Manipulating transplant morphology to advance post-transplant growth and yield in strawberry

Two methods were developed to enhance transplant success and minimize water use of strawberry transplants harvested in Canadian nurseries for use in the annual strawberry production system in the Southern United States: mechanical leaf removal by mowing, and chemical control of growth and development using prohexadione-calcium (ProCa). 'Camarosa' and 'Sweet Charlie', two cultivars used in the annual strawberry production system with contrasting growth patterns were chosen for this study. Treatment in Canadian nurseries resulted in several morphological changes in the transplants: reduced plant height and total leaf area, increased root to shoot ratio, and decreased specific leaf area (with ProCa application). Physiological changes in response to treatment included: a higher rate of photosynthesis, an increase in root initials, an increase in fruit number, and osmotic adjustment that pre-adapted transplants to water stress. Production changes caused by treatments included: an increase in the number of harvestable daughter transplants produced in the nurseries with ProCa application, decreased irrigation requirement, and increased early or seasonal fruit yield in mowed and ProCa-treated plants in some but not all years. Mowing and ProCa are useful tools to manipulate strawberry plant morphology in the northern nurseries to produce more robust transplants, resulting in better post-transplant growth, higher fruit yields, earlier fruit production and lower irrigation costs. This has the potential to significantly improve profitability for nursery and fruit producers