EFFECT OF PLANT POPULATION AND DISTRIBUTION IN TWO STRAWBERRY CULTIVARS

Plant population and distribution are factors which can affect yield and quality in a strawberry crop. Considering this information a trial was established in January 2003 at the experimental station of INIA, Chillán, Chile (36°32’S; 71°55’W) to evaluate two plant populations (44444 and 66666 plants/ha) distributed on 25 cm raised beds with two and four rows of plants respectively, using two strawberry cultivars, ‘Camarosa’ and ‘Aromas’. The experimental design was a randomized complete block, arranged as split plot with 4 replications, being the bed width the main plot and the strawberry cultivar the subplot. There was no interaction between the studied factors in any of the evaluated parameters during the two harvest seasons. Both cumulated total and marketable yield were higher (P≤0.05) with the biggest plant population (66666 plants/ha) reaching an average of 179.9 t/ha and 122.9 t/ha, respectively. ‘Aromas’ produced a total and marketable yield significantly higher than ‘Camarosa’. No effect of plant population was observed on the fruit size and on the percentage of rejected fruits and its causes. ‘Aromas’ had a higher percentage of big fruits (> 32 mm in diameter), and a smaller percentage of small fruits (< 22 mm in diameter), showing no differences with ‘Camarosa’ in the percentage of medium size fruits (22-32 mm in diameter). ‘Aromas’ presented a higher percentage of culls, having a big proportion of “catface” fruits.