Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) ranks third among fruits produced in the United States and continues to gain popularity among consumers. Its adaptability for controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) based production system makes strawberries an attractive fruit crop for year-round production. However, achieving optimal productivity requires precise management of flowering for fruit yield and suppressing flowers for more runner production for nursery propagation. Therefore, understanding how different cultivars respond to environmental factors such as temperature and photoperiods is essential. This study explored the flowering pattern of two strawberry cultivars, 'Seascape' (long-day) and 'Earliglow' (short-day), under varying temperatures (12°C, 20°C, and 28°C) and photoperiod conditions. In experiment 1, both cultivars were grown in growth chambers at a 16-hour photoperiod for eight weeks. 'Seascape,' despite being a long-day cultivar, did not show flowering under these conditions, while 'Earliglow,' as anticipated, also did not initiate flower due to its short-day requirements. In experiment 2, plants were grown in a growth chamber under a short photoperiod (12 hours) at the same temperature treatments before being transferred to greenhouse conditions (16-hour photoperiod, 22°C). Interestingly, both cultivars previously exposed to 28°C initiated flowering earlier compared to other treatments. Notably, 'Seascape,' despite its classification as a long-day cultivar, demonstrated a clear dependency on the short-day induction period for flower initiation. 'Earliglow' plants exposed to 12°C exhibited delayed flowering. However, these plants developed elongated inflorescences and produced significantly higher numbers of flowers over time than plants exposed to higher temperatures (20°C and 28°C). Further investigation into these phenomena through transcriptomic, metabolomic, and hormonomic analyses is necessary to characterize the underlying regulatory mechanisms of the photoperiod and temperature interaction in strawberry flowering.
