Browsing by Author "Fernandez, Gina"

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    2016 Southeast Regional Caneberry Integrated Management Guide. Southeastern Small Fruit Consortium
    Brannen, Philip; Schnabel, Guido; Burrack, Hannah J.; Bessin, Richard; Pfeiffer, Douglas G.; Mitchem, Wayne; Jennings, Katie; Lockwood, David; Fernandez, Gina; Sial, Ash (2016-04-04)
    While not technically a numbered VCE publication, this is produced by a group of extension specialists in the southeastern region. CALS is a member of the Southeastern Small Fruit Consortium, the producer of this guide
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    'Liz' and 'Rocco' Strawberries
    Fernandez, Gina; Pattison, Jeremy; Perkins-Veazie, Penelope; Ballington, James R.; Clevinger, Elizabeth M.; Schiavone, Rocco; Gu, Sanjun; Samtani, Jayesh B.; Vinson, Edgar; McWhirt, Amanda; Chacon, Jose Guillermo (2020-04)
    ‘Liz’ and ‘Rocco’ are new short-day (June-bearing) strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa Duch. ex Rozier) cultivars from the North Carolina State University strawberry breeding program in Raleigh, NC. The most outstanding characteristic of ‘Liz’ is its consistently high yields. Total and marketable yields of ‘Liz’ were higher than those of other cultivars tested most years in our trials in North Carolina. Firmness of ‘Liz’ is comparable to ‘Camarosa’. Because of its consistent high yields and moderate firmness, ‘Liz’ can be considered an alternative to ‘Camarosa’. The most outstanding characteristics of ‘Rocco’ are its early season ripening and high soluble solids content. Total yield of ‘Rocco’ is higher than that of ‘Sweet Charlie’ and comparable to cultivars that ripen later in the season. ‘Rocco’ should be considered an alternative to ‘Sweet Charlie’ for early production. U.S. Plant Patents have been submitted for ‘Liz’ and ‘Rocco’.
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    The Status and Future of the Strawberry Industry in the United States
    Samtani, Jayesh B.; Rom, Curt R.; Friedrich, Heather; Fennimore, Steven A.; Finn, Chad E.; Petran, Andrew; Wallace, Russell W.; Pritts, Marvin P.; Fernandez, Gina; Chase, Carlene A.; Kubota, Chieri; Bergefurd, Brad (American Society for Horticultural Science, 2019-01-31)
    Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) production practices followed by growers in the United States vary by region. Understanding the challenges, needs, and opportunities in each region is essential to guide research, policy, and marketing strategies for the strawberry industry across the country, and to enable the development of general and region-specific educational and production tools. This review divided the United States into eight distinct geographic regions and an indoor controlled or protected environment production system. Current production systems, markets, cultivars, trends, and future directions for each region are discussed. A common trend across all regions is the increasing use of protected culture strawberry production with both day-neutral and short-day cultivars for season extension to meet consumer demand for year-round availability. All regions experience challenges with pests and obtaining adequate harvest labor. Increasing consumer demand for berries, climate change-induced weather variability, high pesticide use, labor and immigration policies, and land availability impact regional production, thus facilitating the adoption of new technologies such as robotics and network communications to assist with strawberry harvesting in open-field production and production under controlled-environment agriculture and protected culture.
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    Supplemental Foliar Nutrients Effects on Fruit Quality and Yield of Two New Primocane Blackberry Cultivars
    Conway, Mikel A. (Virginia Tech, 2018-05-01)
    Supplemental foliar nutrient products are applied by some berry growers to improve sugar content, fruit quality and yield; however, there is insufficient evidence that these applications increase fruit quality or yield when applied at the recommended label rates. Virginia growers have limited information on two new thornless, primocane cultivars, ‘PrimeArk® Freedom’ and ‘PrimeArk® Traveler’. These cultivars, studied over two fruiting seasons, beginning in 2016, are considered compatible for hardiness zones 6-9. The study was conducted at the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center (USDA, Zone 8a) with thirty-six (36) PrimeArk® Freedom and PrimeArk® Traveler plants, respectively, established using white woven polyethylene ground cover on raised beds and supported by T-post trellises. The objective of the study was to determine if application of supplemental foliar treatments reflected increases in sugar content, yield and overall fruit quality. Three foliar nutrient treatments were applied using recommended label rates of: AgGrand (4-3-3); K-Ace (0-0-25); Sugar Express® (40-10-40). An untreated control that received no supplementary nutrient was included in the study. Six foliar application treatments were applied (April 17, May 5, May 27, June 11, June 25 and July 16 in 2017) at various growth stages from pre-bud to bloom through harvest. There were no significant differences between control and those that received foliar treatments, on plant growth, yield, sugar content or overall fruit quality. This study presents the results of foliar nutrient product effects on thornless, primocane varieties and will be repeated in the 2018 growing season.