At Strawberry Renovation, Bud Set, Fertilizer
Mil,
Fruit
majpment
i||*.
Ressler said there are several production guides available. They include, from
left, The Small Fruit Crop Management Book, ed. by Gene J. Galletta and David
G. Himelrick, from Prentice Hall, 1990; The Small Fruit Production and Pest
Management Guide, available from Penn State (to be updated soon), for $10;
and The NRAES Strawberry Production Guide, covering the Northeast, Midwest,
and East, available for $45.
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Grower and Marketer, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 20, 2000—Page
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ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
MORGANTOWN (Berks
Co.) When it comes to
growing that huge, lush, red
strawberry, too much or
too little soil moisture can
make or break yields.
Many growers sometimes
fail to realize that bud forma
tion, from mid-August to
September, provides the fruit
that will be harvested the fol
lowing spring. According to
Leon Ressler, Lancaster
County extension agent, it is
critical to renovate, supply
nitrogen, and ensure the
plants get enough water at
bud formation, which can
greatly affect next season’s
yield.
S s <
Moisture is crucial to the
strawberry plant, Ressler
noted, since the roots only
And Moisture
Are Critical
But a combination of cool and wet
weather can be detrimental for the fruit.
In the fruit sizing stage, strawberries
prefer cool and dry weather to set car
bohydrates and to enlarge.
Irrigation pays off for conventional
growers. Lancaster County experienced a
freeze on April 13 this year, when tem
peratures dropped to 26 degrees. Those
with overhead irrigation simply used the
nighttime water sprays to insulate the
fruit from frost and freeze damage.
In the season, too much rain can cause
gray mold to develop. The fungus, which
starts as a blossom infection, shows up as
a gray powder on the fruit.
The plasticulture systems use raised
beds with the strawberries growing on a
plastic mulch with trickle irrigation
under the mulch. During extended rainy
weather, the fruit can become soft from
lying on wet plastic for lengthy periods of
time.
Conventional growers use a straw bed
ding to ensure good drainage when irri
gating and to keep the fruit clean.
The good thing about the abundant
spring rains was that water supplies were
recharged. Those supplies prove ideal for
growers in years such as last.
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extend to about six inches be
neath the soil surface.
Another critical time,
Ressler noted, is at time of
fruit enlarging. About 1-2
inches of rainfall per week is
necessary at this critical time
in the late spring, before har
vest.
Last summer’s devastating
drought affected many who
didn’t irrigate. But the ex
treme heat was worse it lit
erally caused the strawberries
to shut down. The July heat,
Ressler said, with several
100-degree days, was particu
larly hard on strawberry
growers “because it hap
pened after renovation,” he
said.
Though overhead irriga
tion did work to lower day
time temperatures, at night,
temperatures were still high
and even by morning, the
“fields felt like mid
afternoon,” Ressler said.
189