‘Strawberry Festival’ Strawberry

Authors

C. K. Chandler, Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, University of Florida
D. E. Legard, Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, University of Florida
David Dunigan, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
T. E. Crocker, University of Florida, Gainesville
C. A. Sims, University of Florida, Gainesville

Date of this Version

12-2000

Comments

Published in HortScience, Vol. 35(7), December 2000. Copyright © 2000. Used by permission.

Abstract

Most of the strawberries (Fragaria xananassa Duchesne) produced in Florida are shipped fresh to locations throughout the eastern United States and Canada (Florida Agricultural Statistics [www.nass.usda.gov/ fl]). Therefore, Florida growers need cultivars that produce fruit that are attractive and flavorful, and maintain these qualities during and after long-distance shipment. 'Strawberry Festival' strawberry has produced commercially acceptable yields of firm, attractive, and flavorful fruit in trials at the Univ. of Florida's Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Dover (GCREC-Dover) and in two commercial fields in west central Florida. It is recommended for trial in areas where strawberries are grown in the annual hill plasticulture system. The clone was named ‘Strawberry Festival’ in recognition of the Florida Strawberry Festival, an annual festival in Plant City that celebrates the abundant crop of berries harvested in eastern Hillsborough County during late February and early March.