Achene Spacing of Strawberries as an Aid to calculating Potential Yield

Abstract

THERE have been attempts to determine potential biological yield on the basis of the size and efficiency of the photosynthetic apparatus. Economic yield, however, depends on the successful partition of assimilates to useful parts of the plant and, in the case of fruit crops, to the reproductive organs^1,2. In the strawberry, one component of yield is fruit size, which we have shown to be determined by the number of fertilized ovules (achenes) on the surface and the degree of receptacle expansion associated with each achene. Berry weight is highly correlated with achene spacing and achene number, so that for each value of achene spacing there is a linear relation between berry weight and achene number (Table 1).