Performance of Strawberry Cultivars on Fumigated and Nonfumigated Soil in Florida

Abstract

Five strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa Duch.) cultivars in the 1995-96 season and four cultivars in the 1996-97 season were grown in the annual hill plasticulture system, with and without preplant soil fumigation (98% methyl bromide/2% chloropicrin at a rate of 240 lb/acre [269 kg·ha-1]). These trials were established on land that had been cropped with strawberries for 20 years. Significant cultivar by fumigation interactions were not detected for either yield or average fruit weight. Plants grown in nonfumigated soil produced 54% and 68% of the yield obtained from the plants grown in fumigated soil in 1995-96 and 1996-97 respectively, and the average fruit weight from plants grown in nonfumigated soil was also reduced, compared to that of plants grown in fumigated soil. Plant mortality was ≤3% in the nonfumigated plots. These results indicate that strawberry productivity in Florida can be substantially reduced by growing plants in soil that has not been fumigated prior to planting, even in the absence of lethal pathogens.