SEASONAL PATTERNS OF GROWTH AND TISSUE NUTRIENT CONTENT IN STRAWBERRIES

At monthly intervals during the establishment year, 90 strawberry plan ts were excavated and separated into component parts, dried, weighed, and nutrient analyses were performed on the tissues. When growth resum ed in spring, biomass and foliar nutrient levels were again measured u ntil fruiting. Individual plant growth was linear during the establish ment year, with leaves accounting for the highest percentage of accumu lated biomass. In general, nutrient concentrations during the establis hment year either remained relatively constant, or declined. The perce nt increase in biomass accumulation was always greater than the percen t decline in nutrient concentration, indicating that strawberry plants have a continuing demand for nutrients during the establishment year. About 50% of the biomass was lost during the winter, mainly in foliag e. However, within six weeks of resuming growth in spring, plant size was equivalent to that of the previous autumn. The root system was the only tissue to exhibit a reduction in biomass during fruiting. During this time, foliar nutrients displayed very different concentration pa tterns. Although this period of fluctuating nutrient levels is general ly avoided for leaf sampling and analysis, it is likely that this is w hen nutrient limitations will have their most pronounced effects.