2019 ASHS Annual Conference

Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) is the most popular berry crop in the US, and is one of the most popular items at local market outlets. A high tunnel allows growers to produce strawberries during off season when prices are at a premium. Off season production coupled with an increasing demand for locally grown produce could be a great economic benefit to growers operating on small- to medium-scale farms. Eight strawberry cultivars (Albion, Camarosa, Camino Real, Chandler, Fronteras, San Andreas, Sensation, and Strawberry Festival) were planted into a high tunnel in Nov. 2017. Strawberry plants were planted in raised beds in double rows covered with black or red plastic mulch. Strawberry plants were evaluated for their vegetative growth, timing of first fruit production, and berry yield. Strawberry quality parameters including single berry weight, berry firmness, total soluble solid content, and titratable acidity were also investigated. There were 20 harvests between 9 Mar. 2018 and 5 June 2018 with all cultivars producing berries near mid-March. ‘Fronteras’ and ‘Camarosa’ grown with black mulch produced the earliest marketable fruit on 6 Mar. All cultivars produced their peak marketable yield in the second half of May or earlier. Six of the eight cultivars (Camarosa, Camino Real, Chandler, Fronteras, San Andreas, and Strawberry Festival) produced total marketable yield over 457 g berries per plant over the entire season. ‘Camino Real’ and ‘Strawberry Festival’ produced the highest total marketable yield of 559.3 g and 555.5 g berries per plant, respectively. ‘Sensation’ produced berries with the highest soluble solid content of 10.4% grown with red plastic mulch. ‘Camino Real’ produced berries with the lowest soluble solid content of 7.7% when grown with red mulch and of 7.4% when grown with black mulch. Season extension in high tunnels combined with appropriate cultivar choices has the potential to be a profitable production system for Mississippi strawberry growers.