Strawberry plants

[Hotwired]

Originally Posted by Baizanator

Just ordered my strawberries today. We have a big bed in the front yard and my wife loves strawberries so we are putting out 50 plants. I hope they do well. Any secrets I should know as a first-time grower?

I ordered from Park Seed. We ordered 25 each of Ft. Laramie and Surecrop.

Surecrop is a June Bearing, and Laramie is an Everbearing. The Surecrop shouldn't be allowed to produce this year. Next year you should get up to a quart per plant. You need to pinch off any flowers, otherwise next year's crop will really suffer.

Laramie is an Everbearing, so you should get two crops the first year (August & September) and three the second year (mid-June, late-July, & early Sept). You need to pinch off any blossoms for the first 60 days, or you will have very poor yields the first year. Also, you should keep the runners clipped off, unless you want more plants. Each plant will produce 3-4 runners at a time. If you want to propagate new plants, then only let one grow. Runners take energy away from fruiting. I covered a lot of other material in the links I posted. You are going to get what is called bareroot from Parks, so I would suggest reviewing Starting a New Strawberry Bed which covers planting bareroots. Also, Everbearing is a 3-year plant, but production really drops in year 3. You will need to be Propagating Strawberry plants from Runners every other year in order to maintain your patch. There's also a pdf I did on Renovating a Strawberry Bed which is extending the life of Junebearing plants.

Hope this helps,

Hotwired
http://www.hotwiredgardens.com/

[FreyaFL]

Great info! I just planted 6 Quinaults in a long (SIP) container and am excited to see how they grow. Several came with little fruits already forming on them. Now I'm wondering if I should remove these or let them go?

[matilda'skid]

Your are making me want to plant some strawberries. Last time I tried them, I bought a bundle at a box store. The flavor was too mild. Can you all recommend a good one for home use that is flavorful.

[feldon30]

I grew strawberries one year and they did pretty well.

I put out 25 plants in September, paying extremely close attention to crown placement (how much of the plant is underground vs how much is above ground), and picked off any flowers until March 1st. I got about a pint of berries per plant. Alas the variety was not a good choice for Houston due to the heat. Next time I try it, I'd grow Quinault but grow it as an Aprilbearing.

[Baizanator]

Originally Posted by Hotwired

Surecrop is a June Bearing, and Laramie is an Everbearing. The Surecrop shouldn't be allowed to produce this year. Next year you should get up to a quart per plant. You need to pinch off any flowers, otherwise next year's crop will really suffer.

Laramie is an Everbearing, so you should get two crops the first year (August & September) and three the second year (mid-June, late-July, & early Sept). You need to pinch off any blossoms for the first 60 days, or you will have very poor yields the first year. Also, you should keep the runners clipped off, unless you want more plants. Each plant will produce 3-4 runners at a time. If you want to propagate new plants, then only let one grow. Runners take energy away from fruiting. I covered a lot of other material in the links I posted. You are going to get what is called bareroot from Parks, so I would suggest reviewing Starting a New Strawberry Bed which covers planting bareroots. Also, Everbearing is a 3-year plant, but production really drops in year 3. You will need to be Propagating Strawberry plants from Runners every other year in order to maintain your patch. There's also a pdf I did on Renovating a Strawberry Bed which is extending the life of Junebearing plants.

Hope this helps,

Hotwired
http://www.hotwiredgardens.com/

Do you see anything wrong with planting half June-bearing and half ever-bearing?

[Crandrew]

^Currently thats what I have.

Now I want to order some more strawberry varieties. oh man!

[Hotwired]

Choosing a good variety for your area is important. What grows well in NY won't do well in Texas and vice-versa. I really like the Surecrop, Laramie, and Quinault. They are good all around berries that are good producers (especially Surecrop) and all have good sweet taste. I grow Day Neutral, Everbearing, and Junebearing near each other. You can end up with weird varieties if you save seeds, but it's so much easier to root runners, and clones always grow true.

I grow strawberries for bartering, since I'm fairly good at it. I traded jams, fresh, and frozen strawberries for potatoes, blueberries, peaches, carrots, onions, 2 chickens per month, and weekly eggs. I even traded for a slaughtered pig this year. There's nothing like a fresh strawberry shortcake, or homemade jam on an English muffin to start out the day. You are going to be so happy with fresh berries - I'm getting hungry thinking about it.

[Crandrew]

And now I'm hungry!

[Deborah]

I just bought and planted Quinalts too. I removed the tiny buds because I want the plants to focus on getting big and healthy.
Quinalts are supposed to fruit on the runners without the runners being planted, and I hope that's true. How pretty that would be !

[Hotwired]

Originally Posted by Deborah

Quinalts are supposed to fruit on the runners without the runners being planted, and I hope that's true. How pretty that would be !

That would be a lot of strain on the plant without having the runner's roots providing moisture and nutrients. Try some Jiffy starter pucks and the runners will thrive.



I pot the runners up and leave them there for several weeks. I've forgotten some and had them producing strawberries. My friend has a hanging planter of strawberries and has three layers of hanging runners, all potted with jiffy pucks and all producing. Looks like a Spider plant with strawberries. They're hanging down about 5 feet and bottom runner is starting to produce a 4th level of runners. He just sprays it with a hose every day and sprays twice a week with Miracle Grow. Each runner at the top has two runners, and each of them two runners, etc. There 3 plants in the pot, six hanging and potted in the first level, 12 in level two, and 24 in level three. It's so thick at the bottom it looks like a Christmas tree with red berry ornaments. It's a lot of work and takes a lot of watering and plant food though.

[Deborah]

I'm still going to see what happens. I bought them for fun, not really looking for big harvests. They're in a window box. Thanks though !

[FreyaFL]

Originally Posted by Hotwired

That would be a lot of strain on the plant without having the runner's roots providing moisture and nutrients. Try some Jiffy starter pucks and the runners will thrive.

This is what I'm planning to do (since reading through this thread...What an awesome idea!) I'll just keep rooting and starting new plants. I figure if I end up with too many (awesome!) I'll start giving them to friends. Your friend's setup sounds like more work than I, as a lazy gardener, am capable of. But it must look amazing!

[Deborah]

Hotwired, next time you're at your friend's can you get a picture? I read your posts again and I may just change my mind.