Varietal information

The information below relates to varieties which are commonly grown by commercial strawberry farms within Victoria.

Albion

Albion is a dayneutral variety that was released by the University of California. Albion has shown resistance to Verticillium wilt (Verticillium dahliae) and Phytophthora crown rot (Phytophthora cactorum). Fruit is typically long, conical and very symmetrical. Fruit has outstanding flavor and attractive internal and external fruit color. Albion is currently the most planted variety in Victoria.

Kalinda

Kalinda is a day neutral variety that was bred by the Victorian Department of Primary Industries strawberry breeding program. Formal disease resistance studies have not been completed; however, Kalinda has displayed field resistance to leaf spot, powdery mildew and crown rot diseases.
Kalinda also has good resistance to fruit damage due to rain and high humidity. Fruit is typically conical in shape and consistantly large. They are as long as broad and have glossy bright red coloured fruit, which does not tend to darken with storage.

Juliette

Juliette is a short day variety that was bred by the Victorian Department of Primary Industries strawberry breeding program. Formal disease resistance studies have not been completed; however, Juliette has displayed field resistance to leaf spot and powdery mildew.
Fruit from Juliette are conical in shape and are consistently large. They are longer than broad and are a moderately glossy berry with a bright red colour that does not darken in storage.

Camino Real

Camino Real is a short day variety that was bred and released by the University of California. Camnino Real is resistant to Verticillium wilt (Verticillium dahliae) and Phytophthora crown rot (Phytophthora cactorum) as well as being relatively resistant to Anthracnose crown rot (Colletotrichum acutatum). Camino Real is however moderately susceptible to common leaf spot (Ramularia tulasnei) and prone to powdery mildew (Sphaerotheca macularis).
Fruit is large and attractive mostly symmetrical-conic fruit with internal and external fruit colour being quite dark when fully ripe.

Chandler

Chandler is a short day variety that was bred and released by the University of California. The fruit of Chandler is long flat conic to long flat wedged shaped and is usually soild throughout. The skin colour is a glossy red with interior flesh being the same colour as the skin.

Table 1. The harvest periods for the different strawberry varieties grown in Victoria

Variety

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Albion

Kalinda

Juliette

Camino Real

Chandler

 

Home garden

The best choice for Victorian home gardeners with a strawberry passion is the Australian variety, Alinta. This variety is the only variety, which can be planted in the garden in September and still give heavy yields of the best-flavoured fruit in summer. It does this due to its ability to develop new flowers under the long days of summer, unlike other varieties, and it resists most of those annoying pests and diseases, which so often damage the plants. A good tip is to pick the fruit 2-3 times a week and buy new clean plants for the following year.

Other varieties and information about growing them can be found at your local nursery.

NOTE: The commercial varieties listed above in the table ARE NOT available for purchase by the home gardener.