STRATEGIES FOR AUTUMN STRAWBERRY PLANTINGS USING DIFFERENT PLUG PLANT FORMATS IN MILD WINTER CLIMATES

Plugs of the strawberry cultivar ‘Camarosa’ were rooted in peat:perlite (5:1) substrate and placed at high (HE, 802 m) or low (LE, 10 m) elevations at the end of July. Then they were planted as rooted plants in a Venlo-type greenhouse in perlite bags on 22 September and on 17 October 2006. Before the first planting date, half of the plants from LE were kept at 4°C for two weeks to compare with the other treatments. Early fruit yield was higher with HE plugs planted in October and significantly lower with LE plugs planted in September. No significant differences were found for total yields. Fruit weight was significantly higher with HE plugs planted in October both for early and total production. The extra chilling of September LE plants increased early yields, which were not significantly different from those of HE plants planted in September.