Production of

Strawberries in
Florida
Monica Cooper

Field Preparation

Clear all debris

Construct raised beds
Fumigate
2 weeks later, set transplants (15-16 in.)
Transplant selectionearly season yield
3 varieties/field
Sweet Charlie & Camarosa

Gulf Coast Research & Education

Center
Dover, FL

The Pathogens
Botrytis

cinerea
Colletotrichum acutatum
Colletotrichum gloeosporioides
Colletotrichum fragariae
Xanthomonas fragariae
Sphaerotheca macularis

Gray mold

Botrytis cinerea
Small, firm, light
brown spots
Fruit eventually
covered with gray
mass of mycelium
Invades blossoms,
then infects
maturing fruit
Postharvest

Management

Leaf sanitation & plant

spacing
Cultivars with smaller
calyxes
Partially resistant
cultivars
Biological controls
Treat transplants
Broad spectrum fungicide
on weekly basis
Iprodione during peak
bloom periods

Postharvest:

Avoid overripe or
damaged fruit
Avoid injury
Cool fruit
Maintain in CO2
rich atmosphere

Anthracnose fruit rot

Colletotrichum
acutatum
Round, firm, sunken
lesions on fruit
Pink, orange, salmoncolored spore masses
Favored by warm
temperatures & rainfall
May cause serious
losses in nursery

Management practices
Avoidance
Resistance
Use

minimal amounts of Nitrogen

Remove infected fruit from field
Captan or Thiram (protectant)
Quadris (azoxystrobin)

Anthracnose crown rot

Colletotrichum
gloeosporioides
Colletotrichum fragariae
Wilting & death
Temperature dependent
Warm weather &
frequent rainfall
Reddish brown rot or
streaking in the tissue of
the crown

Management

Preventative
End of season
removal of
inoculum
Resistant cultivars
Benlate (benomyl)
Topsin M
(thiophanatemethyl)

Angular leaf

spot

Xanthomonas
fragariae
Angular, water
soaked leaf spots
Translucent lesions
Very resistant to
desiccation
May become
systemic

Angular leaf spot

Prevention
No

resistant commercial cultivars

Copper containing bactericides

Sphaerotheca macularis

Powdery mildew
White, web-like
growth
Undersides of
leaves
Cool
High humidity
Severe in
glasshouses &
tunnels

Management

Clean stock
Destroy leaves on
which pathogen
overseasons
Protectant
fungicide
Resistant varieties
(Sweet Charlie)

The Arthropod Pests

Twospotted

spider mite
Armyworms
Thrips
Field cricket
Sap beetle

Tetranychus urticae

88% of growers
Warm, spring
weather
Reduce yield
Blooms and
developing fruit

Spider mite

Clean transplants
Beneficial mites
(30% of growers)
Miticides

undersides of
leaves

Fall & Southern

Armyworms

Spodoptera
fruqiperda
Spodoptera
eridania
Larvae feed on
fruit & leaves
Prefer young,
developing leaves
Nocturnal

Management practices
MonitoringSept.

through Dec.
Bacillus thuringiensis
Methomyl

Flower thrips

Frankliniella
cephalica
Wind-borne
Rasp flowers
Mistaken for
powdery mildew,
spray burn
damage

Field cricket

Gryllus firmus &

G. rubens
2-5 months after
beds covered
Nymphs & adults
feed on crowns &
scrape seeds from
green fruits

Scouting
Insecticides

Sap beetle

Lobiopa insularis
Minor concern
Overripe,
damaged berries
Disseminate fruit
rot pathogens
Warm weather

Management
Maintain

sound fruit
Dont leave overripe fruit in field
Harvest all areas of field
Scout
Insecticides, only in case of
population explosion

Beneficial Arthropods
Predaceous

mite
Sixspotted thrips
Lady beetle larva
Minute pirate bug larva
Hover fly

Phytoseiulus persimilis

Orange, shiny
Faster than spider
mites
Specialized
predator of
webspinning
spider mites
Careful in choice
of insecticides

Sixspotted thrips

Feeds on mites,
other small
arthropods
3 dark spots on
each forewing

Minute pirate bug larva

Orius insidiosus
Thrips, mites,
mite eggs, aphids

Hover fly

Flower fly, syrphid

fly
Mistaken for fruit
fly
Distinguished by
ability to hover &
fly backwards
Adultpollinators
Larvaepredaceous
on aphid

Insecticides & Miticides

Methyl bromide
Methomyl (Lannate)

Armyworm
65-80% acreage
3-5.2 times/season

Vendex
Mite
31-61% acreage
1.7-4.8 times/season

Mite
68-83% of acreage
2.5-3.4 times/season

Diazinon

Fenbutatin-oxide

Abamectin (Agri-Mek)

Armyworm
24-35% of acreage
2.5-3.4 times/season

Naled (Dibrom)

15% acreage
2.2-3.1 times/season

More chemicals
Carbaryl

(Sevin)

11% of acreage
2.6 times/season

Bacillus

thuringiensis

When populations of worms low

57-65% of acreage
4.2-5.2 times/season

Weeds

Several grasses &

broadleaf weeds
Managed mainly
by fumigation &
plastic mulch
Weeds problem in:

Row middles
Planting holes
Perimeter of field

Nutsedge:

Most troublesome
Not managed by
plastic mulch

Weed management

Cultivation of row middles

Hand weeding
Plastic mulches
Cover crops, sods, living mulches
Fallowing
Herbicides

Applied to row middles

Rotate herbicides due to changing weed population
over 6-7 month season

Herbicides

Paraquat (Gramoxone)

Postemergence
Annual broadleaf & grasses
Top kill of perennials
Non-selective, need shield to protect berries
82-98% of acreage, 1.7-1.9 applications/season

Napropamide (Devrinol)

Annual grasses & broadleaf weeds

Not effective on established weeds
Not from bloom to harvest
25% of acreage, 1.23 applications/season

Nematodes

Sting

Root knot

Belonolaimus
longicaudatus
Meloidogyne spp.

Foliar

Aphelenchoides
sp.

Make plants more

susceptible to:

Drought
Salt damage
Other pathogens

Fusarium sp.
Pythium sp.

Sting nematode

Ectoparasite
Most damaging:

Nurseries
Transplants

Sandy soil
25-30oC

Symptoms:

Well defined borders

Dead transplants
Stunting, decline,
dormancy
Browning of leaf edges

On roots:

Overall, coarse
appearance
Tips injured
No new growth
Lack of feeder roots

Nematodes

Sampling

At end of growing
season
When soil damp, not
soggy or dry
10-20 samples at
depth of 6-10 inches

Management
practices:

Preplant or
postharvest

Clean stock
Destroy crop at
end of season
Fallowing with
frequent tillage
Cover crop
Crop rotation
Chemicalmost
common

Methyl bromide

January 1, 2005
Soil fumigant
Controls

Weeds
Nematodes
soil-borne pathogens
& insects

Telone C-17 or C-35

with Devrinol
Telone EC
Mulches, cover crops

Tunnel system

Decrease disease
Increase early
season yields
Where water is
limiting factor
Sweet Charlie