Lincoln Trial update: March 2026

Geoff Langford

It’s amazing what can happen in just a few weeks.  Historically, the best production we had ever had in our trial block was 66g/plant in a week averaging all varieties from all sources.  In the last 3 weeks our productions has been 101g, 116g and 80g/plant.  This has lifted our cumulative production to record levels and we are presently sitting on 758g/plant.  Obviously having 2 new high performers has helped but it is always very pleasing to have good production.  I now have to eat humble pie and admit that Molly has done a very good job of managing our trial block this year.
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That production peak is just crazy!  But so is the weather and I’m pleased that other local growers are reporting similar experiences.  Our current theory is that the unusual heat in November and early December caused flower initiation problems at that time and resulted in a low production period during January.  This was compensated by the cooler than usual December and January which encouraged great flower initiation that we are now seeing the results of in terms of fruit production.

The two new ones, Golden Gate and Keystone stand out for total production.  Twice Monterey production is undoubtedly impressive and it is definitely worth trialling these two.  It is early days and we will need more years data to totally convince us, but it is a good start.  I have some concerns about the recent fruit size with Golden Gate and I’m not sure how customers will react to the very orangy colour of Keystone, but they are definitely worth trying.

Royal Royce remains an enigma.  I love the flavour and when it is on, it is really on!  The almost total lack of production in January could be a marketing problem if you have regular customer expectations.  It is obviously very climate sensitive so worth finding out whether it will work in your specific climate with your production system and marketing arrangements.

I continue to learn new things about strawberry growing and the challenge ahead is understanding climate impacts and especially learning how to manage heat during the season.  In our Canterbury climate we have some options with things like evaporative cooling but there are also options around shade options for those under cover.

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