Summary

The North area of Uruguay aims to supply strawberries in winter. There is a lack of supply of suitable plants for an early production. The standard culture method is based on local plants, obtained through the directly rooting in pots in the nursery plot. Cultivars were obtained from the public breeding program like 'INIA Yvahé', the most used. The pot plant has shown problems with ‘Camarosa’. There are cultivars with more resistance to powdery mildew and mites than ‘Yvahé’ and other new cultivars to assess. The method of plug plant demand less labor cost of substrate. The area has greenhouses that could be an alternative to the low tunnels. During three campaigns, between 2006 and 2008, were investigated the effect on yields, vegetative and phonological behaviour and fruit quality of two types of plant, planting date, cultivars and protected systems and the interaction between them. The cultivar ‘Guenoa’, with direct pot, transplanted early to mid-March, obtained the best results in production, average weight of fruit and stability in the winter between years. ‘Camarosa’ was earlier with direct pot in April and with plants plug, achieving a better balance between precocity and vegetative growth. The influence of the factors was independent of the protected method. The results give improvements to plant material currently used in the industry, with the supply of local plants, obtained in nurseries under humid temperate climatic conditions and without use of methyl bromide.