Abstract

Examination of strawberry runners held in cold storage for r x months suggested that a major cause of failure to grow after planting was a rot of the crown originating at or just below the original soil level and progressing inwards.
In descending order of frequency, the fungi isolated from runners stored at -1.1°C. and at 0°-1.6°C. and sampled at intervals over a 10-month period were a sterile fungus ‘a’, Cylindrocarpon radicicola, Mortierella sp., Fusarium sp., Gnomonia fructicola, Rhizoctonia solani, Gloeosporium sp., Botrytis cinerea, a sterile fungus ‘b’, Fusarium avenaceum, Penicillium sp., and a sterile fungus ‘c’. Of the more prevalent fungi, only C. radicicola and Mortierella sp. were isolated more often from plants stored at the higher temperature. Longer storage time did not result in increased frequencies of isolation.