Varieties of Greenhouse Strawberries

Chandler

• Chandler strawberries are early to mid-season, high-yielding strawberries that are day-neutral. The brilliant red color of these berries makes them both attractive and appetizing. They do well with winter sun in the greenhouse and can be planted in fall and grown through the winter until spring.

Tristar

• Tristar strawberries are also day-neutral. They are a high-yielding variety with strong flavor suitable for cooking or eating fresh. In studies conducted by Cornell University, they were not as resistant to pest problems as the Jewel variety. If the greenhouse heats up to 95 degrees in the summer, the Tristar variety will continue to produce fruit.

Sweet Charlie

• Although Sweet Charlie strawberries do not produce as high a yield as other varieties, their fruit is extremely sweet. As with all greenhouse varieties, pollination must either be done by hand, or pollinators must be allowed into the greenhouse. Sweet Charlie in particular, however, was shown to have more problems with insect pollinators than the other varieties in the University of Tennessee's Strawberry Project. Pollinate this variety by hand if production is low. Studies published in "Scientia Horticulturae" show that dense plantings of Sweet Charlie produced consistently high yields, so plant this variety tightly in the greenhouse to save space.

Camarosa

• The Camarosa strawberry variety produces fairly high yields of medium-sized fruit. They grow well in greenhouses, especially under hydroponic conditions, according to studies performed by the USDA Agricultural Research Center.

Jewel

• Jewel strawberries are suitable for eating fresh or for freezing, and they resist post-harvest rot. They aren't as troubled by pests after a long season in the greenhouse and are a short-day variety. This means they won't set much fruit over the long days of summer but will do so plentifully in the off-season.