The soil temperature is an important parameter in strawberry crop, because, it interferes in vegetative development, plant health conditions and yield. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of different water levels, soil covers in field conditions and greenhouse in maximum soil temperature in strawberry crop. Two experiments were accomplished, one in greenhouse and other in field conditions, at Atibaia - SP, Brazil. The experimental design was a factorial 2 x 3 (soil covers and water levels), with 5 repetitions. The soil covers were clear and black plastics. The trickle irrigation was applied whenever the soil water potential reached -0.010, -0.035 or -0.070 MPa at a depth of 10 cm. The soil temperature was evaluated by thermographs. The sensors was installed at a depth of 5 cm. There were influence of environment cultivation, soil covers and water levels in the maximum soil temperature. The soil temperature under different soil covers depended not only of the plastic physical characteristics as well as the installation procedure. The maximum soil temperature increased as soil water potential reduced at time of irrigation.
irrigation; mulching; strawberry
