Cultivar<\/strong>\n<\/p><\/td>Photoperiod<\/strong>\n<\/p><\/td>Breeding Program<\/strong>\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>\n Surfline\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n UC Davis\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Monarch\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n UC Davis\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Albion\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Day Neutral\n<\/p><\/td>
\n UC Davis\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Keystone\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Day Neutral\n<\/p><\/td>
\n UC Davis\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Encore\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n University of Florida\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Ember\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n University of Florida\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Medallion\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n University of Florida\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Brilliance\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n University of Florida\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Ruby June\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Lassen Canyon\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Galletta\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n NC State University\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Warrior\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n UC Davis\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n GF Belle\/X08\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Good Farms Genetics\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n SB_14_028-025\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Strawberry Sciences\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Chandler\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n UC Davis\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Camarosa\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n UC Davis\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Fronteras\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n UC Davis\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Key results<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nYield<\/em> \u2018<\/strong>Surfline\u2019 and \u2018Fronteras\u2019 were the cultivars with the highest marketable yield while \u2018Galletta\u2019 and \u2018Medallion\u2019 showed the overall lowest values (Figure 1). The cultivars \u2018025\u2019, \u2018Camarosa\u2019, \u2018Galletta\u2019 and \u2018Surfline\u2019 showed a very distinctive pick of harvest after which yield was drastically reduced, other cultivars such as \u2018Albion\u2019, \u2018Encore\u2019, and \u2018Fronteras\u2019 had a more even\/spread yield across the season (Figure 2).<\/p>\n\n\n\nFigure 1:<\/strong> Mean marketable yield from 12 plant plots across all harvests. Means with the same letters are not significantly different from those in the same letter group.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\nFigure 2:<\/strong> Yield for each cultivar across the season. Red circle indicates the peak date.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Total soluble solids (Brix)<\/em> <\/strong>\u2018Ruby June\u2019, \u2018GF Belle\u2019 and \u2018Medallion\u2019 <\/strong>showed some of the highest Brix overall (Figure 3), while \u2018Monarch\u2019 was on the lower side.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFigure 3:<\/strong> Mean Brix per cultivar across all harvests. Means with the same letters are not significantly different from those in the same letter group.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n As the days got warmer over the second half of the season, the cultivars showed increased Brix, this was very noticeable in \u2018Camarosa\u2019, \u2018GF Belle\u2019, \u2018Galetta\u2019, \u2018Medallion\u2019 and \u2018Ruby June\u2019, and less noticeable in \u2018Surfline\u2019 (Figure 4). The opposite trend was observed in individual fruit size and weight were most of the cultivars experience a reduction as the season progressed. Overall \u2018GF Belle\u2019 and \u2018Galletta\u2019 showed large fruit, while \u2018Camarosa\u2019, \u2018Encore\u2019, \u2018Ruby June\u2019, \u2018Monarch\u2019 and \u2018Medallion\u2019 were smaller (Figure 5). \n<\/p>\n\n\n\nFigure 4: <\/strong>Brix for each cultivar across the season. Red circle indicates the peak date.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\nFigure 5:<\/strong> Mean fruit size per cultivar. Means with the same letters are not significantly different from those in the same letter group.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nFruit firmness<\/em> <\/strong>In terms of firmness, \u2018Surfline\u2019, \u2018Ember\u2019, \u2018Monarch\u2019, \u2018Medallion\u2019, \u2018Keystone\u2019 and \u2018Encore\u2019 were about twice firmer than \u2018Ruby June\u2019 and \u2018Chandler\u2019. \u2018GF Belle\u2019 had a high variability in firmness but overall ran in the softer side (Figure 6).<\/p>\n\n\n\nFigure 5:<\/strong> Mean fruit firmness per cultivar across all harvests. Means with the same letters are not significantly different from those in the same letter group.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nGeneral Caveats <\/strong><\/em>Keep in mind that the 2025\u20132026 season was characterized by unusually dry weather, with below-average rainfall and high temperatures at the beginning of the season, therefore some of the responses that we observed might change in future evaluation. These conditions generally favor good fruit quality, although they may have limited the expression of differences among cultivars that are more evident under wetter conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For more information, contact Dr. Melissa Mu\u00f1oz (munoz@clemson.edu) Horticulture Trial at Musser Fruit Research Center The 2025\u20132026 strawberry variety trial was conducted at the Clemson Musser Fruit Research Center to evaluate the performance of 16 commercially available cultivars from different breeding lines under South Carolina growing conditions (Table 1). During this first trial, comparisons on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4278,"featured_media":16,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,16],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3],"class_list":["post-36","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-strawberry","category-strawberry-horticulture"],"fimg_url":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/files\/2026\/08\/strawberry-bucket-scaled-e1786461677673-150x150.