Runner Production of Strawberry cvs. Tioga, B5, Toyonoka and Tochiotome
Subjected to 2-4 oC for Different Periods

Cherananon N.¹, Boonprakob U.¹,
Pipattanawong N.²and Suwannasingha B.²

      Strawberry was propagated by runner plants. But runner plant production had a problem in Thailand. Strawberry plants were slow to produce runner plants in time for planting and propagated in limited number. Chilling of strawberry plants in a cold room could alleviate this problem. This experiment had an objective to evaluate effect of duration in 2-4 oC condition for strawberry plants cv. Tioga, B5, Toyonoka and Tochiotome on their growth and production of runner plants. The experiment was carried out at Doi Pui Research Station, Kasetsart University, Chiang Mai during February to July 2003. The results revealed that plants chilled in a cold room for longer period had better plant growth, as expressed by higher number of leaves and longer petiole length. Longer period in low temperature treatments resulted in earlier first runner production than without the cold treatment. Number of runners and runner plants were related to periods in a cold room. Plants chilled in a cold room for 21 days produced the highest number of runners and runner plants.