Malling Centenary

Malling Centenary is an exciting new release from the East Malling Strawberry Breeding Club. An early-main season variety with firm regular heart shaped berries. Flavour, Shelf life and Brix are generally considered to be better than Elsanta.

Picking efficiencies with Malling Centenary can show significant improvement on other commercial June bearers due to its large average berry size and low waste.

Early feedback suggests that the variety has a reasonable tolerance to Powdery Mildew but does need some input with plant protection products. Malling Centenary does not have a strong resistance to root diseases and this should be considered when selecting production sites and plant treatments. The variety does not show an especially strong tolerance to rain damage so should be grown under protection where possible.

Special attention should be given to adequate Botrytis control during high risk weather conditions. Leaf petioles are hairy and consequently hold on to moisture, a trait that can in some circumstances promote the development of disease.

Most UK retailers now list Malling Centenary.

Click here for Malling Centenary Fruit Production and Propagation Guidelines

Malling Allure

Malling Allure is a new late season release from the East Malling Strawberry Breeding Club.

Cropping approximately 10 days later than Elsanta, Malling Allure has a simmilar but shorter season to Florence.

Fruit is firmer than Elsanta and of lighter colour with excellent shelf life and an average brix of 8.7.

High class 1% with high percentage large berries; this variety looks to have a useful place in the UK market and will help growers to spread the main season pick with has become very compressed due to the large uptake in Malling Centenary.

Click here to view the data sheet

Sonata

Sonata is notable for its high percentage of Class 1 fruit with superior eye appeal and flavour and Powdery Mildew resistance when compared  with Elsanta. Well adapted for cooler growing conditions many northerly growers chose to cultivate Sonata.

Sonata is quick to pick as the fruit breaks off the inflorescences easily but skin integrity can be challenged in periods of protracted hot weather. In southern counties this variety should always be picked early in the day. Sonata can be susceptible to Crown rot and root rot so preventative measures need to be carried out. 

Elsanta

Elsanta is still the most popular variety it has good yields of large firm glossy orange/red fruit, excellent shelf life and good flavour.

Although successful cultivation of Elsanta requires intensive input from the grower, it still retains its "top spot" in northern Europe because it can adapt to many different climatic conditions and multiple growing systems.

Fenella

Fenella has glossy orange/red berries with flat calices, the flavour is sweet and aromatic with a juicy texture. It is high yielding with good class 1, vigorous plant, upright habit and long trusses displaying fruit well.

Very good resistance to verticillum wilt and crown rot along with high rain tolerance have ensured a stable place in the market for this variety with growers looking to extend the life of soil beds.

50% pick date is 8 days later than Elsanta and crop tend to pick over a compressed season compared with Elsanta.

Can be grown unprotected

Elegance

Elegance has glossy, bright berries that are orange/red and uniform conical shape.  Skin is waxy and firm, not susceptible to bruising, flavour is aceptable with a juicy texture. Annecdotal evidence sugests lower feed inputs can improve flavour characteristics with this variety. Elegance has excellent shelf life, is high yielding with virtually no class 2 it is mid-late season. Elegance picks over an extended period.

Elegance is moderately resistant to crown rot and verticillum wilt but is susceptible to powdery mildew.

Jive

Jive is a late season June bearer, cropping 7-10 days later than Sonata.  With large, firm, shiny orange – red berries are a notable improvement on other  late season selections.  Harvest is 7-10 days later than Sonata. 

The plant is robust and dark green in colour, few runners are formed meaning more energy is available for the formation of the fruit.

Jive produces more trusses than Sonata but a lower number of flowers per truss.

Fruit size and weight are generally exceptional assisted by a slow ripening period. For best flavour fruit should be left on the plant until orange-red. 

Jive has a unique tolerance to heat stress allowing flower trusses to continue to develop normally even at high temperatures. For this reason Jive can have a very useful place in 60 day planting schedules during the hot summer months when other varieties suffer. Planting Jive in May, June or July will play to the varieties strengths.

We do not recommend planting Jive early, during cool weather or without rain protection. If Jive is to be overwintered , careful consideration should be given to delaying its cropping period as late as possible.

Symphony

Symphony berries are bright and glossy with good skin firmness and excellent shelf life.  Cropping 8-10 days later than Elsanta, Symphony has become another great standard for PYO and low imput systems. 

Good resistance to Red Core, moderate tolerance to Vine Weevil make it a real safe bet.  

Florence

Florence is a late season June bearer, peaking 10-12 days later than Elsanta.

Known for its high yield and strong disease resistance it is poular thoughout Norther Europe  The berries have a sweet , good flavour, but can darken if left on the plant too long.

Regular, high frequency picking is recommended to minimise bruising and maximise shelf life.

Malwina

Bred by Peter Stoppel

Malwina produces large dark red, glossy, firm berries with high brix and excellent flavour.

It is a very late June bearer cropping +/- 20 days later than Elsanta, which unique charictaristic can often be a benefit for PYO and growers where continuity of farm gate sales are important. Yields are generally lower than Elsanta, but the variety has good rain tolerance, resistance to mildew, tolerant of Verticillum Wilt, Crown Rot and Red Core.

As with Florence this variety needs to be picked regularly to maintain best fruit quality.

Having a naturally vigourous canopy it is best suited to soil growing culture with low nutritional imputs.  Maintain good pest control as insects also find this variety very tasty.

Rumba

Rumba is an early season June bearer , berries are bright red and shiny, with an acceptable shelf life.

Flowers are attractive to pollinators and hence the variety rarely has mal-formed fruit.  Good flavour develops through the season. Rumba has a similar season to Honeoye starting only a few days after Clery. Fruit is well displayed on long flowers trusses, which, along with an open plant habit, makes for easy picking.

Yields similar to Honeoye.

Eros

Eros is a classic PYO standard with good flavour, regular conical berries with a bright finish.

Eros is resistant to red core and partially tolerant to Verticillum Wilt and many of the common diseases.This makes it a perfect fit for long rotation, low input systems.

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Hapil

Hapil is a large plant which produces a heavy crop of  bright, glossy mid-season fruit.

The fruit is very large making it easy to pick.

A great PYO variety due to its size, flavour and appearance.

Susceptible to Verticillium Wilt.

Honeoye

Honeoye produces conical orange/red fruit. 

Susceptible to Verticillium Wilt.  We recommend frequent picking to produce the best results.

Honeoye crops 4-6 days ahead of Elsanta.

Cambridge Favourite

Cambridge Favourite has excellent disease resistance.  An easy to grow variety that crops reliably under a wide range of conditions.

It has medium sized fruit making it a very good PYO option.