@article{palmer_hernández_hoffmann_2026, title={Impact of Strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) Daughter Plant Size on Yield of cv. Camarosa and cv. Cabrillo in Annual Hill Plasticulture}, volume={2}, DOI={10.21273/hortsci19197-25}, abstractNote={The North American strawberry ( Fragaria × ananassa ) nursery industry primarily produces plants in outdoor fields and faces multiple challenges such as unstable climate, labor issues, and disease pressure. A potential solution is to supplement outdoor production with rooted daughter plants from controlled environment nurseries. However, to maximize output in such systems, most daughter plants developing along the stolon must be used, which results in a broader range of plant sizes compared with those produced in conventional open-field nurseries. Strawberry daughter plants of varying size of one short-day (SD) strawberry cultivar (Camarosa) and one everbearing (EB) cultivar (Cabrillo) were harvested from mother plants in a controlled environment raised gutter system. The crown diameter was measured for all rooted plants with a range of 2.3 to 11.9 mm, and then transplanted into an annual hill plasticulture system in Oct 2022 (Year 1) and 2023 (Year 2). Crown diameter of the plants was monitored over winter until fruit collection began in April. Yield (marketable and unmarketable) was recorded for each plant twice a week until early June. Across both years, the initial crown diameter and fresh mass of the daughter plants had a significant impact on transplant size at the time of transplanting in fall; however, crown diameter and fresh mass of the plants were nonsignificant at time of harvest in spring. Consequently, no significant effects of initial plant size (crown diameter) on yield or fruit size were observed in SD ‘Camarosa’ or EB ‘Cabrillo’. There was a minor effect of initial plant fresh mass on yield of SD ‘Camarosa’, with each additional 1 g of daughter plant fresh mass translating to 9 to 26 g of fruit yield, depending on season. The results from this study suggest that daughter plants of both SD and EB strawberry cultivars with a wide range of sizes can be rooted as 50-cm 3 plug plants and transplanted in fall into a spring production system with minimal to no impact on yield.}, journal={HortScience}, author={Palmer, Michael G. and Hernández, Ricardo and Hoffmann, Mark}, year={2026}, month={Feb} }