Effects of Regulated Deficit Irrigation on yields, berry quality, and resource use efficiency in the everbearer strawberry Malling Ace under long-term production in TCEA

Summary

The effects of Regulated Deficit Irrigation (RDI) on Class 1 yield, berry quality, and resource use efficiency of Malling Ace, an everbearer strawberry cultivar, were tested in a Total Controlled Environment Agriculture (TCEA) system over a cropping period of 10 months. An automated sensor-based irrigation system was used to ensure coir water and nutrient availability were optimal in the control (well-watered, WW) treatment. The extent of imposed coir drying in the RDI treatments was informed by identifying the coir volumetric moisture content value at which changes in midday stem water potential were first detected in response to gradual coir drying. Two RDI treatments were then imposed under standard TCEA conditions for strawberry. In RDI-1, plants received irrigation to raise the coir v