The effect of different cultivars, orientation and soilless culture systems on production and quality of strawberry

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the behaviour of different strawberry varieties under different media and different soilless system orientation. The experiment was carried out during 1997 and 1998 in the first and second season, respectively. The experiment investigated the effect of different varieties, media and orientation on strawberries (Fragaria x ananassa). The experiment included three cultivars namely Chandler, O.G and Silva. The sub-treatments were Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) and sponge (ureaformaldehyde foam) as media and the sub-sub treatments were orientation i.e. North or South direction. Strawberry plants were grown in the closed system of NFT using an Ashape system. Some vegetative and reproductive characters were measured during the period of experiment. All the studied traits were analyzed within randomised complete blocks with 3 replications. Results indicated that the best cultivars grown in NFT were Chandler then Selva in all the treatments, followed by OG. Sponge media gave higher early and total yields than the NFT system. Treatments oriented to the south direction gave a higher early and total yield compared those facing north.