Berry variety trial results from Manitoba

Anthony Mintenko, Provincial Fruit Crops Specialist, Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives, has published recent raspberry and trial results. For detailed reports visit the Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives website.

Report highlights:

Summer Raspberries:

Top yield performers from the floricane cultivars were , Boyne, Nova, Killarney and Red Mammoth. Highest berry weights were K81-6 (4-5 grams), K93-9 and K93-9 (3.5-4 grams), compared to Boyne (standard) at 2.1 grams. Red Mammoth had very uneven berry weights depending on year and location, ranging from very small 1.92 grams to medium 2.95 grams. Royalty had medium-low yields, a unique purple colour, moderate hardiness and medium- large berry size. K81-6 had a very large berry size, fair winter hardiness and medium yields. Red Mammoth, Boyne, Souris and Killarney are extremely winter hardy in Manitoba, while Nova would be classified as having good winter hardiness, susceptible to tip kill.

Fall-bearing Raspberries:

In Manitoba, the most successful fall-bearing cultivars have to be early maturing types with the bulk of the harvesting completed before September 1 as kill frosts can occur after that date. Good yields are very dependant on perfect weather conditions. Autumn Britten and Double Delight had the highest yields consistently over 3 years, all have very good winter hardiness. The yellow raspberry cultivars, Anne and Fall Gold had uneven yield results with moderate-good winter hardiness, unique yellow colour and very sweet flavour. These are worthy of trial but not general planting.

Strawberries:

Top performers in the 2005 strawberry trial were the varieties that combined high yield, fruit quality, winter hardiness and runner production, which were: Sapphire, Serenity, Kent, L'Amour, Honeoye and Annapolis. Due to poor transplant stock, Jewel did not make this list, but has been grown in Manitoba successfully for many years. Kent, Jewel, Honeoye and Annapolis have been used in Manitoba for many years by growers and should be considered industry standards. The two new varieties from Ontario, Sapphire and Serenity performed quite well in the evaluation and can be recommended for larger plantings. Sapphire has a classic strawberry shape, great flavour, Sinbar tolerance and high yields (long harvest period). Serenity is high yielding, uneven shape however with large to very large berries (25 gram average), ideal for upicks only. L'Amour is a new release from Cornell University in NY state, and should be considered for trial only at this time (test small scale first on your own farm). It showed good hardiness yields similar to Kent, good firmness, flavour and overall fruit
quality, is susceptible to angular leaf spot (according to Ontario trials). Quebec varieties had poor winter hardiness and should only be considered for trial purposes only. They are all late season producers with very firm fruit, a good trait for pre-picked and retail sales.

Learn more

• Manitoba Raspberry Cultivar Evaluation 2005-2007Final Results
• Manitoba Strawberry Variety Trials Final Results and Recommendations 2005-2007

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