November 2023 - 74

STRAWBERRIES
Midwestern strawberry growers have a
number of production systems to choose
from, including in protected high tunnels.
Photos courtesy of Wenjing Guan.
StrawberryOPTIONS
Plasticulture, matted-row production
BY WENJING GUAN
CLINICAL & ENGAGEMENT ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR,
EXTENSION SPECIALIST, PURDUE UNIVERSITY
W
hen I started my job as an Extension specialist
at Purdue eight years ago, strawberries were
mainly grown as a perennial crop in a mattedrow
production system in orchards and u-pick farms.
Despite strawberries being mostly grown in the
matted-row system back then, farmers became curious
about plasticulture production systems. Plasticulture
has advantages compared to the matted-row system,
particularly in controlling weeds. Still, it is difficult for
strawberry plants to reach the desirable size in the
short-fall conditions in the region to achieve optimal
yield in the following spring.
Use of plasticulture was low in Indiana, but that has
been changing, partly because of increased research
and outreach activities. More importantly, after
years of exploration, farmers adjusted the system to
make it more suitable for temperate regions. Unlike
the production system used in the southern states,
satisfactory yields are more likely when plugs are
planted in July or August in Indiana. Nurseries now
sell strawberry plug plants in July and August to meet
Midwest growers' needs.
Farmers are also planting bare-root plants on white
plastic or growing transplants from bare roots to
establish the crops in the summer. Even though this
requires more labor than planting plugs, they extend
74 | NOVEMBER 2023
the planting window and overcome the limitation of
plug availability.
Aiming for a two-year production system rather than
an annual one makes the system more economically
feasible. Runner management and weed control after
the first year's harvest can be overwhelming.
Unheated high tunnels and low-tech hoop houses
or caterpillar tunnels are widely used among smallscale
diversified farms. Using the plasticulture system
in growing early-ripening, June-bearing strawberry
cultivars extends strawberry harvest to the middle of April
in southern and central Indiana, 2-6 weeks earlier than
open-field growing, depending on production systems.
The early-season strawberry provides significant
market advantages to farms with spring markets.
In addition, the crop brings ecological benefits to
diversified farms. Strawberries are suitable for growing
in low-tech hoop houses or caterpillar tunnels. They
are cold-hardy to survive in unheated hoop houses in
the winter. Spring frost damage often can be avoided
when floating row covers are used inside the tunnels.
The protected culture also reduces fungicide application
as foliar disease pressure, such as botrytis fruit rot, is
much lower than open-field production.
Nevertheless, strawberries are more sensitive to
high soil salinity and pH than crops typically grown in
protected culture. Thus, the system may not work for
soils covered and heavily fed for extended years. The
crop has a longer cropping season than other vegetable
crops grown at small farms. As a result, the economic
value of strawberries grown in protected structures
November 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2023
