COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTS OF GA₃ AND CHILLING ON VEGETATIVE VIGOUR AND FRUIT SET IN STRAWBERRY

Single crown waiting bed plants of the cultivar Elsanta were lifted on the 6 November and 6 December.
To establish the chilling requirement for optimum vegetative growth in the spring, the plants were placed in polyethylene bags in a cold storage room at +3°C. Chilling treatments of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 weeks were given and the plants potted up and placed in a controlled environment room at a constant temperature of 16.5°C. Vegetative growth and flower and fruit production were recorded.
Control plants received no chilling; to test whether GA₃ treatment was able to mimic the effects of chilling, GA₃ (0, 50, 150 and 450 ppm) was applied as a spray to plants which were potted directly after lifting.
The results indicate that GA₃ causes an increase in vegetative growth which is similar to the effect of 4–6 weeks chilling.
A disadvantage of GA₃ treatment is that the length of the inflorescence is greatly increased and the shape of the fruits is frequently abnormal.
In general 50 ppm GA₃ gives the least flower and fruit abnormalities and the highest fruit set.

III International Strawberry Symposium

A. Tehranifar, N.H. Battey

Fragaria x ananassa, cold storage, growth regulator

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1997.439.104