A June bearing strawberry cultivar for southern Quebec conditions

'Chambly' is the first June-bearing strawberry cultivar (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) bred specifically for southern Quebec conditions. This cultivar is being released by McGill Univ. And Agriculture Canada. 'Chambly' was released because of its high yields of firm, deep red fruit with raised neck, elevated calyx, and uniform well-colored flesh. Therefore, it is recommended for fresh market and processing. The name 'Chambly' has historical significance in southwestern Quebec, for it was a garrison town in the fortification network of the Richelieu Valley, a thoroughfare between the St. Lawrence and Hudson rivers.
Origin
'Chambly' (tested as SJ84187-3) resulted from a 1982 cross between 'Sparkle' and 'Honeoye'. 'Sparkle', a previously popular commercial cultivar in eastern Canada, is noted for its high fruit flavor (Craig, 1979). 'Honeoye' is a high-yielding cultivar with large fruit size well-adapted to the northeast (Estabrooks and Luffman, 1989). 'Chambly' has been tested at Agriculture Canada, L'Acadie, Quebec, since 1984,. L'Acadie is located 35 km south of Montreal (45o) at an elevation of -46 m above sea level. Climate at L'Acadie is characterized by low temperatures in winter (below -25C), cool, humid conditions in spring, and warm, humid conditions (25 to 35C, 70% RH) in summer.
Description 
'Chambly' plants are of low vigor, medium in size, with four to six inflorescences per plant, and can tolerate winter temperatures below -25C (with 10 cm of straw mulch cover)" Leaflets are slightly folded, medium size, dark green, obovate to spherical, with sharp serrations. Petioles are moderately long and slightly drooping. Plants have a sparse appearance. Inflorescences are held erect on long, moderately thick peduncles during bloom, becoming arched (semi-erect) as the fruit mature. Inflorescences generally have 10 to 20 flowers.
Fruit shape is conic and the calyces are reflexed. Fruit are medium size (8 to 10 g) with a white, raised (2 to 3 mm) neck. Skin is shiny and deep red at maturity, and the flesh is red throughout. Fruit flavor (sweetness) is similar to that of 'Bounty' and 'Sparkle' (Table 1). Fruits are firm, similar to 'Kent', and can be decapped as easily as 'Glooscap'. The calyx does not separate from the fruit at harvest time. Percent juice lost after thawing did not differ sinificantly (P = 0.05, n = 8) among cultivars and ranged from 42% to 53%. 'Chambly' has outyielded 'Bounty', 'Honeoye', 'Redcoat', and 'Sparkle' in our trials. Plants are partially tolerant of the herbicide terbacil (5-chloro-3-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-6-methyl-2,4(1H,3H)-pyrimidine-dione). No symptoms of powdery mildew (Sphaerotheca macularis Walls ex Fr.), leaf scorch (Diplocarpon earlina Ell. And Ev.), or leaf blight (Dendrophoma obscurans Ell. And Ev.) Were observed during the course of its evaluation. Susceptibility of this cultivar to red stele (Phytophthora fragariae Hickman) is not known and further experiments are needed to determine the degree of resistance to different races of P. fragariae.
Availability
Contact the licenced nurseries or the breeder.

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