STRAWBERRY DEVELOPMENT AS EFFECTED BY VARYING DEGREES OF FROST INJURY

A light frost in a field of strawberries (cv. Redchief) resulted in varying degrees of injury to blossom receptacles. Five injury categories were established: 1. No damage; 2. Brown discoloration only at the tip of the receptacle; 3. Brown discoloration over approximately 1/2 of the receptacle; 4. Brown discoloration over the entire receptacle; 5. Black discoloration over the entire receptacle. From each category four blossoms at anthesis were tagged and allowed to develop for 30 days. Blossoms with no visible injury on the receptacle developed normally. When browning was observed on the tip of the receptacle or on approximately 1/2 of the receptacle, various deformities developed, tending to be more pronounced in the latter category. Blossoms with brown or black receptacles generally died. Thus, expression of frost injury on strawberry blossoms in the field can vary greatly.