Successful strawberry farming presents many unique challenges. As with every other type of crop, each farm will have its own challenges related to soil, soil tilth, soil pathogens, soil nutrient cycling, nutrient availability, plant vigor, irrigation needs, etc. Combined with those challenges are strawberry farming cultural practices related to continuous cropping and soil fumigation—with the resulting lack of crop diversity and soil microbial diversity that increases soil-borne diseases and tends to reduce yields over time. Strawberry farming continues to get more expensive while yields (and profits) are diminishing. What to do?
Huma Gro®, with its extensive lineup of liquid crop nutrition products powered by Micro Carbon Technology®, can offer the perfect combination of solutions to whatever challenges strawberry growers encounter:
- We of course offer a full line of liquid macronutrients and micronutrients. Whatever your soil and tissue tests say you need, we can provide. And we provide them in liquid form so that they can be applied foliarly or through irrigation for “what you need, when and where you need it” immediate results.
- We also offer several growth management products that help strawberries grow, bloom, fruit, and size more uniformly, at more predictable times.
- We can fully replace your standard fertilizer program, or we can design an “in addition to” program that boosts yields while maintaining an excellent return on investment.
- If you are ready to stop your costly and destructive soil fumigation program, we can offer a fumigation-replacement soil treatment that will control strawberry pathogens while improving your soil health and boosting yields. If you still need to fumigate, we can design programs that will mitigate some of the negative impacts of fumigation while improving soil health, crop yields, and crop quality.
- We can greatly simplify your strawberry fertilization program by using your soil and tissue testing lab results to custom blend—using our Ultra-Precision™ proprietary technology—a premixed end-product that is ready to be applied through your irrigation system. This will provide you with everything you specifically need at each growth stage with no mixing required, ready for application.
Product Options
Here are some Huma Gro® solution options to improve strawberry yields, organized by growth stage. Click on any product name to see its product technical bulletin for a description and use guidelines:
- Pre-Plant: Promax®, Zap®
- Transplant: Fertil Soil®, Breakout®, Super Phos®, X-Tend®, X-Tend® B
- Post-Transplant: Vitol®, Super Phos®, Super Nitro®, Lucky 7®
- Flowering: Breakout®, Max Pak®, Super Phos®
- Berry Sizing: Golden Pro®, Calcium, Super Potassium®
- Pre-Harvest: Golden Pro®, Calcium, Super Potassium®
- Post-Harvest: Fertil Humus®, Huma Burst® Dry Humates
And don’t forget, all of our liquid fertilizers are powered by Micro Carbon Technology®—our proprietary nutrient carrier that makes our products more effective and efficient. Click here for more detailed information about Micro Carbon Technology®.
Product Use Reports
Below are strawberry-specific demonstration field trial reports, a lab report, and a white paper on soil fumigation replacement that show how our products have been used in strawberry production and the results that were achieved:
- Field Trial: Huma Gro® Program Increases Strawberry Yields 13%, With an ROI > $3,400/acre—Holden Research and Consulting conducted this Huma Gro® trial on Portola strawberries in Ventura County, Calif. The trial was a complete randomized block design and compared a Huma Gro® nutrient program, applied foliarly at 4 points during the growing season on top of the grower’s standard program, with the grower’s standard fertilizer program used by itself. Huma Gro® products used included Vitol®, Breakout®,
- Field Trial: Huma Gro Program Increases Strawberry Yields 14%, With an ROI > $2,500/acre—Holden Research and Consulting conducted this Huma Gro® trial on Portola strawberries in Ventura County, Calif. The trial was a set up in a complete randomized-block design that compared 3 treatment programs: (1) Fumigation plus the grower’s standard fertilizer program, (2) Treatment #1 plus Huma Gro® Promax® and Zap®, and (3) Treatment #2 plus Huma Gro® foliar-applied nutrients Vitol®, Breakout®, Calcium, and Lucky 7® applied every 2 weeks during the growing season for a total of 12 applications.
- Field Trial: Huma Gro® Program Increases Marketable Strawberry Yields 19%, With an ROI > $5,000/acre—Plant Sciences, Inc., conducted this Huma Gro® trial on Monterey strawberries in Santa Cruz County, Calif. The trial was replicated 4 times and compared a Huma Gro® nutrient program, applied foliarly at 8 points in the growing season on top of the grower’s standard fertilizer program, with the grower’s fertilizer program used by itself. Huma Gro® products used included Vitol®, Breakout®, Calcium, Lucky 7®, Super Nitro®, and Super Potassium® (these last 2 products were added to correct a deficiency identified by plant tissue analysis).
- Field Trial: Huma Gro® Nutrient and Fumigation Replacement Program Increases Strawberry Yields 97%—Pacific Ag Research conducted this trial on Portola strawberries in San Luis Obispo County in Calif. There were 4 treatment programs studied, set up in a randomized block design replicated 6 times. The 4 treatment programs involved head-to-head comparisons of combinations of our fumigation replacement program of Promax® plus Zap® with the soil fumigant PicClor 60, and head-to-head comparisons of our Huma Gro® Ultra-Precision™ blend for strawberries with the grower’s standard fertilizer program.
Watch the Video:
- Lab Report: In Vitro Bio-Assay Testing of Promax® Efficacy in Controlling Strawberry Pathogens—Plant Sciences conducted an in vitro bio-assay efficacy test of Promax® efficacy for inhibiting mycelial growth of 8 fungal strawberry pathogens.
- White Paper: Saying Goodbye to Soil Fumigants in Strawberry Fields—This white paper examines the problems related to the traditional use of soil fumigants on strawberry fields and highlights sustainable alternatives to soil fumigation, including the combination use of 2 specific Huma Gro® products, Promax® and Zap®, that provide effective nematicide/fungicide actions while building a vigorous soil biology for the natural improvement of soil health and fertility and increasing strawberry yields.
Podcasts
- The Huma Gro® Farmer Episode 1: Strawberries Part 1
- The Huma Gro® Farmer Episode 2: Strawberries Part 2
Contact Us
Ask for information about having a custom strawberry fertilizer and/or fumigation replacement program built for your specific growing needs: Contact Me
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