Strawberry seeds wanted

[sballtx]

I am looking for strawberry seeds, and if I can't get those, I need plants. I know it's a strange time of year but we have almost no winter to speak of here in Zone 9! But still I am having trouble finding them locally. I prefer to grow from seed. So, any recommendations of sources, varieties? I know Chandler is one for my area and Diego, but cannot right off the top of my head remember the other two varieties that do well here.

Thanks.
Stacie

[clkeiper]

I have not seen strawberry seeds for sale except those pink flowering ones and alpines.

[Tracydr]

I have some sarian strawberry seeds in the freezer. How about I plant a few and send you the rest?

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by sballtx

I am looking for strawberry seeds, and if I can't get those, I need plants. I know it's a strange time of year but we have almost no winter to speak of here in Zone 9! But still I am having trouble finding them locally. I prefer to grow from seed. So, any recommendations of sources, varieties? I know Chandler is one for my area and Diego, but cannot right off the top of my head remember the other two varieties that do well here.

Thanks.
Stacie

As far as I know, the only strawberries you can get and grow from seed are Alpine varieties which will struggle in the coolest of years in Houston.

I grew Chandler in 2007 in NW Houston based on many recommendations I'd found online. Like most popular strawberry varieties, Chandler is available only as "starts" or small bare-root transplants from a certified grower. Chandler was developed by the University of California and in 1993 accounted for 43% of strawberry plants grown in California.



I dutifully planted them in well-amended, loose, sandy, slightly acidic soil in late September, covered them with straw when it got cold, and otherwise just watered them well whenever they needed it. I picked off all blossoms I saw until mid-February and then let them go.



I harvested a bumper crop of strawberries from March 30th through May 5th. Some plants produced as much as one pint. However I will say that Chandler was on the tart/bitter side for me, perhaps due to the heat. Chandler is typically grown in Oregon, Washington State, or California moreso than the Gulf Coast. Realize that Seattle and Houston are both Zone 8, but are totally different growing climates.

If I were growing strawberries in Houston now, I'd be inclined to go with the widely recommended Quinault variety. I've rarely seen plants available for sale in September, but you can sometimes find Quinault at nurseries in February, often with berries already on them (/facepalm). I suppose one could keep such plants alive in the shade through the summer, separate the plants into individual crowns, and plant them on 12" centers in September. I found that merely transplanting the multiple "bunched" crowns available in nursery transplants tend to compete for nutrients and produce small misshapen strawberries. Each strawberry "crown" is its own plant and really should be given plenty of room to do its thing.

It's worth pointing out that even though Quinault is an Everbearing variety (some have nicknamed them Neverbearing), you can of course grow them as Junebearing (in Houston that means April 1-30th) by simply picking off blossoms until mid-February.

I ordered my Chandler plants from Indiana Berry and was very happy with the health of the plants that arrived (all 25 survived), the instructions provided, and the overall experience. One thing to note: Universities and others are crossing different strawberry varieties all the time to come up with the best for different climates. There may be any number of newly developed varieties which are ideal for Houston that I'm not aware of.

Good luck and post pictures!

[lurley]

You can look into these fresca strawberries from John Scheepers
http://www.kitchengardenseeds.com/cg...&_category=111

[clkeiper]

Those from John Scheepers are still alpine berries. They will be very small and take a lot of them to fill a pint basket, getting a quart is next to impossible. (at least for me, I must have a sever case of ADHD as I could never focus long enough to get them in the basket) They are fragrant and tasty, though. Just very fragile and small.

[lurley]

I have grown the alpine but not the fresca yet, but the description says the fresca produce regular full size berries from seed, and are the result of breeding work, not the wild alpine strawberries I know.

[clkeiper]

I received my catalog from Scheepers just yesterday and their description does say they will be full size berries. Wow. that is the first I have seen of seeds bred for full size berries. So I say, try them and let us all know if they truly grow to a full sized berry. It would be interesting to see.

[gryffin]

Johnny's has seeds for a full size strawberry:

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-6057-sarian-f1.aspx