Culture systems in the production and quality of strawberry cultivars

Until recently, strawberry cultivation was exclusively performed in soil using conventional cultivation methods, which resulted in many environmental and phytosanitary problems. Currently, soilless culture is the production method advocated for environmental reasons because it greatly reduces the use of chemical pesticide and fungicide inputs. This study assessed the yield and quality of fruits from strawberry cultivars grown in two systems (soil and substrate) in a greenhouse. The experiment was performed from September 2010 to January 2011 in the University of Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul State. Treatments (cultivars x culture systems) were arranged in a random block design with a 7 x 2 factorial arrangement. Evaluation included number, total and commercial fresh weight of fruits per plant, transversal diameter, total titratable acidity (TTA), total soluble solids (TSS), TSS/TTA ratio and the pH of fruits. The cultivars Camarosa, Florida Festival and Portola excelled in relation to yield when grown in the soil system. In substrate culture, all cultivars had similar performance. The yield was higher in soil culture, while the quality was higher in the substrate system.