Understanding the performance of strawberry cultivars in response to the evolving environment and growth medium is a key factor in choosing materials with the aptitude to serve the consumer market. Here, we investigated whether strawberry cultivars in soilless cultivation and greenhouse differ in their agronomic potential. We have studied seven cultivars in an experiment designed in randomized blocks, with four replications. We used analysis of variance and multivariate to examine production attributes, the chemical quality of fruits, and their phytochemical profile. Among the seven cultivars, three heterogeneous groups were formed, gathering the materials mainly due to the similarity in terms of the content of total polyphenols (TPO) and average fresh fruit mass (AFFM). ‘Aromas’ produced the greatest number of strawberries. ‘Fronteras’ and ‘Monterey’, in turn, were the most productive cultivars, and ‘Albion’ and ‘Fronteras’ produced the largest fruits. ‘Albion’ produced the sweetest and tastiest fruits, with an adequate relationship between sugar and acidity. ‘Camino Real’ produced fruits with higher phytochemical content. We conclude that the seven strawberry cultivars in soilless cultivation and greenhouse have contrasting agronomic potential, which indicates that the producers can establish their crops with different materials. We suggest the use of ‘Fronteras’ to obtain greater yield and fruit size, ‘Albion’ to producers looking to grow sweeter and tastier fruits, and ‘Camino Real’ to obtain strawberries rich in secondary metabolites.

One biostrategy to boost the sustainability of strawberry cultivation is the application of biostimulants to the growing substrate. Here, we investigated whether the use of biostimulants and their combinations affects the strawberry plants’ phyllochron, phenology, and fruit quality. We tested the absence (control) and presence of biostimulants (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), Ascophyllum nodosum (AN), Trichoderma harzianum (TH), AMF + AN, AMF + TH, AN + TH, and AMF + AN + TH). The experimental design used was in completely randomized blocks (four replications). AMF was represented by a multi-species on-farm inoculant; A. nodosum was represented by the commercial product Acadian^®; and T. harzianum was represented by the commercial product Trichodermil^®. The leaf emission rate, the occurrence and duration of phenological stages, and fruit quality were assessed. The greatest precocity in terms of harvesting the first fruit was observed in plants grown with AMF + TH, which also had the lowest phyllochron (77.52 °C day·leaf⁻¹). Those treated only with AMF were the latest (144.93 °C day·leaf⁻¹). More flavorful fruits were produced by plants grown with AMF + TH. Plants inoculated with the AMF community, whether or not associated with A. nodosum and T. harzianum, had more than 94% mycorrhizal colonization. We conclude that AMF, A. nodosum, T. harzianum, and their combinations influence the phenology, phyllochron, and fruit quality of strawberry plants. In the growing conditions of the Brazilian subtropics, the AMF and T. harzianum combination shortens the strawberry cycle, from transplanting the daughter plants to harvesting the first fruit, and improves the fruit flavor.

Among the bio-tools that contribute to making the strawberry production system more sustainable are arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), which can be used as biofertilizers. Thus, five doses of phosphorus (P) applied to plants with AMF and a control (100% P, no AMF) were analyzed in order to differentiate the horticultural potential of the ‘Camarosa’ cultivar. We used an on-farm inoculant made up of six fungal species. The univariate and multivariate analyses showed that the addition of AMF to the growing substrate made it possible to reduce the P supply in the nutrient solution by 75% without compromising the fruit yield. In addition, this combination improved the phytochemical quality of strawberries, the plant’s root system morphology, and the accumulation of nutrients in plant organs (roots, crowns, aerial part and fruits). We conclude that the use of a multi-species on-farm inoculant based on AMF associated with a reduction in the P supply in the nutrient solution modifies the horticultural potential of the ‘Camarosa’ cultivar. We confirmed the action of a native AMF community as a biofertilizer.