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Strawberry Plasticulture – September 3,
2003
Vol 4, No. 41 September 3, 2003 (1:30 pm)
UPDATE FROM THE ROAD
* web version available tonight with color photos on web site:
http://intra.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/berrydoc/
** Carl Cantaluppi, NCCES Agent, Granville Co., is assisting me today
by getting some additional literature mailed out on fresh dug planting
details out to agents across the state
A. Critical analysis of the
situation.
The current situation with plant material coming in from Ontario
is so alarming that many farmers may think it best not to plant at
all.
Others understand that they have a very important market to serve,
and it simply does not work to have a "strawberry leap year".
In a crisis, it is important to be ready to make some significant changes
from your past routines. The biggest hurdle for many farmers at the
moment is trying to swallow the idea of planting fresh dug bare-root
plants. They require hand-setting, and volumes and volumes of water
for successful establishment. Because many growers in piedmont NC and
VA have no familiarity with fresh dugs, the NCCES (and, possibly in
conjunction with VA-Tech) is currently planning several on-farm demonstrations
in the third week of September, and we are hopefully doing one in Virginia
as well. By late this afternoon, I hope to have gathered further information
on the plug situation at Aarons Creek Farms, Buffalo Creek, VA (should
be there around 6 pm). Many growers called yesterday who are strongly
interested in still trying to make a go of it with the plugs from this
supplier. You will recall from our last advisory though that Gregg
Gordon (Aarons Creek Farms) is not very optimistic about these plants,
and that is why he is recommending fresh dugs. I have personally worked
through some difficult batches of plugs diagnosed with anthracnose
last year at Clayton Central Crops, and the use of Quadris and Captan
as well as Cabrio and Captan, was key to making a go of it with these
plants (we had a pretty reasonable yield as well, but planting date
was the most critical factor). HOWEVER, if the plugs at Aarons Creek
appear to be too far gone today, then it will be important to “mobilize” and
get ready to plant fresh dugs!
B. Planning for a fresh dug planting.
-1. Planting date fresh dugs must be set about 5 days ahead of plugs
to reach the same end point in terms of yield potential. However,
I am somewhat concerned about the situation in NJ, OH, IL and other
northern
states where growers are scrambling at this moment to get fresh dugs
shipped in for planting in mid-September. One of the reasons that
plugs completely replaced the fresh dugs in northern states is related
to
the fact that it is generally not a good idea to dig the nursery
fields in early September. The “goodies” have not still t fully
developed inside the fresh dug crowns in early September - - digging
this early is disruptive to the floral development process taking place.
In North Carolina and further south where planting dates are towards
the end of September and October, the fresh dugs develop and optimum
number of early flowers before digging. With such little experience
with fresh dugs in northern areas, my advice would be for growers in
these areas to not become too “stressed” over the idea
of trying to set fresh dugs 5 days ahead of plugs. Reason: you can
dig a fresh dug too early. The earliest I would suggest digging a
Canadian nursery would be around the 12th of September, so that growers
in NJ,
Ohio, and Illinois can start planting from 15-Sep to 18-Sep.
-2. Handling and cooling - There are critical differences in handling
and cooling fresh dugs compared to plugs, and one of the biggest
issues is finding some cooling capacity for several days to a week.
One of
the main reasons many growers wish to stick with plugs is related
to the fact that they don’t have access to enough labor for manual
planting. The more limited you are in labor resources, the longer you
will need to keep fresh dugs cooled. In speaking with John Gross (Sandhills,
NC) yesterday, John felt that it is very beneficial to have access
to 12-15 workers so that you can get 2 acres set without much problem
in one morning's time. It is good to have teams of 3 workers as one
person will serve to drop the plants for the other 2 planters. Freshly
dug plants can be stored in a cold room at 40 F for one to two days
before setting. Storing plants for a more extended period can make
the plants more difficult to establish. They can be held up to one
week, but the temperature must be around 36 F. Plants in nursery boxes
or crates are packed tightly enough to make them prone to what is called
a ‘heat’ during shipment, making them unfit for subsequent
planting in the field -- this is usually not a problem if the plants
were cooled before shipment and kept cool in transit. If you are in
a ‘crisis’ for fresh plant storage consider working with
another grower in your region. If the weather is especially hot during
planting it may be necessary to run water through the crates to keep
them cool.
