Strawberry Cultivar Evaluation on Farms Utilizing Conventional Growing Methods in the Coastal Plain of Virginia

In North America strawberries (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) are one of the major high value crops. According to the national agriculture census data, in 2012 there were 313 farms growing strawberries on 290 acres in Virginia (USDA, 2012). In this study we tested ten commercially available June-bearing cultivars (‘Benicia’, ‘Camarosa’, ‘Camino Real’, ‘Chandler’, ‘Festival’, ‘Flavorfest’, ‘Radiance’, ‘Treasure’, ‘Sweet Charlie’, and ‘Winterstar’) and two day-neutral cultivars (‘Albion’ and ‘San Andreas’) for their suitability in Virginia production systems at three on-farm locations for yield performance, fruit quality, sweetness, vegetative growth, and fruit size. The highest total yields averaged across all three locations were ‘Benicia’, ‘Camino Real’, ‘Chandler’, and ‘Camarosa’. ‘San Andreas’ yields for the year may have exceeded the June bearing cultivars if it had been allowed to be carried over into fall season. ‘Flavorfest’, followed by ‘Sweet Charlie’, and ‘Albion’ produced the sweetest berries tested. In Westmoreland ‘Benicia’, ‘Camino Real’, ‘San Andreas’ and ‘Flavorfest’ were the cultivars with the largest average berry size. Based on this 1-year study ‘Camino Real’, ‘Benicia’, ‘Chandler’, and ‘Camarosa’ are the recommended June-bearing cultivars and ‘San Andreas’ the recommended day-neutral cultivar.