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4278"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=36"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":26,"date":"2026-08-18T14:19:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T14:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/?p=26"},"modified":"2026-08-28T19:51:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T19:51:12","slug":"strawberry-neopestalotiopsis-cultivar-evaluations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/2026\/08\/18\/strawberry-neopestalotiopsis-cultivar-evaluations\/","title":{"rendered":"2025-2026 Strawberry Neopestalotiopsis Cultivar Evaluations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
For more information, contact Dr. Lindsey Thiessen (lthiess@clemson.edu)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Introduction<\/h1>\n\n\n\n \n A novel pathogen, Neopestalotiopsis rosae <\/em>(Neo), was introduced into South Carolina strawberry production in 2021; which has since caused significant losses each year to farmers across the state and the US. The disease was likely introduced through infected transplant material. Fungicides are unfortunately limited in their effectiveness for controlling disease in high pressure environments (e.g., high humidity, extended periods of rain). Identifying varieties with reduced susceptibility to disease is critical for developing a successful integrated pathogen management strategy for the region.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\nDisease Symptoms and Signs<\/h1>\n\n\n\nFoliar Symptoms<\/h2>\n\n\n\n \n Leaf spots may be the first symptom of infections in strawberry, appearing first as small brown necrotic lesions that expand to triangular necrotic areas that extend the end of leaflets. When conditions are conducive, small black dots (fruiting bodies) appear in the lesions. The fruiting bodies that are in the center of leaf lesions produce spores that spread to new areas of the plant or nearby plants, causing new lesions. Leaf spots can mimic several other pathogens, including Gnomonia leaf spot and Phomopsis leaf spot. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\nFigure 1.<\/strong> Early leaf symptoms caused by N. rosae<\/em>. The center of the leaf spot often turns light gray with black specks in the center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nFigure 2. <\/strong>Leaf lesion that has expanded to a large, triangular necrotic area (right). Black specks in lesions are fruiting bodies that will allow splash of inoculum to new portions of plants.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nCrown\/Root Symptoms<\/h2>\n\n\n\n \n Crown and root infections cause similar symptoms to the aboveground portions of the plants. Plants may be stunted or wilted, and the leaves may show nutrient-deficiency symptoms. Infections ultimately result in the death of the plant, as it can no longer move water and nutrients into the leaves and fruit. Wilting symptoms may be most severe when plants are producing fruit. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fruit Symptoms<\/h2>\n\n\n\n \n Fruit lesions are often sunken and light-tan to brown. Soon after infection, the fruit lesions may appear similar to other fruit rots, but small black spots (fruiting bodies) form in the lesions. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\nFigure 3. <\/strong>Fruit symptoms caused by N. rosae<\/em>. Black spots in the sunken, tan lesions are fruiting bodies containing spores from the fungus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n2025-2026 Cultivar Trial<\/h2>\n\n\n\n \n To identify cultivars that have greater tolerance to N. rosae<\/em> infections, a field trial with mirrored horticulture evaluation plots were planted at the Musser Fruit Research Center. Cultivars were selected based on local interest and potential tolerance reported from other production region evaluations (Table 1). Disease trial plots and horticulture trial plots were planted October 15, 2025 into fumigated plasticulture and maintained separately throughout the growing season. Plots were treated with regional horticulture and integrated pest management practice recommendations; however, disease trial plots were not treated with fungicides. Plants were harvested twice per week between April 3 and May 22, 2026. Plants were inoculated using a water suspension containing N. rosae<\/em> spores from locally collected, aggressive isolates (10,000 spores\/ml) on November 8, December 19, January 15, February 19, and May 22, 2026. \u2018Albion\u2019 was used at the standard control cultivar for all analyses due to its susceptibility to a broad range of pathogens.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\nTable 1.<\/strong> Cultivars evaluated for their response to inoculations with N. rosae<\/em> at the Musser Fruit Research Center between October 15, 2025 and May 22, 2026.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\nCultivar<\/strong>\n<\/p><\/td>Photoperiod<\/strong>\n<\/p><\/td>Breeding Program<\/strong>\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>\n Surfline\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n UC Davis\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Monarch\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n UC Davis\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Albion\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Day Neutral\n<\/p><\/td>
\n UC Davis\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Keystone\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Day Neutral\n<\/p><\/td>
