Growth parameters of strawberry plants in biennial production on the Atlantic Coast of Buenos Aires, Argentina

ABSTRACTThe aim of this work was to evaluate the differences in growth parameters of one- and two-year-old plants of a day-neutral strawberry Aromas® grown in the Atlantic Coast production area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fresh-dug, leafless, bare-rooted plants were planted in the second week of May of the years 2009 and 2010. Two-year-old plants (T2) showed higher total biomass production, fruit yield and precocity. Crown and root yields of T2 plants in October were 49 and 32 times higher, respectively, and leaf area of T2 plants was three times larger than leaf area of one-year-old plants. T2 plants yielded a higher proportion of crowns and roots, and a lower proportion of dry matter partitioning into leaves. Fruits were the strongest photoassimilates sink (65% to 72% of dry weight accumulation), followed by leaves (13% to 20%), crowns (6% to 10%), roots (2% to 7%), and inflorescences (3% to 4%). Individual fruit weight from T2 plants was lighter than fruit weight of one-year-old plants, and this difference was observed principally from October to December, when T2 plants carried a high fruit load. T2 plants showed a decline in all measured growth parameters from February onwards, associated with crown and root diseases.