Block-container system for growing strawberry planting material in greenhouses

Abstract

Abstract The study aims to develop an effective technological scheme for growing high quality strawberry planting material in a greenhouse, while minimizing the application of growth substrates. Mother plants of Darselect, Asia, Florence, Kimberly, Alba varieties were planted in peat-filled container blocks, which were placed on a special surface of technological tables on which trays with water were installed. The trays were previously covered with a thin water- and breathable synthetic material Agril (density of 17 g/m2), which prevented the stolons from immersing into water. The stolons grew from the mother plants, and rosettes rooted. The efficiency of the process depended on the number of stolons developing from the mother plants and the number of rosettes. Stolons with rosettes were isolated from the mother plants, while extracting the roots that penetrated into the synthetic material. Plants were planted in cassettes with peat and regularly watered using the finely-dispersed method. One week was enough for 100 % survival of plants. On 1 m2 greenhouse area, during the first year, 124.0–139.5 daughter plants were grown.