How to Break Strawberry Dormancy? A Detailed Guide to Practical Methods
When growing strawberries, the plants go through many stages. In winter, to adapt to the low-temperature environment, strawberry plants gradually enter dormancy and begin overwintering. To advance the flowering and fruiting time of strawberries, many fruit growers want to artificially break the dormancy period of strawberries. So when we grow strawberries, how do we break the dormancy period of strawberries? Below, the editor will give you a brief introduction. Let's take a look!
1. Insulate early
During the strawberry planting process, because varieties differ, the depth of dormancy also varies. For example, for strawberry varieties with shallow dormancy such as Fengxiang and Nyoho, the method of insulating early can be used to break dormancy. By lacking the low-temperature factor, the strawberries cannot enter dormancy, achieving the goal of early fruiting and high yield. If planting in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the first film-mulching insulation work should be carried out in late October. When starting to cover with film, the temperature should be kept at around 30 degrees for the first three days, then gradually lowered to around 25 degrees, and the humidity controlled at around 50%.
2. Increase light
As with low temperature, too short a light duration is also a main factor causing strawberries to enter dormancy. Therefore, increasing light duration is also a main method to prevent strawberries from entering dormancy and to break strawberry dormancy. Strawberries are relatively sensitive to light, and even if the light intensity is not high, they will show a certain response. When growing strawberries, we can use electric supplementary lighting to extend the daily light duration and ensure that strawberries can receive sufficient light every day. Generally, the increased light duration to break strawberry dormancy should be around December.
3. Gibberellin
Gibberellin can effectively regulate the hormone levels in most plants. It can physiologically inhibit strawberries from entering dormancy. For some deeply dormant varieties, a high-temperature and high-humidity growing environment should generally be provided in advance. Then, within half a month after the first insulation, spray gibberellin about twice, roughly once a week. This can effectively break the dormancy period of strawberry plants. However, when using gibberellin, pay attention to maintaining a high-temperature environment, otherwise the efficacy will be affected. Therefore, about three days after spraying gibberellin, the temperature should be kept at around 30 degrees.
4. Plant refrigeration
Refrigerating strawberry plants means artificially creating a low-temperature environment for strawberries to meet the low-temperature requirements of strawberry varieties. This allows strawberries to break dormancy naturally. Under natural conditions, the low temperature for breaking dormancy should be around minus 2 degrees to 10 degrees. It is best to keep it at around 3-5 degrees. If it is below minus 3 degrees, the plants will suffer cold damage. Refrigeration treatment is generally carried out in November each year. According to the temperature requirements of the variety, after the natural dormancy period has passed, the strawberry plants are then transplanted into greenhouses for growing.
The above is a brief introduction to how to break strawberry dormancy. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only, and I hope it can be helpful to everyone!