Interactive Effect of Planting Date and Cultivar Over Time on Growth, Yield and Quality of Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) in Bangladesh

Abstract

The interactive effect were studied of four planting dates (1 September, 1 October, 1 November and 1 December) and five promising strawberry cultivars (Sweet Charlie, Festival, Camarosa, FA 008 and BARI strawberry-1) over two years from winter 2009/2010 to 2010/2011 under subtropical climatic conditions in Bangladesh. Among the interactions, the cultivar Camarosa planted on 1 September exhibited the tallest plants followed by Festival planted on the same date, while plants of BARI Strawberry-1 were the shortest when planted on 1 December irrespective of the planting year. Regardless of planting year, the highest number of leaves per plant was obtained on Festival followed by Camarosa when planted on 1 September, while plants of FA 008 produced the lowest number of leaves per plant when planted on 1 December. Plants of Festival planted on 1 September exhibited the maximum mortality percentage followed by Camarosa and Sweet Charlie planted on the same date in 2009 and 2010. On the other hand, plants of BARI Strawberry-1 planted on 1 December in 2009 and 2010 exhibited only 3 and 5% plant mortality, respectively. Among the cultivars studied, Sweet Charlie planted on 1 October produced the highest yield (16.8 t.ha-1) in 2009/2010 and 16.7 t.ha-1 in 2010/2011, while BARI Strawberry-1 planted on 1 December produced the lowest yields (2.4 and 2.2 t.ha-1 in 2009/2010 and 2010/2011, respectively. The total soluble solids (TSS) and ascorbic acid contents of fruits were highly influenced by the interaction effect of planting date and cultivar and regardless of cultivar and year, fruits from early plantings contained more TSS and ascorbic acid than from late plantings in both years.