Abstract
Improving soil quality and suppressing weeds are two challenges facing strawberry growers. Cover crops, such as perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and sorghum-sudangrass (Sorghum sudanense), have been used in rotation with strawberry in the Midwest. The objective of the field study was to investigate the effects of various cover crops on soil quality and weed populations for strawberry production. The experiment was established in 1996 at the Iowa State Univ. Horticulture Station, Ames, in plots that previously were planted continuously in strawberry for 10 years. Nine treatments were arranged in a randomized complete-block design with three replications. Treatments included cover crops of Indian grass (Sorghastrum avenaceum), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia hirta), marigold (Tagetes erecta `Crackerjack'), sorghum-sudangrass, perennial ryegrass, strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa `Honeoye'), and bare soil (control). Data from 1998 showed that both annual and perennial cover crops were established more readily (higher treatment-plant populations and less weed populations) than in 1997. Water infiltration rates were highest in bare soil plots and lowest in P. virgatum plots. Bare soil plots and S. sudanense plots had the lowest percent soil moisture.
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