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Title: INFLUENCE OF COLD STORAGE DURATION ON STRAWBERRY RUNNER TIP VIABILITY AND FIELD PERFORMANCE

Author
item HOKANSON, STAN - UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
item Takeda, Fumiomi
item Enns, John
item Black, Brent

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/25/2004
Publication Date: 3/24/2004
Citation: Hokanson, S.C., Takeda, F., Enns, J.M., Black, B.L. 2004. Influence of cold storage duration on strawberry runner tip viability and field performance. Hortscience.39:1596-1600

Interpretive Summary: The development of cold-climate annual hill strawberry production requires the production of disease-free nursery transplants of adapted cultivars and in the proper season. The effects of collecting runners from a greenhouse system and storing these tips for subsequent transplant production were investigated for nursery plant productivity and subsequent field performance. Storing greenhouse-produced runner tips at 1 degree C for one or two months reduced viability of the tips, but had no effect on field performance of the resulting nursery plants. This information will be of value to research and extension personnel in developing strategies for producing disease-free nursery plants for the strawberry industry.

Technical Abstract: The development of annual hill strawberry production in colder climates is prompting new approaches for producing timely, disease-free nursery transplants adapted for the system. One approach may be to store greenhouse produced runner tips for later establishment in plug trays. Tissue-culture derived mother-plants of the strawberry cultivars Allstar, Chandler, Latestar and Northeaster and the USDA selection B 27 were established in a greenhouse suspended-gutter, nutrient-film technique growing system to evaluate the runner tip productivity in the system. Runner tips harvested from the plants were stored at 1 ºC for 0, 1, and 2 months after which they were rooted in plug trays to produce strawberry transplants. Genotype and duration of cold storage influences on runner tip viability, rooting success, and field performance, were evaluated. Significant differences were noted in the number of runner tips harvested among the three harvest dates. Genotype and harvest date effects were noted with regards to the capacity for runner tips to form cohesively rooted plug-plants and genotypes varied significantly for the number and length of adventitious roots produced on runner tips. In the field, significant genotype differences were noted for the number of runners produced per plant. Plants produced from runner tips stored for 2 months produced significantly more runners per plant than plants produced from freshly harvested runner tips. No significant differences due to treatment were noted for any of the harvest parameters evaluated