Field Performance of Strawberry (Fragaria x ananasa Duch) Varieties ‘Sweet Charlie’ and ‘Festival’ Grown from Different Sub-Cultured Tissue Culture Meristem in La Trinidad, Benguet

Abstract

The field performance of two strawberry (Fragaria x ananasa Duch) varieties ‘Sweet Charlie’ and ‘Festival’ were investigated using various sub-cultured tissue culture meristem grown in La Trinidad, Benguet condition. ‘Sweet Charlie’ plants from sub-culture (S) 2 to 8 were the earliest to produce its first harvestable fruits from transplanting. Longer days were needed by plants from S9 and S10 in terms of days from transplanting to flowering and from flowering to fruit set. Longest fruit were observed from plants in S10, while comparative equational diameter were observed from various sub-cultures of ‘Sweet Charlie’, except S9 which was observed to have smaller diameter. Sweetest fruits were gathered from plants in S2. In ‘Festival’ variety, plants from S3, S5 and S6 were the earliest to produce the first harvestable fruits from fruit set. Longer fruits were observed from S2-S5 and S8, while the sweetest fruits were taken in plants from S10, comparable to S3 to S9. In terms of yield, fruits from S3 had the highest marketable yield, comparable to that from S4, S5, and S8. Non-marketable yield was also highest in plants from S3, comparable to that from S5, S7, and S9.