UK: Strawberry varieties from East Malling Research
Vibrant – early season
For those growers looking for an early season variety that produces good quality fruit with large berries the variety VIBRANT is the best choice. VIBRANT produces bold, large fruit of a uniformly conic shape with an excellent Class 1 percentage and good mid-red colour. Picking is one week ahead of Elsanta. So for those wishing to achieve an early tunnellled crop in substrate, VIBRANT has the potential to deliver fruit ahead of Elsanta, with both 60-day and main crop yields in excess of Elsanta. A smaller second crop in early autumn follows after the main crop.
Vibrant's fruit is produced on long trusses enabling good pollination and excellent fruit display which helps the pickers to locate the fruit. These attributes plus the large berry size all contribute to quick and therefore cheap picking costs. Vibrant shows good resistance to powdery mildew and crown rot (Phytophthora cactorum), but is susceptible to Vertcillium wilt (Verticillium dahliae). Vibrant can be grown sucessfullty in soils with low wilt levels and also performs well in substrate culture.
Sweetheart – mid-season
Sweetheart follows-on from Vibrant. It has a similar season to Elsanta, but is capable of producing good main crop fruit yields under less intensive production systems. Berries are of a good size and shape. Sweetheart plants show good vigour, with the advantage of having moderate resistance to powdery mildew. In commercial production a tolerance to Verticillium wilt has also been observed. Sweetheart is proving to be a popular variety for low-cost production systems.
Elegance - mid/late season
Elegance crops later than Elsanta at a similar time to Symphony. Truss numbers are higher than Elsanta and they are produced successively over a longer period resulting in an extended harvest period up to two weeks longer than Elsanta in the 60-day season. The 60-day yield potential is therefore high, higher than Elsanta, as is the main crop yield. Tray plant and waiting bed plant types have been used and found to produce excellent yields, though Elegance has the ability to also produce good 60-day yields from standard plant types.
Elegance is named after its elegant berries that are bright orange-red, uniformly conic in shape with very few mis-shapes. The berries have good skin strength and shed rainfall very efficiently. Flavour is best when the berries are mature and fully coloured, reduced nitrogen and water levels can enhance the eating quality. The berries hold well without darkening in colour both on the plant and in-store.
Elegance plants are taller and more vigorous than Elsanta with a very erect habit that gives good fruit presentation to the pickers. Crown thinning is recommended to retain a good fruit size in the second harvest year. With moderate resistance to Verticillium wilt, Elegance is suited to both soil and substrate production systems. Though susceptible to powdery mildew, effective control is achieved using a robust spray programme.
Fenalla - late season
Fenalla has a slightly later season than Elegance producing its fruit almost as late as Florence. However, the advantage over Florence is a brighter orange/red skin colour, resulting in a good shelf life and good rain tolerance. The berries are attractive, blunt conic in shape with a clasping calyx. Flavour is pleasantly sweet with a juicy texture. The 60-day yield potential is good with main crop yields similar to Florence.
Fenalla plants are vigorous with a compact, upright habit and long trusses that allow a quick, easy harvest. The variety performs well in soil production systems due to its good resistance to Verticillium wilt and crown rot. Fenella also has the potential to be grown successfully in second-hand beds or on unsterilised sites, where establishment costs can be kept to a minimum.
Cupid– late season
A variety named and released for the amateur market, Cupid, is now available to commercial fruit growers. Its key attributes include a late Florence season with good resistance to four of the major strawberry diseases: Verticillium wilt, crown rot, blackspot (Colletotrichum acutatum) and powdery mildew. The berries are very uniformly conic shaped and glossy, with a bright orange/red colour which is lighter than Florence. Flavour is mildly aromatic. Berries have good shelf life, with the majority falling into the Class 1 grade, though the berries are slightly smaller than Elsanta. In the main crop year yields are comparable to Elsanta, although 60-day yields are on the low side.
Cupid plants display vigorous growth with a dense leafy canopy that provides good protection for the fruit on outdoor sites. The multiple disease resistance enables Cupid to be grown on less than ideal fruiting sites.
All the varieties are available in a variety of plant types and can be ordered direct from licensed propagators.
For more information:
Meiosis Ltd
Tel: 0044 1732 872 711
Fax: 0044 1732 872 712
meiosis@meiosis.co.uk
www.meiosis.co.uk