Sweet Charlie
A University of Florida variety. In Indian trials it was the sweetest (highest TSS in Himachal, Assam and Bihar), flowered earliest in Himachal (118 and 119 days), and gave the most berries (22.48 a plant at Sabour; 19.20 in Assam). Fruit is small.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Strawberry
- Type
- Runner plant (tissue-culture / certified)
- Season
- Rabi
- Maturity period
- ~140–160 days
- Expected yield
- 182.4 g a plant in the Assam hills (at par with Chandler); 22.48 berries a plant at Sabour, Bihar. Berries are small.
- Suitable soil
- Well-drained sandy loam rich in organic matter, pH 5.7–6.5
- Disease resistance
- Useful field tolerance to anthracnose and Colletotrichum crown rot
- Release
- Bred and released by the University of Florida in the early 1990s
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Sweet Charlie was bred by the University of Florida and released in the early 1990s as an early, low-chill variety. In Indian trials it is the sweet one. In the Himachal mid-hills (2012–13) it had the highest TSS and the lowest acidity, 0.37 and 0.29%, and flowered earliest, 118 and 119 days after planting. At BAU Sabour, Bihar, it excelled in TSS, total sugars and vitamin C, and gave the most berries, 22.48 a plant, but the smallest fruit. In the Assam hills it gave 182.4 g a plant, at par with Chandler, with the most berries (19.20), the longest harvest (65.0 days) and the highest TSS, 7.92 °Brix. Field tolerance to anthracnose and crown rot is often claimed for it. That claim comes from a nursery-site source, so check it with your nursery.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose Sweet Charlie if you sell on taste or want early flowering: it had the highest TSS in the Himachal, Assam and Bihar trials, flowered earliest in Himachal (118 and 119 days), and in Assam its 182.4 g a plant was at par with Chandler. Do not choose it for the heaviest bed: at Sabour its fruit was the smallest, and Festival gave 355.04 g a plant. Choose Festival for weight and large berries, and Chandler for the best hill record.
Sowing & cultivation
- Sowing timeBihar (BAU Sabour): 1 November planting did better than 1 December for Sweet Charlie. Assam hills: 15 November was the best of four dates across varieties.
- Spacing30×30 cm on raised beds 1–1.2 m wide, through black plastic mulch
- FertilizerFYM plus basal P and K at bed preparation; nitrogen split at ~3 weeks and at flowering, full potash at flowering (see the crop guide for the full schedule)
Pest & disease considerations
Major diseases
Major pests
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Sweetest in the Himachal, Assam and Bihar trials: highest TSS, with the lowest acidity in Himachal (0.37 and 0.29%).
- Earliest to flower in Himachal, 118 and 119 days after planting.
- Most berries a plant (22.48 at Sabour, 19.20 in Assam) and the longest harvest (65.0 days) in the Assam hills.
Things to consider
- Smallest fruit at Sabour, Bihar, so a bed of Sweet Charlie weighs less than a bed of Festival (355.04 g a plant).
- Took the longest to start flowering at Sabour, 50.10 days, against 40.83 for Winter Dawn.
- Anthracnose tolerance is a nursery-site claim. It does not cover grey mould, so keep beds raised and mulched.
Suitable regions
An imported American cultivar, not an ICAR release, grown in Mahabaleshwar, on the northern plains and trialled successfully in Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
- Maharashtra
- Punjab
- Haryana
- Delhi
Sell the sweetness, not the weight
Sweet Charlie will not win a weighing contest. At Sabour, Bihar, Festival gave 355.04 g a plant, and Sweet Charlie had the smallest fruit. But it had the highest TSS, sugars and vitamin C in that trial, and the highest TSS in Himachal and Assam too.
That makes it a berry to sell on taste. A farmer with a direct customer, a farm gate, or a weekend market can say 'the sweet one' and charge for it. A farmer sending fruit by truck to a mandi, where the buyer pays for size and firmness, will do better with Festival or Chandler.
In the Assam hills it also gave the longest harvest, 65.0 days, and the most berries, 19.20 a plant. Use that: keep a few beds of Sweet Charlie in the mixed block, so you have early sweet berries for the first weeks of picking while the larger varieties are still filling.
Can you keep your own planting material?
