PRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOUR OF STRAWBERRY WAITING BED PLANTS IN HYDROPONIC CULTIVATION UNDER GREENHOUSE

By using waiting bed plants in strawberry production, the cultivation period can be shortened and crop cycles staggered, and therefore this technique could be interesting in forced production.
Two substrates (coir pith and Sphagnum peat) and three potassium/nitrate ratios (K₂O/N) (S1: 0.9; S2: 1.4; S3: 1.9) for hydroponic cultivation were studied in strawberry plants cv Andana from a high elevation waiting bed, planted in a glasshouse the 9 of January 1998 in polystyrene trays.
The experiment was conducted at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (Spain), using a factorial design with 3 replications of 16 plants.
The picking period was staggered from the beginning of March until mid June.
Plants grown in peat substrate gave higher early and total yields, higher fruit weight and a higher percentage of marketable production.
Plants fertigated with the S3 ratio gave higher total yields than those with the S1 ratio, and higher early yield, fruit weight and percentage of marketable production than those with S1 or S2 ratios.
The effects on different vegetative parameters (leaves, crown and truss number; leaf area and petiole length) were also studied.

V International Symposium on Protected Cultivation in Mild Winter Climates: Current Trends for Suistainable Technologies

S. López-Galarza, J.V. Maroto, A. San Bautista, B. Pascual, J. Alagarda, M.S. Bono

substrates, fertilization, Fragaria x ananassa

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2001.559.6