Strawberry Overview

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Case Study

Background

Crop Tested: Strawberry

Loca�on, Date and Purpose of Trials:

Case 1: Watsonville, CA (2011) : To determine if Bio-

Flora® products could increase quality and quan ty in

a high salt soil.

Case 2: Oxnard, CA (2008 - 2009) : To determine if

there would be an increase in nutrient uptake by

adding Humega into a conven onal fer lizer pro-

gram.

Conductors: Case 1: Jack Parson, BioFlora® Sales Rep-

resenta ve Case 2: David Holden, Holden Research

and Consul ng

Produc�on: Strawberries are usually planted in

raised beds with drip tape buried underneath the

transplant. Con nued monoculture of conven onal

berry produc on has reduced soil fer lity and ecology

in strawberry fields.

This inert soil has created an environment that requires

high fer lizer inputs and very high fungicide and insec -

cide inputs.

Improving a fer lizer program will necessitate a visual

field examina on, iden fica on of deficiency symptoms

and plant and soil tes ng.

BioFlora® products are designed to increase soil fer lity

and to help restore beneficial soil biology. Some exam-

ples of this are recapped in the following case studies

(See Case 1 and Case 2).

Environment: Strawberries do well in areas where

they have some drying breeze every day. Though

they prefer cool, moist nights, excessive free mois-

ture or frequent rain on the fruit and leaves for long

periods of me makes them suscep ble to fungal

and bacterial diseases. Simultaneously, heavy wind

can be damaging to berry flowers and can rub leaves

against the fruit, causing chafing and bruising.

Soil: Berries prefer a well-drained, sandy-loam to

loamy-sand soil with good fer lity. These fruits are

somewhat sensi ve to salts in the water, and do

best where water is low in dissolved salts.

Above: Case 1: Control strawberry (le8) and BioFlora® straw-

berry (right) with stronger calyx and higher nutrient density.

BioFlora®

16121 W. Eddie Albert Way

Goodyear, AZ 85338

Phone: (623) 932-1522

www.bioflora.com

Case 1

Two side by side 10 acre plots were chosen for the

trial, both had a high salt content in the water and the

soil. The first 10 acre plot was the control field, which

used a conven onal fer lizer program. The second 10

acre plot was the BioFlora® field, which used a combi-

na on of Humega®, Fulmega™ 1% Mg, GOgreen® and

BioFlora Seaweed Creme® added to a conven onal

fer lizer program.

The BioFlora® field had: a reduced NPK input of 65%

over the control, produced slightly more berries over-

all, produced more berries sooner than the control

field, used very liFle fungicides or pes cides and had

fully formed fruit calyxes that did not deteriorate

quickly once harvested.

Le�: Case 2: Chart 1 depicts the number of

strawberries per plant on the date rated. The

BioFlora® test field exceeded the control

field on each test date.

On 12/2/08 the Grower Standard had 2.25,

BioFlora® had 2.98.

On 12/17/09 the Grower Standard had 3.55,

BioFlora® had 4.68.

On 12/23/09 the Grower Standard has 3.88,

BioFlora® had 4.75.

Strawberry Nutrient Study: Ini al Bloom and Fruit Set Over Time

Case 2

In this trial, Holden Research and Consul ng compared

a conven onal strawberry program with a conven on-

al program supplemented with Humega® over the span

of two years.

The results in the BioFlora® treated field showed an

increase of over 25% in ini al bloom and fruit set.

More crown sets by 15% and the overall harvest

showed more trays picked on a daily basis, resul ng in

approximately $1,000 per day higher income in the

treated field, over the control.

*Differences in results of any set of trials can vary due

to variety, soil type, climate, plant age, irriga&on, dis-

ease, insects and end use of fruit.