The Effect of Mulching and Plant Spacing on the First Year Yield of Everbearing Strawberries

The experiment was to determine which system of planting was best for three varieties of everbearing strawberries. This experiment was started in the spring of 1951 at the University orchard, University of Nebraska, at Lincoln. Three everbearing strawberry varieties, Gem, Superfection, and Evermore, were grown in this experiment. Three mulching materials, corn cobs, prairie hay, and sawdust, were used. On spaced plantings, two additional treatments, plants spaced but unmulched and matted-row unmulched, were included. The experimental design consisted of six replications, each replication consisted of three varieties with each variety receiving five different treatments, and all the locations and treatments were selected at random. The everbearing strawberry plants were planted in the field from May 4 to 11. They were cultivated several times after planting. All the runners of the plants were kept picked off except for the matted row, and the flower clusters were kept picked off the plants until July 5. The mulching materials were applied from July 4 to 8. The strawberries were picked when necessary from July 24 to October 20, and the yield was taken as weight in grams. The results of this experiment showed that variation in yield of different treatments was significant. The treatments giving the highest yield were corn cobs, prairie hay, and sawdust. The matted row treatment gave a lower yield than the others. In total yield by varieties, Superfection and Gem had about the same production, while Evermore had a much lower yield than the other two. The seasonal trends of production of three everbearing strawberries with different treatments showed the high yield of the season from August 14 to September 1. Advisor: Victor J. Mille