Improved Sustainability through Novel Water Management Strategies for Strawberry Transplant Establishment in Florida, United States

Agronomy

Bielinski M. Santos²  Craig D. Stanley²  Alicia J. Whidden¹  Teresa P. Salame-Donoso²  Vance M. Whitaker²  Ixchel M. Hernandez-Ochoa²  Pei-Wen Huang² 

[1] Hillsborough County Extension, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, 5339 County Road 579, Seffner, FL 33583, USA; E-Mail:;Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, 14625 CR 672, Wimauma, FL 33598, USA; E-Mails:

关键词: Fragaria × ananassa;    freeze protection;    sprinkler irrigation;    best management practices;    cold weather;    kaolin clay;    plug transplants;   

DOI  :  10.3390/agronomy2040312

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Establishing bare-root transplants in Florida, United States, is an inefficient water-consuming activity. Between 3500 and 5500 m³/ha are applied with sprinkler irrigation to lower temperatures around the transplant crown and aid early root development, but more than 97% of the water volume runs off the polyethylene-covered beds. Research has been conducted to evaluate the feasibility of producing containerized (plug) short-day cultivar transplants under Florida conditions, the effect of continuous and intermittent low-volume sprinklers on transplant establishment and the use of kaolin clay to reduce stress on young transplants. Research results demonstrated that growers may have alternatives to reduce water use and pumping costs during strawberry transplant establishment by the following: (a) plug transplants can be produced from mother plants from Florida’s subtropical weather without chilling conditioning and still be competitive in the winter market; (b) using continuous and intermittent low-volume sprinkler irrigation saves between 16% and 33% of the water volumes for strawberry establishment; and (c) using kaolin clay showed to be a low-cost (US$63/ha plus application costs) investment to reduce irrigation volumes by at least 30%.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.