries were picked once a week until 4 Jan. 2016. No significant difference on yield was observed among the three varieties (Albion 77.0 g/plant; San Andrea 37.5 g/plant, Sweet Ann 48.3 g/plant), while ‘Albion’ produced more fruit with smaller sizes compare with ‘Sweet Ann’ and ‘San Andreas’. Average fruit weights of ‘Albion’, ‘San Andrea’ and ‘Sweet Ann’ were 17.6 g, 24.8 g and 28.1 g respectively. There was no significant difference in total soluble solid contents among the three varieties, while fresh firmness of ‘Albion’ was significantly lower than those of ‘San Andreas’ and ‘Sweet Ann’. ‘Sweet Ann’ had more runners in the fall compared with ‘San Andreas’ and ‘Albion’, while there was no significance difference in canopy sizes among the three varieties. Research conducted in multiple years is warranted to determine influences of environmental factors on the production system. Planting density also needs to be examined to justify the quantity of strawberries that can be produced in the fall season.