EFFECT OF TYPE AND SIZE OF STRAWBERRY MOTHER PLANTS ON THE QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF DAUGHTER PLANTS

Strawberry plant propagation using substrate (soilless) culture is an important propagation technique in some countries. In the present study, strawberry mother plants cv. ‘Elsanta’ were grown in an unheated tunnel in plastic pots filled with peat-based substrate to determine the influence of plant type (frigo or fresh plant) and size (“A” or “A+”) of strawberry mother plants on the number of daughter plants, as well as their crown diameter, fresh weight and leaf number. The research was conducted from late April to the end of August 2007. Stolons with a minimum of 2 daughter plants were removed from the various categories of mother plants from July 10 until August 20. The type and size of mother plants influenced crown diameter and fresh weight of daughter plants: the biggest daughter plants were derived from fresh mother “A” plants and the smallest from frigo plants. Type and size of mother plants did not affect daughter plant production or daughter plant leaf number.