\n UC Davis\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Encore\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n University of Florida\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Ember\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n University of Florida\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Medallion\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n University of Florida\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Brilliance\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n University of Florida\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Ruby June\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Lassen Canyon\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Galletta\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n NC State University\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Warrior\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n UC Davis\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n GF Belle\/X08\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Good Farms Genetics\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n SB_14_028-025\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Strawberry Sciences\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Chandler\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n UC Davis\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Camarosa\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n UC Davis\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr>
\n Fronteras\n<\/p><\/td>
\n Short Day\n<\/p><\/td>
\n UC Davis\n<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
First Year Trial Outcomes<\/h1>\n\n\n\n Weather Influences.<\/em><\/strong> <\/em>The 2025-2026 growing season was one of the driest on record for South Carolina. At the research farm, precipitation totaled 23.55 inches over 70 days for the duration of the study. In contrast, the 2024-2025 growing season had a total of 30.5 inches for the same time period. We also had several winter weather events that maintained row covers over plants in the field. One cultivar was significantly impacted by the winter weather and covering (Medallion), and was dropped from evaluations as there were too few plants to compare to others tested. Combining relatively low humidity and limited leaf wetness, opportunities for our inoculations to result in disease were limited. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\nYield Impacts.<\/em> <\/strong>Interestingly, there was limited impacts to yield, likely due to low disease pressure (Figure 3). The highest yielding variety in the plot was Monarch, and the lowest was GF Belle (X08). In general, high marketable yields were collected across the growing season.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\nFigure 4.<\/strong> Marketable yield from inoculated plots is the total of 10 plants per plot across all harvests. Means with the same letters are not significantly different from those in the same letter group.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nDisease Evaluations.<\/em><\/strong> Disease incidence was low, and no plants showed symptoms of crown rot due to Neopestalotiopsis rosae<\/em> infections. Low levels of disease were observed throughout the trial; however, infections were restricted to the lower canopy. After the final inoculation, final foliar disease incidence resulted in 100% incidence in most cultivar plots (each plant had symptomatic leaf lesions), but severity (not shown) was low so data. Keystone, Warrior, and Surfline plots all had significantly reduced foliar disease incidence compared to Albion (Figure 4).\n<\/p>\n\n\n\nFigure 5. <\/strong>Final foliar disease incidence is expressed as the percentage of plants within plots with foliar symptoms caused by Neopestalotiopsis rosae<\/em>. Varieties with a star are significantly different from the control, \u2018Albion\u2019. No other varieties were significantly different from \u2018Albion\u2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n Interestingly, fruit infections were variable across plots, potentially due to the limited disease pressure (Figure 5). Foliar disease susceptibility differences did not result in similar fruit infection patterns. Warrior was the only cultivar with significantly reduce fruit infections compared to Albion in addition to low foliar symptoms. Generally, fruit infections were low (less than 10%) across all cultivars and plots, which is likely the result of low disease pressure.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\nFigure 6. <\/strong>Proportion of total fruit with symptoms caused by N. rosae <\/em>was below 20% across all plots, and symptoms were present on fruit prior to foliage. Varieties with a star (*) are significantly different from the control, \u2018Albion\u2019, at P <\/em><0.05, and two stars (**) indicate significance of P<\/em><0.001.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nFirst Year Trial Conclusions<\/h1>\n\n\n\n \n While there\u2019s some general trends that align with other regional evaluations, the low pressure observed during the growing season has limited the confidence in responses observed from the different cultivars tested. Because the disease pressure was low, these varieties are being challenged in a greenhouse environment to get stronger support for levels of susceptibility. This year of testing has put further evidence that disease-free plants result in far better outcomes, particularly when weather conditions do not favor disease spread.\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For more information, contact Dr. Lindsey Thiessen (lthiess@clemson.edu) Introduction A novel pathogen, Neopestalotiopsis rosae (Neo), was introduced into South Carolina strawberry production in 2021; which has since caused significant losses each year to farmers across the state and the US. The disease was likely introduced through infected transplant material. Fungicides are unfortunately limited in their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4278,"featured_media":29,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,15],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3],"class_list":["post-26","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-strawberry","category-strawberry-disease"],"fimg_url":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/files\/2026\/08\/word-image-26-3-150x150.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4278"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/scfruits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=26"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}]
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