RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PLANT ARCHITECTURE AND FRUIT PRODUCTION OF THE SHORT-DAY STRAWBERRY CULTIVAR 'GARIGUETTE'

Abstract

This research was carried out to assess the relationship between the architecture of strawberry plants before chilling and winter-spring fruit production in a soilless forced culture system. On 11 September 2008, trayplants of the cultivar Gariguette were placed in a heated glasshouse and either exposed to long-day photoperiodic conditions or short-day photoperiodic conditions for 53 days. In addition, plants were held 26 days under short-day photoperiodic conditions followed by 27 days of long-day photoperiodic conditions or 26 days under long-day photoperiodic conditions followed by 27 days of short-day photoperiodic conditions. Architecture prior to chilling gave indications about the first fruit production period in winter-spring (1 March to 30 April 2009). The earliest short-day photoperiodic condition treatments produced the earliest fruits. These treatments exhibited the most developed inflorescences in the pre-chilling architectural analysis and the fewer nodes between the youngest expanded leaf and the terminal inflorescence. The plants that received 53 days of long-day photoperiodic conditions treatment had the least developed terminal inflorescence before chilling and the latest production. The architecture analysis of Gariguette trayplants could predict the earliness rank (first to last) but not the yield rank during the first harvest period.