Extending Your Strawberry Season with Day-Neutral Varieties

Gordon Johnson, Extension Vegetable & Fruit Specialist; gcjohn@udel.edu

Plasticulture strawberry planting season is quickly approaching. Growers seeking to extend their strawberry seasons should consider planting a portion of their area to day-neutral varieties. Day-neutral strawberries start fruiting 12-14 weeks after planting and have the potential to give late fall as well as early April through July production. Currently, the three varieties that have shown the most potential for extended production on Delmarva are Seascape, San Andreas, and Albion.

Albion, in particular, has shown great flexibility for season extension. It is very flexible on when it is planted in the late summer or early fall. August plantings will yield some late fall production, particularly in high tunnels. While much less productive in the main Chandler season in the spring, it has some unique properties that make it valuable to growers. First, it will give some early production, ahead of Chandler. Second, even though production is lower, it produces evenly over an extended period of time from April through early July. In general it will give 5-6 weeks more production than Chandler. It is a large, firm berry that, while not as sweet early in the season, has good quality in May and June. Because plants are smaller and there are fewer berries per plant, it should be planted at a higher density than Chandler. Research has shown that planting three rows per plasticulture bed with two drip tapes provides the best yields.

Early August plantings of San Andreas will yield more fall production than Albion and San Andreas has comparable yields to Chandler in the spring with continued production through June. Both Albion and San Andreas have good quality and are firm berries that will stand up to regional shipping.

Seascape has been around for a long time and was the first of the larger sized day-neutral berries to show commercial potential in our area; however, Seascape has a softer berry and does not ship well so is best adapted to U-pick and local sales. Some grower in the region have had luck growing Seascape with multiple spring plantings spaced about three weeks apart from March through June giving summer and fall sales. Both Albion and San Andreas can also be planted in the spring for extended summer sales. Production in the heat of July and August will decline or stop unless there is a cool summer.

Because these day-neutral varieties keep blooming throughout the season, it is critical to maintain fertility, particularly with nitrogen, potassium, and calcium through fertigation. Over-fertilization with nitrogen will produce excess runners that will have to be removed and that will reduce productivity and under-fertilization with nitrogen will also limit production. Disease management is also critical because these varieties bloom for an extended season. Gray mold fungicide sprays must be applied regularly throughout the extended seasons.