Preliminary results of soilless cultivated strawberry cultivars in the autumn-spring cycle in the mid-Adriatic area

Strawberry is a fruit appreciated and consumed all year round; however, availability is different according to the season and there is significant variation in price between seasonal and out-of-season fruits. Italian production, in particular in the central regions, is concentrated in the spring (April and May) through a single-cropping system. This results in a lower fruit price as a result of the high market supply. The autumn months (October and November) are therefore, very interesting because the high demand results in a significant increase in prices, almost three times higher than spring prices. The aim of this work is to investigate the production and quality of June-bearing strawberry cultivars in autumn-spring soilless cultivation. The study was conducted on a farm located in the Marche region, in central Italy, to test the productive and qualitative response of the following June-bearing cultivars: 'Clery', 'Aurea', 'Asia', 'Sibilla', and 'Tea'. Results confirmed the adaptability to soilless and autumn-spring cultivation of the cultivars tested. The autumn harvest is characterised by lower yield but with higher fruit quality than the spring harvesting period. 'Asia' and 'Sibilla' showed the highest yield in the autumn, whilst 'Clery' fruits had the highest organoleptic quality in both harvesting periods. This autumn-spring soilless cultivation system offers interesting opportunities to farmers for covering a longer period in the out-of-season market.