Jeanine Arana
Major Professor: Dr. Stephen Meyers
PhD DEFENSE SEMINAR
March 30th @ 2:00pm
Room: HORT 222
“Enhancing multi-year, June-Bearing plasticulture strawberry production in Indiana through mulch color and cultivar selection, weed management and strawberry runner suppression.”
Abstract: Multi-year plasticulture strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) production consists of establishing strawberries on plastic mulched beds and managing the same planting across multiple years to extend production beyond a single season. In Indiana, broader adoption of this system is constrained by uncertainty surrounding plastic mulch color and cultivar selection, row-middle weed management, and runner control. Therefore, three studies were conducted to (1) evaluate June-bearing strawberry cultivar performance under black and white plastic mulches in a two-year plasticulture system, (2) assess the effectiveness of cover crops for row middle weed suppression, and (3) determine the potential of herbicides napropamide and pendimethalin to suppress daughter plant rooting and facilitate runner removal. 1) A two-year study was conducted from 2022 to 2024 at northern and southern Indiana locations, where 15 June-bearing cultivars were grown on black or white plastic mulch. Across cultivars, black mulch increased total yield relative to white mulch and reduced summer runner biomass, but advanced flowering and increased susceptibility to spring frost and winter injury. ‘Flavorfest’ and ‘Chandler’ produced the highest yields at both locations, although ‘Chandler’ exhibited small fruit size in year two. ‘AC Valley Sunset’ had low survival, and early cultivars (‘Sweet Charlie’, ‘Sensation’) were highly frost-susceptible. 2) Row middle cover crop trials were conducted across four site-years to compare white clover (Trifolium repens), cereal rye (Secale cereale), and oats (Avena sativa) with a nontreated weedy control and straw mulch. Straw mulch provided season-long suppression but introduced wheat seed that emerged as volunteer weeds. White clover reduced late-spring weed canopy to 2–43% and reduced weed cover to <1% in the summer. Cereal rye provided excellent season-long weed suppression both as a living mulch and after termination, maintaining weed canopy below 24% in the fall and below 2% in the summer. Oats suppressed weeds in fall and early spring (<15%) but provided no summer weed control. Strawberry yields did not differ among treatments. 3) Greenhouse studies evaluated napropamide (4.5 kg ai ha⁻¹) and pendimethalin (0.8 kg ai ha⁻¹) applied as simulated broadcast, in-row, or row-middle treatments, and were compared to a nontreated control. Napropamide caused foliar injury on the mother plant but did not affect its biomass. At 4 WAT, napropamide reduced daughter plant new growth by 59–68%, eliminated pull force (0 N vs. 10 N in the nontreated), and reduced belowground biomass by >95%. Suppression diminished by 8 WAT except in the broadcast treatment. Pendimethalin did not affect mother or daughter plants under any application method. Collectively, these studies provide region-specific, research-based recommendations for plastic mulch color and cultivar selection, row middle weed suppression, and runner control to improve the productivity and sustainability of multi-year plasticulture strawberry systems in Indiana.