Welcome to our corner of the internet! We are a group of small fruit researchers known as the

Very Berry Lab!

Our three goals are to:
1. provide science-based solutions to growers, industry and academia,
2. implement crop production and genetic technology to improve tomorrow's food security, and
3. develop future leaders in the horticulture and viticulture industries.

Our Vision

Improving food security begins with improving crop production. We believe that we need to take a factual look at exisiting technologies and ask whether or not they can be used to improve cropping systems. As experts in strawberry and grape production, it is our task to investigate how new technologies will help to increase food security in both crops.

We are housed in the Department of Horticultural Science at North Carolina State University. We are a N.C. State Plant Science Initiative affiliated lab.

Read about our exciting horticulture and viticulture research below!

Three clusters of fruit (grape, strawberry, and blueberry) above the text "The Very Berry Lab" that is written in olive green.

Meet our TEAM

About Our Research

Horticulture

Clean Strawberry Plant Production

Our research focuses on imroving technology that will lead to faster and cleaner production of strawberry plants. Our group is leading a nationwide project (USDA-SCRI 2021-51181-35857) to develop technologies for faster and cleaner strabwerry transplant production. Our group specifically focuses on optimizing of environmental conditions to improve flowering behavior of a range of stawberry genotypes. We further use our indoor strawberry systems to phenotype reproductive behavior of a range of cultivars, in collaboration with University of Maryland. You can read more about it here on our website.

Evaluation of Cultivars in Plasticulture and Greenhouse Environments

We have evaluated strawberry cultivars and advanced selections in open-field and greenhouse environments in North Carolina. We've studied 'Albion', 'Brilliance', 'Camino Real', 'Fronteras', 'Monterey', 'Sensation', and 'Sweet Charlie', among others, and evaluated their performance as cultivars to grow in commercial settings, both in-field and in greenhouses.

Viticulture

The PIVC Platform - the Fast Grapevine

We use controlled environment technology to manipulate flowering and rooting of grapevine genotypes. We call this process Precise Indoor Vine Conditioning (PIVC). The PIVC platform allows us to investigate grapevine physiology under a variety of scenarios. PIVC further allows us to develop grapevines that can be planted and cropped in one year, effectively allowing for annual grape production systems in the future. This will help growers to faster re-plant, adopt to climate change or mesoclimate problems. PIVC also can assist breeding efforts (grape speed breeding). This becomes important especially for the develpment of new cultivars that are more adopted to climate change. We estimate that PIVC can 'speed up' grape breeding by up to 50% compared to traditional breeding methods.

Adoption of cultivars to regional conditions
We evaluate grapevine cultivars in two field trials across the state of NC for their adaptability to biotic stressors (Pierce's Disease) as well as yield potential.‍
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Services

We offer public services such as individualized consultations and research & development. They are generally free of charge and encompass a range of different services.

If you're looking for more direct support, then one of our fee-based research and development services is for you. We can help with your vineyard development, as well as greenhouse strawberry production.

Two individuals having a conversation next to a bare grapevine.

Consultations

Issue-based consultations for agents, growers and our industry partners.

A cluster of individuals participating in an NC viticulture workshop on a vineyard.

Workshops

Strawberry Frost Protection, Grape Pruning and Training, Pierce's Disease workshops, and more.

Research

Various topics, such as floral development and field trials for the viticulture industry; and CEA, greenhouse and open-field production for strawberries.

Landscape of the Raffaldini Vineyard & Winery

Vineyard Development

We offer individualized consultations and evaluations for the site, cultivars and vineyards. Management services include planting, training, pruning, pest and disease management.