Abstract
Ever-bearing (EB) strawberries are long-day cultivars that show perpetual flowering behavior. Compared to June-bearing short-day cultivars, EB cultivars can initiate flowers with less dependency on light and temperature levels. This leads to a more consistent flowering and fruiting pattern, making EB cultivars favorable for areas with long growing seasons. However, this flowering pattern also brings significant challenges to open-field strawberry nurseries. Consistent flower development in EB cultivars frequently leads to increased labor cost for manual flower removal on nursery ground. The alteration of flowering behavior via fertilizer regimes could be a cost-effective tool for strawberry nurseries. However, while it is known that the source of nitrogen (N) impacts strawberry flowering, its effect on strawberry propagation rates needs further investigation. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of nitrate (NO3−) to ammonium (NH4+) ratio on flower and daughter plant production in the EB strawberry cultivar ‘Albion’ (Fragaria × ananassa c.v. ‘Albion’). Strawberry plants were grown in a completely randomized design under greenhouse conditions (26.6 °C, 16 h photoperiod). Four treatments of NO3−:NH4+ were implemented: (1) 100%:0%; (2) 80%:20%; (3) 60%:40%; (4) 50%:50%. Strawberry plants fertilized with a 60%:40% NO3−:NH4+ ratio produced 17–31% fewer inflorescences than those fertilized with 100%:0% (8.8 ± 1.19) and 80%:20% (10.3 ± 1.85) ratios. The production of daughter plants remained similar in all four treatments. Our results show that increased ratios of ammonium in combination with decreased ratios of nitrate reduce flowering of EB strawberry cultivars, while propagation rates remain consistent. These results could potentially lead to the development of fertilizer regimes for strawberry nurseries to reduce flower production in EB cultivars.
Highlights
The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse on 40 strawberry plants
Nitrate–Ammonium Ratio Affects the Number of Inflorescences
It is possible that the daughter plant production was similar the nitrogen supply status varied, resulting from the resilience of the shoot meristem of strawberry plants. The results of this experiment are a further step in the direction of optimized fertilizer use in strawberry nurseries in the future
Summary
Strawberries (Fragaria spec.) are herbaceous perennials belonging to the family. The commercial strawberry plant (Fragaria × ananassa) is an octoploid hybrid and mostly grown in annual systems for fruit production. The total US production value of strawberries was approximately 2.5 billion USD in 2019 [1]. Strawberry nurseries created an additional value of approximately 166 million USD [2]. While strawberry production systems are annualized, open-field strawberry nurseries are multiyear and multilocation operations in which plants are reproduced asexually. This reproduction process is called ‘runnering’, referring to the development of aerial stolons with a sympodial unit that is composed of two internodes and a daughter plant. Daughter plants are new leaf rosettes, genetically identical to the mother plant and with the ability to develop into a complete strawberry plant [3]
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