Strawberry Row Cover Trials

Weather INnovations Incorporated and OMAFRA collaborated on a strawberry row cover research project during winter 2009/2010. WIN provided the weather monitoring services. The original project involved three treatments: straw mulch, floating row cover and no cover. The yield and vigour of Albion strawberries was assessed for the following year. The research plot was situated in a commercial field in Delhi, Ontario.

The 2010/2011 winter season row cover research is being conducted in a commercial field in Simcoe, Ontario. Four treatments are being examined this winter: a single layer of floating row cover (removed early – March 15), a single layer of floating row cover (removed later – first bloom), a double layer of floating row cover and no cover. Each site is fully automated with an air temperature sensor (enclosed in a gill shield placed at crown height) and a soil temperature sensor (at a 10cm depth). The installation of a standard height (1.2m) air temperature sensor will characterize the winter, as well as the fluctuations between surface and air temperatures. Yield and vigour comparisons for the treatments will be examined once again during the 2011 growing season.

If you have any questions regarding this research trial or are interested in near real-time monitoring on your farm, please contact Wayne Heinen at wheinen@weatherinnovations.com or 289-241-6338

Figure 1: Note the insulating effects of snow cover as compared to air temperatures surrounding uncovered plants. The open treatment air temperatures remain significantly warmer than the standard 1.2m air temperature after a snowfall event on the night of Dec 5/6. This snowfall event was timed perfectly to protect the open treatment plants from a minimum temperature of -19.6°C on December 9th! The snow began to melt as temperatures increased on the 10th.