Fig. 1. At the farm of John Gross, Oct. 1 2002, this photo gives
you and idea of the box size from Ghesquiere Farms. Boxes holding
500 plants
each. A grower with 6 acres would need to arrange for storage of
around 180 boxes (90,000 plants). This type of cooler space is not
easily
found in some areas and it may be a very good idea for local growers
to have plants shipped to a larger produce operation in their area
that has cooling.
Technique for transplanting Extension Demos in 3rd week of Sept. This morning I was contacted by Kathryn Holmes, Rockingham County,
to discuss
some dates for demonstrating the proper techniques for setting fresh
dug plants:
" Hi Barclay - I would like to set up the date for the bareroot demonstration
in Rockingham if possible. Terry Neal is very interested. He said
his plants are arriving the third week of September. He also asked me to
try and make it late afternoon instead of morning as he is still
doing tobacco. I said I would ask you. Ron Cottle told him he needed a different
water
wheel for bareroot. Yesterday he went
to Berry
Hill and he said the water wheel they were going to sell him was
the same he used for plugs and already owns. What do you think about
this?
I thought at Whitakers last year you used some kind of metal bars
to plant. Is this correct? If yes where do we need to get some of
these? How many people do you need to plant with bareroot? Please let me
know when you want the demonstration and I will move anything that
I have
then. I think this is real important! Kathryn"
Kathryn A Holmes, Agriculture Extension Agent
North Carolina State University
North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Rockingham County Center
Reply: Kathryn, I am planning one trip up to Virginia on Sept
15 or 16, and then I was thinking we could do the demo at Terry’s
on the afternoon of Sept. 17 at 2 pm (ROCKINGHAM CO., NC). I will
also
be confirming with Caswell County on a demo for Friday, Sept 19,
7 am.
Kathryn has asked a number of critical questions and I wish to address
each point. First, I’d like to share some important points
on planting and planting technique. The fresh-dug strawberry plant
is
hand-transplanted through the plastic mulch in 2 _ inch slits (Fig.
2) cut by specially constructed spacing wheels (Fig. 3).
Fig. 2. Slits cut in plastic mulch
Fig. 3. Spacing wheel ideal for
fresh dugs
Last October I was fortunate to get these “live” shots
of the spacing wheel in use at the farm of John Gross, Sanford (jtgross@alltel.net)
Fig. 4. Spacing wheel for fresh dugs (side-view)
Fig. 5. Another view of the spacing wheel and slits in the plastic
(14 inch in-row spacing; double-rows with offset spacing pattern).
At Faylene and Richard Whitaker’s farm in Climax, NC, they tried
to use a water wheel designed for plugs (Figs. 6-7). I personally do
not recommend this approach. I would prefer that the grower attempt
to borrow a true spacing wheel for fresh dugs or perhaps consider the
idea of building a spacing wheel from just a bicycle wheel. Keith Hill
in Smithfield pioneered this approach in NC, and yesterday Mitchell
Wrenn described to me on the phone how you can do this: 1) get some
_ in length carriage head bolts and every 14 inches (or 15 inches if
that is your spacing) push these bolts through the rubber tire so that
_ inch is protruding to prick a hole in the plastic 2) inflate the
inner tube, 3) attach a handle to the bike wheel, and 4) mark off the
holes on the plastic bed where your workers will set the fresh dug
plant using a specialized planting tool (Fig. 9). The photo in Fig.
8 shows a fresh dug plant grown in Ontario last year fresh dugs require
MUCH DEEPER SETTING than plugs.
Fig. 6. A water wheel for plug planting is not well designed for fresh
dug planting it cuts too large a planting hole and the depth is not
correct (too shallow). The larger rip in the plastic allows weeds to
easily move in and also the branch crowns get caught beneath the plastic
in the spring.
Figure 7. Another view of the water wheel (shown in Fig.
6)
Fig. 8. Fresh dug plants from Ontario in 2002 (John Gross Farms, Carhtage)
Fig.
