How to achieve optimal strawberry ripening?

Los strawberries they belong to the family Rosaceae and gender Fragaria. While the strawberry is a wild plant that grows in forests, gardens and orchards, the strawberry It was born in the 18th century as a hybrid created by French botanists. The strawberry is smaller and less intensely colored, and is also white inside, while the strawberry, on the other hand, has the red color also inside. Regarding taste differences, the strawberry has a sweeter taste, while the strawberry is more acidic. Among their properties, both fruits are rich in water, fructose, glucose and xylitol, but above all, they stand out for their great content of polyphenols, natural antioxidants, especially vitamin C. Once this brief review has been made and the differences between both fruits have been nuanced, in the present Cultinews We will refer to the cultivation of strawberries in particular.

 

Spain is the third largest producer worldwide of strawberries, behind China and the United States, with a total of 344.679 tons in just over 7.000 hectares (Statistics Yearbook 2019. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food), and the largest exporter worldwide, supplying mainly the European Union.

 

The economic importance of this crop has led to a high degree of perfection in it, both at the genetic and production management level as well as at the post-harvest level. We have already discussed some related topics in Cultinews previous ones, specifically the mitigation of post-transplant stress and the rot control and post-harvest life management. At present Cultinews We will focus precisely on the productive management and, more specifically, in the fruit ripening.

 

 

From an agronomic point of view, strawberry cultivars can be classified into three groups: reblooming or long day, non-reflowering or short day, and remontant or day-neutral. Flowering in the first two cases is induced by a certain photoperiod, while this factor does not intervene in the third. In any case, it is not only the photoperiod that influences it, but also the temperatures or hours of cold that supports the plant.

 

The varieties usually grown in Huelva are non-reflowering types., mainly due to mild winter temperatures, which promote almost uninterrupted vegetative activity throughout the year. In this case, the limiting factor for growth is high summer temperatures.

 

the needs of cold hours, with temperatures below 7ºC, for a good vegetative development and fruiting later, are not satisfied in the climatic conditions of Huelva. This forces the plants to develop at high latitudes, so that once the amount of cold necessary for each cultivar has accumulated, these plants are moved to the Huelva coast to fruit and produce. An accumulation of hours of insufficient cold causes a weak development of the plants, which give soft fruits and short commercial life. A excess accumulated cold, on the other hand, gives rise to lower productions, a large vegetative growth and the appearance of premature stolons.

 

After the first flowering and once the plant begins to bear fruit, temperatures below 12°C are detrimental to proper fruit ripening, also leading to deformed fruit. The optimal temperature for producing quality strawberries is between 14 and 21ºC.Above this range, the fruit ripens and colors very quickly, preventing it from reaching a commercially suitable size.

 

Regarding photoperiodTo ensure proper ripening of the fruit, the plants must have between 8 and 10 hours of light per day, or even more. This is because the strawberry is a plant that continuously mobilizes sugars, therefore requiring energy from sunlight to trigger the entire complex mechanism of photosynthesis.

From the technical department of Cultivator, we recommend weekly applications of BVC EVOLUTION (formerly BVC 2021) and FERKOLOR during the fruit ripening period, as long as the conditions are adequate.

 

• BVC EVOLUTION (Before BVC 2021) It is a combination of seaweed, amino acids, nitrogen and reducing sugars, which promotes the start of physiological activity of the plant, stimulates the formation of leaves and flowers, delays leaf senescence, improves the quality of the fruits and advances ripening. It is a powerful metabolic activator of the plant, even when conditions are adverse. And now its formula has been improved by the CULTITEK Activating Biotechnology, further reinforcing its effect on the chlorophyll biosynthesis and photosynthetic activity.
• FERKOLOR It is a liquid formulation of potassium, calcium, boron and nitrogen that promotes the formation of Fruits with greater size, color, firmness and quality. It helps the fruits to ripen in a uniform and staggered, improving sugar accumulation and preventing blossom end rot and softening of the fruit.

Now, when the temperature and photoperiod conditions are not those described in previous paragraphs, as may happen for example in Winter days or cloudy days, these being shorter, with fewer hours of light and colder, the fruit will ripen more slowly, sometimes even with difficulty reaching the optimal commercial color. In this case, the recommendation to apply BVC EVOLUTION It would be almost an imperative, being done jointly with FASKOLOR. This product is a liquid formulation with potassium, organic acids and selected peptide complexes to accelerate the synthesis of anthocyanins, thus improving the color, quality, and post-harvest life of the fruit. In this case, as we say, its application becomes essential when the days are shorter, with fewer hours of light and colder, achieving a final "push" to the ripening of the fruits. It is also recommended to apply when the plant is suffering from a high productive load which causes the most advanced fruits not to finish ripening correctly.