Organic Strawberry Production- Testing Various Cultivars for Taste and Adaptibility to Western Colorado and Season Extension Techniques for Early Berry Production

Project Leader: Jeanne Austin, Circle A Garden, Montrose, CO Technical Advisor: Edward Page, Small Acreage Management, Tri River Area, CO Project Year: 2005

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Project Summary

One of the difficulties of growing in Colorado is the short growing season. This experiment will test growing strawberries as a viable crop to boost sales in May and June when there is not much to sell. The goal is to find the best strawberries based on winter protection, earlier spring production, and taste.

This is a multi-year project, starting with getting the plants established in the spring of 2005. The winter hardiness will be determined in the winter of 2005-2006. Four varieties will be tested: Hood, Benton, Earliglo, and Kent. All plants will be fertilized with alfalfa, fish and kelp meals, greensand, and soft rock phosphate. At bloom, most flowers will be removed to give the plants time to establish more and produce more in the next year. In the fall, the runners will be removed and they will be fertilized again. In the winter of 2006, winter survival will be tested. One bed containing each of the four varieties, will be covered in straw. The other bed with all four varieties will have straw underneath a floating row-cover. In the spring, experimentation with season extension techniques will occur (row covers and low, plastic tunnels.) As the strawberries produce more, they will be brought to farmers markets for taste testing.

End of Year Summary

Seven varieties were tested for this project: Kent, Hood, Benton, Canoga, Earlyglo, and Northeaster. Prior to planting, the ground cover and the bed were prepared, four 4' by 75' beds. They were all planted on 4/12/2005. Ground cover was used for weed suppression. Plants were planted in groups of eighteen plants from each variety in main sections and groups of nine for the two control sections. In late May and and June, flowers were removed and the beds were weeded. Drip irrigation ran for one half hour every night. In the fall, plants were inventoried and runners removed. Plants went dormant in mid-December and the four beds were mulched with straw and had a row cover put over them. The two control sections were left uncovered for the winter. Some general observations were made at this early stage. Kent, Northeaster, and Earlyglo went dormant the earliest. Canoga and Allstar were the biggest, put out more runners, and had the best survival rate . When the drip irrigation was off, the block with a ground cover did not dry out at rapidly as the uncovered beds. Weed pressure was much less in covered beds. The average plant loss was 17%.