This crop is multiplied from runners — the trailing shoots that root where they touch the ground. You can raise your own plants from healthy mother plants, but runners carry virus and crown rot forward, so most growers buy fresh, certified runners every year or two rather than planting on from their own indefinitely.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Strawberry variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Maturity | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camarosa | A firm, dark-red berry for farmers in hills and cooler plains, planted where its record is good, not assumed to be the highest yielder | ~150–170 days | 245.2 g a plant in Meghalaya, 540 g (21.65 t/ha) at Mahabaleshwar. Results differ by place. | Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi |
| Chandler | The proven hill-and-cool-plain strawberry, chosen for its record in Himachal and Assam trials rather than for earliness | ~150–170 days | 35.10 and 40.08 t/ha in the Himachal mid-hills (2012, 2013); 186.8 g a plant in the Assam hills. | Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana |
| Festival | The large-berried, high-yielding strawberry for the Bihar plains and the hills, chosen for berry size and yield, not for sweetness | ~150–170 days | 355.04 g a plant at Sabour, Bihar; 15.26 t/ha in Supaul, Bihar; 29.76 and 35.24 t/ha in the Himachal mid-hills; 169.0 g a plant in the Assam hills. | Maharashtra, Odisha, Chhattisgarh |
| Nabila | A sweet, large-fruited berry for Mahabaleshwar-type conditions, chosen for TSS and weight per plant, with a thin Indian trial record | ~150–170 days | 735 g a plant (29.42 t/ha) at Mahabaleshwar, 2016; 850–900 g a plant in the Italian patent. | Maharashtra, Odisha, Chhattisgarh |
| Sweet Charliethis page | The sweet, early-flowering berry sold on taste, planted for TSS and berry count rather than for the heaviest bed | ~140–160 days | 182.4 g a plant in the Assam hills (at par with Chandler); 22.48 berries a plant at Sabour, Bihar. Berries are small. | Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi |
| Winter Dawn | The vigorous early planter: a heavy-fruiting winter berry for Maharashtra and Bihar, chosen for fruits per plant and an early start | ~150–170 days | 820 g a plant (32.97 t/ha), 39.20 fruits of 21.00 g at Mahabaleshwar, 2016 | Maharashtra |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Strawberry is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Strawberry plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Strawberry variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Strawberry into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Strawberry rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Strawberry seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
Why would a grower choose Sweet Charlie over a higher-yielding variety like Camarosa?
Mainly for its field tolerance to anthracnose and Colletotrichum crown rot, which matters in warm, humid tracts where fungal fruit and crown rot are the bigger risk, and for its early fruiting and sweet flavour, which suit an early-season fresh market even where total yield is somewhat lower.
Is Sweet Charlie really the sweetest strawberry?
In the Indian trials we read, yes among the varieties tested. It had the highest TSS in Himachal (with Ofra), in the Assam hills (7.92 °Brix against 7.80 for Chandler and 7.00 for Festival), and at Sabour, Bihar. Nabila had 12.46% at Mahabaleshwar, but Sweet Charlie was not in that trial. Sweetness also depends on ripeness, so pick fully coloured berries.
How early does Sweet Charlie flower?
In the Himachal mid-hills it flowered earliest of 13 genotypes, 118 and 119 days after planting, and Ofra was just behind. At Sabour, Bihar, however, it took the longest to start flowering, 50.10 days, while Winter Dawn took 40.83. Earliness depends on place and planting date.
Why are Sweet Charlie berries small?
It is the variety's nature. At Sabour, Bihar, Sweet Charlie had the smallest fruit and weight but the most berries, 22.48 a plant. In the Assam hills its berries weighed about 11.42 g against 14.89 g for Chandler, yet its yield was at par because it carried more of them. You can improve size with good feeding and by not over-cropping young plants.
Does Sweet Charlie resist anthracnose?
It is often said to have useful field tolerance to anthracnose and crown rot. That claim comes from a nursery website, and none of the Indian trials we read measured it. Treat it as a help, not a guarantee. It does not cover grey mould, so keep beds raised and mulched, with drip instead of overhead water, and remove diseased plants early.
Sourced from: Sweet Charlie Strawberry Variety + Growing Tips, Comparative performance of strawberry cultivars under mid-hill conditions of north-western Himalayas — Indian J. Hort. 71(3), 2014, Effect of planting dates on plant growth, yield and quality in strawberry varieties in subtropics of eastern India — Indian J. Agric. Sci. 87(12), 2017 (BAU Sabour), Performance of strawberry varieties in different planting dates, hill zone of Assam — Int. J. Adv. Biochemistry Research 9(3), 2025. editorial policy.