THE USE OF COLD STORED PLANT MATERIAL IN CENTRAL EUROPE

Cold storage has not only been a good method to overwinter strawberry plants safely and to compensate for the lack of natural chilling. Initially cold stored plants were used for early spring cropping only. Meanwhile this technique has become a normal commercial practice among growers in central Europe and has given them the opportunity to extend the strawberry production season from July until January. Cold stored waiting bed plants have been used since the early seventies in The Netherlands and Belgium and nowadays represent an important part of strawberry production on the farms. These so-called sixty day plants are planted mainly outdoors in the soil for a production from July until September. More recently waiting bed plants have gained popularity in the UK, Germany and northern Italy to extend the season. Alternatively in France and Germany cold stored runner (A+) plants are traditionally used for a summer production outdoors followed by a spring crop. During the last decade module or tray plants have gained popularity for autumn cropping on substrate culture in plastic tunnels and greenhouses. Most recently programmed “out-of-season“ production of strawberries has become more important in several European countries. Intensive research has been going on concerning the improvement of the growing techniques and quality of plant material and cold storage conditions.