The Latest Pineberry Planting Techniques and Method Tutorial

The pineberry is a strawberry variety, also known as the white strawberry. It is a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Fragaria in the Rosaceae family. Its appearance closely resembles that of a strawberry, with white flesh covered with red dots on the outside, and it shares the same genetic makeup as the strawberry. Because its flavor is surprisingly similar to that of pineapple, it is called the pineberry. It has extremely high edible value and cultivation value. Let us take a look together at the planting techniques for pineberries!

Growth Habits of the Pineberry

The pineberry was formed by hybridizing a strawberry that grows on Chiloe Island (Chile) with a strawberry that grows in the state of Virginia in North America. In 2003, Dutch fruit farmers brought it to Europe for commercial cultivation and sale, successfully opening up a market for it. It needs to be planted in a sunny, warm environment, and the soil must have good drainage. If planting it in the ground, level the ground smooth and sow when the temperature is suitable.

Site Selection and Bed Preparation for Pineberries

1. Site selection and fertilization: For the pineberry planting field, choose a field that has not grown strawberries for many years as the production field for greenhouse pineberries, and apply sufficient organic base fertilizer. About one month before planting, generally apply 1500-2000 kg of fully decomposed organic fertilizer per mu as base fertilizer, and plow and harrow multiple times.

2. Additional surface fertilizer: About 10 days before planting pineberries, choose clear weather and, when the soil has good workability, prepare the bed heads. Before building, additionally apply 50 kg of imported ternary compound fertilizer and 50 kg of superphosphate as surface fertilizer, and apply 10 kg of phoxim granules per mu to control underground pests such as white grubs.

3. Reasonable bed preparation: The pineberry beds run north-south (parallel to the greenhouse direction), with 7 beds per greenhouse. The middle 5 beds each have a bed surface width of 40-45 cm, with 2 rows planted per bed. The 2 beds on the sides each have a bed surface width of 15-20 cm, each ridge height is 30-35 cm, and the bed furrow depth is about 30-35 cm, with 1 row planted per bed.

Planting Techniques for Pineberries

1. Watering through and lifting seedlings: One day before digging up the seedlings, water the nursery plot thoroughly once to help keep the soil ball intact and minimize root damage, and plant in separate greenhouses according to seedling size. If nutrient-pot seedlings are used, simply remove the plastic pots when planting, and the survival rate will be higher.

2. Planting density: For greenhouse cultivation of pineberries, the plant spacing is about 20 cm, with 1800-2000 plants per greenhouse and 6000-7000 plants per mu. The planting depth must be moderate. The base of the new stem must be buried in the soil to facilitate new root growth, but the heart of the seedling (the part where the outer leaf stipules are located) must not be buried in the soil.

3. Oriented planting: To facilitate management, “oriented planting” is adopted, which can also reduce disease and improve fruit quality. The middle 5 beds each have 2 rows planted, placed as close to both sides as possible (with row spacing controlled at about 30 cm), and make sure the seedling crown of the pineberry seedling faces outward toward the bed when planting. The 2 beds on both sides of the greenhouse are planted in single rows.

4. Post-planting management: Immediately after planting pineberries, water to stabilize the roots. They survive in about 10 days. Along with weeding, loosen the soil between the plants and mound soil around the roots, and frequently remove dead, old and diseased leaves, and promptly fill in gaps with replacement seedlings.

Planting Management of Pineberries

1. Laying plastic mulch: Laying black plastic mulch can maintain soil moisture, inhibit weed growth, lower the air temperature inside the greenhouse, isolate strawberry fruit from contact with the soil to reduce disease, and keep the fruit brightly colored, clean and hygienic. The laying time is generally mid-to-late October. Cover the black plastic mulch over the plants on the bed surface, tear a small hole in the mulch where you feel a seedling, then carefully pull out the leaves. Be sure to expose the central leaves of the seedling, and press the surrounding old leaves on the mulch over the edges of the hole so that they cling tightly to the ground.

2. Temperature regulation: Pineberries have different temperature requirements at each stage of growth and development, and these should be met as much as possible after the greenhouse is warmed. Because greenhouse-cultivated pineberries bloom and bear fruit continuously and in overlapping cycles, after bud emergence generally maintain 24-28°C during the day and 6-8°C at night. Temperatures above 30°C or below 5°C are unfavorable for pineberry flowering and fruiting.

3. Humidity regulation: The air humidity inside the greenhouse is very high, especially from early morning to mid-morning or in rainy weather, when relative humidity can reach 95-100%, which hinders pollination, easily breeds disease, and causes severe gray mold rot of the fruit. Therefore, in addition to covering the beds and furrows with black plastic mulch, straw should also be spread at the bottom of the furrows to prevent water evaporation. Around 9 o'clock on sunny days, ventilation should be carried out on the leeward side with a single-sided skirt, reducing the humidity inside the greenhouse to below 75%.

4. Plant training: After insulation is applied in the greenhouse, pineberry plants grow faster and sprout large numbers of tillers and runners, which should be removed promptly. This can increase the leaf area of the main stem and promote timely sprouting of the terminal flower buds and the growth of robust terminal inflorescences, leading to early flowering and good fruiting. Generally, a strawberry plant retains at most 1-2 relatively robust tillers. Promptly remove old, declining and diseased leaves.

5. Applying gibberellin: This is generally done about 7 days after the greenhouse is covered with film (under clear weather conditions). The purpose of spraying gibberellin is mainly to address phenomena such as weak growth of pineberry plants, a creeping and dwarfed habit, smaller leaves, short petioles and short inflorescence stalks. Taking the “Toyonoka” variety as an example, the concentration is generally kept at about 7 PPM, and the amount used is 10-12 kg of solution per standard greenhouse. Spraying should be done on clear days. If the plant growth condition has not yet improved noticeably after spraying, spray once more at the bud emergence stage.

6. Reasonable topdressing: Greenhouse pineberry topdressing is generally applied 2-3 times from after planting and establishment until before and after covering with black plastic mulch. Each greenhouse (180 sq m) uses 1-1.5 kg of urea dissolved in about 500 kg of water for each application. After that, topdressing is mostly carried out as foliar feeding according to seedling vigor, spraying 20 kg of 0.5% concentration urea per mu.

7. Black flower prevention: Pineberries form black flowers after suffering low-temperature freeze damage. For example, flower buds 7-8 days before flowering can have their stamens damaged when exposed to a low temperature of minus 2°C, and pistils from 3 days before flowering to one week after flowering will also freeze and form black flowers when exposed to a low temperature of minus 2°C. Therefore, before severe cold arrives, prepare the inner layer of the greenhouse cover and small hoop houses, and strengthen insulation work. Keeping the minimum nighttime temperature inside the greenhouse at 3-5°C can effectively reduce the formation of black flowers.