Challenges in Strawberry Plant Production Persist in the Region.
Strawberry plant production has posed significant challenges in our region for many years. Tips, or daughter plants, are formed on runners (stolons) that emerge from the mother plant. Growers then root these tips to create plug plants, which are subsequently sold to fruit producers, primarily field growers.
The strawberry supply chain operates as follows: tips are produced by tip producers, then sent to greenhouse or nursery plug producers, and finally delivered to fruit growers.
In Canada, most strawberry tips are cultivated in outdoor fields to minimize the risk of diseases like anthracnose. These tips are sold to greenhouse propagators in the Eastern U.S., particularly in the Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Florida regions.
Currently, nearly all tip production takes place in outdoor fields, which are susceptible to various diseases. Recent outbreaks include the Strawberry Mild Yellow Edge Virus (SMYEV) and the Strawberry Mottle Virus (SMoV) in 2013, as well as the Strawberry Mosaic Virus in 2014 and 2024. This year, a particularly aggressive strain of fungal disease, Neopestalotiopsis, emerged, and no fungicides are effective against it with more than 60 percent efficacy.
Due to shortages caused by Neopestalotiopsis this year, Canadian growers were unable to meet the demand, severely affecting the supply for Mid-Atlantic producers. As a result, there is a growing interest in establishing a U.S. source for disease-free strawberry tips. Notably, strawberries can be grown in both annual and perennial field production systems.
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