The United States ranks second in strawberry production worldwide. Much of this production has been transitioned from perennial matted row to annual plasticulture production. However, in states like Indiana, growers are exploring a hybrid system: multi-year plasticulture production. In response, we explored cover crops for row-middle weed management in plasticulture strawberry production. In September 2022, we planted ‘Chandler’ strawberry plugs into white polyethylene-mulched rows at Lafayette and Vincennes, IN. We established five row-middle treatments: nontreated and wheat straw mulch controls and three cover crops (oats, cereal rye, and white clover). The oats were winter-killed, and the cereal rye was roller-crimped in mid-May of 2023. Data collected included percent cover crop and weed canopy (per 0.09 m2); frost-killed flowers, live flowers, and developed fruits per plant within 2 weeks after the last spring frost; and total fruit number and yield per plant. At 7 weeks after transplanting (WAP), the oats canopy (82%) was greater than that of cereal rye (61%) and white clover (22%) but less than straw mulch (96%). Weed canopy in the straw mulch and oats was 6%, less than the nontreated control (38%). At 27 and 35 WAP, the cereal rye canopy was 96% and 100%, respectively; while the other treatments had less than 85% and 74% coverage, respectively. At 27 WAP, cereal rye and oats at both sites and straw mulch at Vincennes had less weed canopy (< 7%) than the nontreated control (>63%). At 35 WAP, only cereal rye had no weed canopy. At Lafayette, all treatments had 15 frost-killed flowers per plant. At Vincennes, all treatments had 8 frost-killed flowers per plant, except cereal rye (2 frost-killed flowers per plant). There were no differences among treatments in the live flower count. The number of developed fruits at both sites was significantly greater with cereal rye (8 fruits per plant) compared to all the other treatments (≤ 5 fruit per plant). Total harvested fruit number and yield at Lafayette was 17 fruits per plant and 135 g per plant for all treatments. At Vincennes, cereal rye resulted in significantly greater fruit number (10 fruits per plant) and yield (99 g per plant) compared to all other treatments (≤ 5 fruit and ≤ 49 g per plant). This study demonstrated that cereal rye was the most effective choice for suppressing weeds while maintaining or increasing strawberry yield in the first year of a multi-year plasticulture production system.
