The objective of this work was to compare the strawberry (Fragaria x ananassaDuch.) fruit and runner tips production in function of three types of cropping systems (conventional soil, NFT hydroponics, and vertical bags with carbonized rice straw as substrate) under protected cultivation. The cultivar used was 'Campinas IAC-2712'. The experiment was done in a greenhouse during the period from June 2000 to February 2001, at Agronomy Experimental Station of Jundiai (latitude - 23:06'S, longitude - 46:55'W, mean altitude -715 m, and climate Cwa), Agronomic Institute, following the statistical experimental design of split plot model with three replications as blocks. Two compositions of the nutrient solutions were used for the two hydroponics systems according to the plant vegetative and fruiting stages, respectively. The results allowed to conclude that in the vertical system, although the fruit and runner tips productions per plant were lower than the other systems, there is a possibility to increase the internal space of a protected environment. This would promote increase in the production per area and also give better crop management including transplanting, cleaning and harvesting of fruits and runner tips. These advantages also apply to the NFT hydroponics system despite it did presented any difference in production compared to the conventional soil cropping system.
Fragaria x ananassa Duch.; substrate; hydroponics; fruit quality; mineral nutrition
