Abstract
A study was conducted in Queensland, Australia during the winter of 2000 to determine the length of time from anthesis to mature fruit [i.e., the fruit development period (FDP)] for strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) grown in an open field, plasticulture system, identical to the system used for strawberry production in Florida. This information could be useful for developing a model that growers could use to predict their peak harvest periods. From 15 June to 17 Aug., open flowers of several cultivars were tagged. Then the dates on which these tagged flowers became mature fruit were recorded. These data were used to calculate the FDP for each fruit. FDP ranged from 24 to 44 days, was dependent on cultivar, and negatively correlated with the 4-week post bloom mean air temperature.
