Juvenile runnering in F₁ hybrid strawberry and its effect on inflorescence numbers

F₁ hybrid day neutral strawberries can be produced from seed which allows cultivars to be developed that do not produce runners. This gives two advantages: physiologically, more carbohydrate can be invested in higher yields, and economically, the cost of runner removal is removed. In eight inbred and F₁ hybrid lines, the fate of the buds at each node from the cotyledon onward was recorded. Most seedlings produced juvenile runners from the second node to the 16^th node above the cotyledons. Thereafter, they either produced inflorescences or runners after several more nodes of development, or neither. In the inbred lines, the seedlings with fewer juvenile runners produced more inflorescences on average than those with many runners. In the F₁ hybrids, the trend was less clear and depended on the inbred lines used. In conclusion, in inbred lines, selection of those seedlings with four or fewer runners before the 16^th node increased the proportion of day neutral seedlings, reduced the number of runners, and increased the number of inflorescences plant^‑1.