BREEDING FOR LATE FLOWERING AND FRUITING IN JUNE-BEARING CULTIVARS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

In the UK there is a strong demand for strawberries throughout the summer and late June-bearing cultivars, which crop from late June to mid-July, are highly desirable.
HRI has released three very late flowering cultivars: Pandora, Laura and Sophie.
Studies on these cultivars and other late-flowering germplasm have demonstrated that the late season is usually associated with other, undesirable characteristics, such as excessive vegetative vigour and poor habit.
Late-flowering genotypes with independent pedigrees often show similarities in their vegetative phenotype.
A large number of crosses have been made between late-flowering genotypes but very few selections from these progenies have had the combination of characteristics required in commercial cultivars.
Data from progenies of two half-diallel crossing programmes have confirmed that these undesirable vegetative traits show additive quantitative inheritance.
It is proposed that excessive vigour in late-flowering lines may be partly a function of the increased period of vegetative growth between emergence from dormancy and flowering.
A programme of backcrossing was undertaken to attempt improve the plant characteristics while maintaining late flowering and fruiting.
This has been partially successful and HRI now has several late-flowering selections that have a similar season to Pandora but reduced vegetative vigour.
Some of these have an extended period of dormancy resulting in a reduced time for vegetative growth prior to flowering.

IV International Strawberry Symposium

D.W. Simpson

strawberry, Fragaria x ananassa, June-bearer, flowering time, dormancy

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2002.567.17