Strawberry productivity over two growing seasons as influenced by commercial substrates

The study aimed to evaluate the performance of commercial substrates in the semi-hydroponic cultivation of strawberries over two growing seasons, using fertigation management based on the proportion of drained volume to fertigated volume. The experiment was conducted from July 28, 2017, to February 15, 2019, in a greenhouse system in the municipality of Caçador, SC, Brazil. The experimental design used was a randomized block design in a 3 x 2 factorial scheme with four replicates. The treatments consisted of the combination of three commercial substrates: SC1, SC2, and SC3; evaluated over two consecutive seasons: 2017/2018 and 2018/2019. Significant interactions between substrates and growing seasons were observed for fruit productivity in the 15, commercial, and total classes. In the first season, the SC1 substrate showed superior performance compared to SC3 and SC2, achieving higher productivity in the 15, commercial, and total fruit classes. However, in the second season, the SC3 substrate stood out, outperforming SC1 and SC2 in these same productivity classes. The choice of the substrate for semi-hydroponic strawberry cultivation is closely linked to the number of planned growing seasons. While SC1 and SC3 alternated in performance across seasons, SC2 demonstrated greater productive stability, maintaining consistent results throughout the evaluation period.