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Strawberry varieties at Sorell Fruit Farm 2009-2010
Sorell fruit Farm grows two distinct types of strawberries in relation to their fruiting season.
Most of our varieties are called day neutral types which set fruit continuously in four or five bursts.
The second group are referred to as short day types. These have two or three bursts of fruit in the spring and early summer, and often have another crop in March-May.
In practice the mix of varieties means we have very good crops in November and December (until about December 20), and again in February-May. Strawberries are often in short supply in January.
Flavour is a very important factor when choosing our varieties. However we also seek out those that have resistance, or tolerance, to pests and diseases.
This allows us to avoid the use of pesticides, keeping in mind that we use a biofumigant brassica crop before planting to help suppress diseases that would attack strawberry roots, and we use an insect attacking nematode (eelworm) to keep the population of black vine weevil in check. Black vine weevils mainly attack the roots.
This year we were forced to import some runners from Victoria because our local runner grower was impacted by drought.
The list of main varieties with short comments is as follows:
Day Neutral Types
Alinta
It is very high yielding and shows no particular susceptibility to pests, and leaf or fruit diseases. Fruit are orange red in colour, large and very glossy resulting in highly attractive fruit with excellent aroma (definitely our best). Its only obvious fault is the amount of foliage it produces which would slow down the picking rate. This excess foliage would be an advantage to some growers because it should reduce the amount of bird damage and sunburn.
Amaros
A bright red fruit with very good flavour and high yields. Produces an excellent spring and autumn crops. Reasonable resistance to two spotted mites plus tolerance to powdery mildew and phytophthora.
Juliette
Juliette fruit are large, frequently exceeding 40 grams in size during spring. The skin is bright red in colour and glossy resulting in very attractive fruit. This appearance is maintained throughout the fruiting season.
It has also shown useful levels of rain resistance, a very tough skin and is not susceptible to Powdery Mildew under field conditions. The fruit are juicy and sweet with an excellent flavour if the fruit are allowed to ripen sufficiently before picking.
Kalinda
Fruit are large and conical shaped. Skin is bright red, firm red flesh and moderately glossy, resulting in attractive fruit, with the appearance being maintained throughout the season. It has shown strong resistance to Powdery Mildew, root and crown diseases, also good resistance to rain damage and Two Spotted Mites.
Seascape
It produces large berries with excellent flavor, over a long season, fruiting is concentrated in late spring with high yields into the autumn. This variety has good disease resistance. The fruit is red right through which also makes it a good processing berry.
Short Day Types
Adina
Fruit are exceptionally large, conic to wedge shaped.. Skin is bright red and moderately glossy with the appearance being maintained throughout the season. The flesh is medium red, low in acidity and high in aroma. Fruit is moderately resistant to rain damage.
Cal Giant 3
A mid to late variety with a single series of spring crops. High levels of resistance to a wide range of diseases are claimed. Fruit are very attractive, red, highly glossy, conical, large sized, firm and resilient. Flesh is bright red, of good flavour.
Camarosa
It produces a spring, but no autumn crop, of large bright, firm and flavoursome fruit with a good sheen. It is red inside and stores well so it can be picked with full red colour and still retains shelf life. Reasonable resistance to two spotted mites plus tolerance to powdery mildew.
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