9. An ideal depth implement for fresh dug plant roots used at John
Gross Farms (see Figs. 4 and 5).
Root trimming
Fig. 10. Roots are to be trimmed before planting to about
5 inches from the base of the crown (some will be 4 inches and others
as much as 6 inches as the crowns in the bundles are not lined up,
and it is not necessary to do so).
A good device for trimming roots is a hedging tool (this one is called
the Gator).
Fig. 11. The “Gator” hedging tool from Ace hardware
works great, and is far more effective than using a knife to more evenly
shorten the roots to 4-6 inches.
Planting-aid for setting fresh dugs manually
Fig. 12. An ideal planting tool for hand setting of fresh dugs in sandy
and loamy soil. I clay soil this tool is not recommended as it will
severe the roots at the point of contact.
Go to the Berry Agent advisory for more details on making this planting
tool in your farm shop. You will note that the tool shown in Fig. 12
is narrower and lighter than the one shown in this older advisory.
John Gross did not like the larger and heavier tool and modified it
as you see in Fig. 12. http://intra.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/berrydoc/sept30/index.htm
Planting-depth (section adapted from the new book by Norman Childers,
The Strawberry). Set the plants so that the midpoint of the crown is
level with the soil surface. If plants are set too deep, the plants
are unthrifty and crowsn rot and plants die. Often plants may be set
at the right depth, but aeither be in a small depression or have soil
ridged around th3e crown. When irrigation is started to establish plants,
the depression can fill and bury the crown or the ridge may erode and
expose the roots. A firm plant bed will assist in preventing the bed
from settling or eroding.
Fig. 13. Carefully “sliding” the fresh dug plant roots
straight down into the soil.
Fig. 14. The plant is almost deep enough (see Fig. 15).
Fig. 15. After setting the plant to this depth it is a good suggestion
to instruct the workers to firmly hold the base of the plant as the
other hand slides the tool out this keeps the crown at the right
depth. Unfortunately, this photo does not illustrate the placement
of the workers right hand fingers around the base of the plant.
Report from Debby Wechsler on Plant Supplies:
Plant Supply Update
The NC Strawberry Association contacted plant suppliers via email and
invited them to provide an update on plant availability. The following
responses were received as of September 1, 2003.The list below is in
reverse alphabetical order.
Triple J Nursery has about 50,000 Chandler and about 10,000 Camarosa
plugs available as early as Sept. 10. Another 40,000 Chandler and 10,000
Camarosa plugs will be available Oct. 1. The tip source is Westech
Agr. at PEI brokered through Cottle Strawberry Nursery. Jimmy Witt,
205-429-5237.
Shingleton Farms is currently booked on a safe estimate of all our
bareroots except Bish. The Bish plants look nice and a limited supply
is still available. Our limited supply of certified tips and plugs
are booked. Tommy Shingleton, 252-236-5187.
Lewis Nursery has California timmed Camarosa and Chandler available
as well as Canadian “green top” plants. For other requests,
contact Sam Harrell at 910-675-2394.
Jersey Asparagus Farms is sold out for the year.
Fresh-Pick Produce is currently taking orders for Chandler, Camarosa,
and Sweet Charlie plug plants. For availability contact Jim Warenda
at 252-237-1260.
Cottle Nursery has Chandler bareroots available for after Oct. 5th
and has some Chandler and Camarosa tips for sale, but not before Sept.
15th.
B & H Nursery still has approx. 25,000 Camarosa transplants fresh-dugs
for sale. We may have a few thousand Chandler and Bish available after
we finish digging and sorting but can’t guarantee plants at this
date. Call 336-982-8155 or 9585.
Next update will be on September 4, and will include more details on
fresh dug irrigation as well as other relevant topics for successful
planting and establishment of fresh dugs.
E. Barclay Poling, Small Fruit Specialist
Campus Box 7609
Kilgore Hall - Office 252
NC State University
Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7609
919.515.1195
919.515.2505 (fax)
919.418.9687 (mobile)
web site:
http://intra.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/berrydoc/
click HERE
to return to strawberry advisories page
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