Strawberries.

Worth1 · March 3, 2008

I just planted 24 strawberry plants today, Jewel and Quinault.

I hope they do well The wife loves strawberries and she has never had a home grown strawberry.

Boy is she in for a shock.

I on the other hand grew up eating fresh berries of all kinds and miss the real thing dearly.

Worth

feldon30 · March 3, 2008

I just posted a lengthy reply on DG about strawberries. Were you real fussy about crown and root placement? Just curious.

Worth1 · March 3, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by feldon30

I just posted a lengthy reply on DG about strawberries. Were you real fussy about crown and root placement? Just curious.

Not really I just made sure the crown was above the soil a wee bit.

It was a spur of the moment thing and from past experience they will either die or do well.
They should do well though, I know I mistreat all of my plants.

Worth

Ard · March 3, 2008

Can I ask which state or should I guess at Texas and not Alaska at this time? What variety did you choose or grab blindy.
Last year at the local F'sM I noticed none of the other growers had strawberries, duh. The next week I brought in a few quarts and they were snapped up and gone before the raspberries which sell way better than my toms.
Well ,so I sorta got this crazy idea and about three weeks ago planted 600+ plants.
I know I am fussy about such an out on a limb project, to the point that I won't let anyone help and I'll just push till it is done. Took about two and a half days.
Final till and make raised rows, set some hoses.
Go over each plant fanning roots, removeing all damaged or dead leaves and runner remnants. Oh-my-back.
Then planting out, not too high not too low.
They are well on track and I have not had to replant any so far. At the compost pile this morn I noticed a few of the less than perfect plants I had tossed away as hopeless were looking great now. To bad for them.
How fussy was I? 8.5 out of 10. A big part of me thinks that is just a voodo mindset, knocking on wood.
Brian

feldon30 · March 3, 2008

I hope you have more strawberries than you know what to do with.

Good luck!

TomatoDon · March 27, 2008

I'm trying strawberries for the first time this year. So far I've bought a few potten Quinalt (sp?). I see Ozark Beauty, Cardinal, and Sequoia (I think it's called). Can't find any more Quinalt so I guess I'll try something else. Any suggestions?

And, I heard that you can't plant strawberries following tomatoes. True?

Thanks!

Don

feldon30 · March 27, 2008

Crop rotation is largely impossible for me because the vast majority of crops I grow are all in the same family. I simply don't have anything else to rotate in.

Strawberries can exhibit fruit rot problems caused by anthracnose just like tomatoes. Preventative maintenance with Daconil or another antifungal is the solution here. I think as long as you keep the soil rich and rejuvenate it every year with compost and other organic matter, you'll be in decent shape.

Quinault is one of the most successful in our climate. Note that if your pots of Quinault contain multiple crowns bunched together, I would strongly recommend that you separate the crowns and plant them 1' apart. Really, the proper time to plant strawberries here is in September, not April, as the big crop is from March 1 -> May 1st, but I realize that the only plants that are available at that time of year (and only in bare root form) are off the Internet.

I planted 24 plants of Chandler Septembers 2006 and I was satisfied with the size of crop I got in March through April 2007, but not the flavor of the berries. I found them to be very tart and one-dimensional. This September, I will probably buy 24 plants of Quinault and have another go. I found Quinault to be much sweeter.

Chandler

Chandler

The important thing besides crown placement as I mentioned earlier is to plant in sandy, loose, acidic soil, rather than the clay, poor-draining, basic soil we have.

One more tip, it is pretty much essential that you install bird netting over your strawberry plants once the fruit start ripening. If you don't keep the birds and squirrels out, then you are essentially growing a crop for them, not yourself! I made a simple framework out of cheap 1 x 2 wood strips and stapled bird netting to it. Then I secured it at the corners with bricks. Removing 2 bricks and lifting up the framework every time I wanted to pick strawberries wasn't really that much work. I will probably build something more solid and perhaps hinged for my next attempt.

TomatoDon · March 27, 2008

Very interesting. Bird trouble never entered my mind. Or separating the crowns. And your planting dates. Your berries look really good. I'm hoping I can learn enough here to have a few this year.

Thanks Morgan!

Don

feldon30 · March 27, 2008

One thing about planting September is sometimes we have a string of warm days in the 70's and the plants think it's time to kick out some berries. I pick off all flowers from September to Feb 1st, and then I let them go. Then you get a huge crop in March and dwindling into April. That is how the commercial and pick-your-own strawberry farms around Houston operate.

bbb123 · April 8, 2008

The important thing besides crown placement as I mentioned earlier is to plant in sandy, loose, acidic soil, rather than the clay, poor-draining, basic soil we have.

I just picked some up on a whim these planting guidelines sound the same as the asparagus I just got. The strawberrys are in a box with some green coming out what should I expect when I open it? I'm hopefully going to get the asparagus in tomm. maybe I'll put a row of starberry in front of them.

gssgarden · April 8, 2008

I planted mine last year, in this wonderful NC clay and had good results last year and what looks to be a big crop this year. Question: Do I have to remove older plants after a couple of years. Does production slow down on older plants? I let the runners grow wild but all seem to be doing well. After the crop, should I thin them back to 1' apart and let them produce new runners?

Thanks,

Greg

feldon30 · April 9, 2008

Yes, 2-3 year old plants start to wear down. Commercial strawberry farms either save daughter plants and remove mother plants, or buy new plants each year.

I had an interesting discussion with the owner of a commercial strawberry farm. She said that they rolled the dice on not doing any crop rotation and after 3 or 4 years, they lost 1/4 of their plants this year to crown rot. So they are going to have to do some crop rotation.

JimmyWu · April 20, 2008

I'm looking to grow some strawberries like my G.G. used to grow.

From what I remember they were low growing, small foliage and dense.

Any ideas?

-Jimmy

feldon30 · April 20, 2008

Well in NC, your temps and humidity are a little more forgiving. Chandler gets bandied about as one of the best tasting (for some reason I didn't like it). I don't know what variety he might have grown or what does best for your area.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of having ONE crown or strawberry plant every foot. I don't know any strawberry plants that are particularly bushy. Mine got about 8 inches tall and around I guess.

TZ-OH6 · April 26, 2008

I bought a flat of Ozarks (18 plants) a month ago, half went in the ground and half into a 2 ft strawberry tower filled with perlite. The strawberry tower plants all have 4-5 berrys per plant while the in-ground plants are just sitting there thinking about growing. I'm impressed with the little device so far.

March 3, 2008	#1
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	Strawberries. I just planted 24 strawberry plants today, Jewel and Quinault. I hope they do well The wife loves strawberries and she has never had a home grown strawberry. Boy is she in for a shock. I on the other hand grew up eating fresh berries of all kinds and miss the real thing dearly. Worth

March 3, 2008	#2
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	I just posted a lengthy reply on DG about strawberries. Were you real fussy about crown and root placement? Just curious. __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]

March 3, 2008	#5
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	I hope you have more strawberries than you know what to do with. Good luck! __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]

March 27, 2008	#6
TomatoDon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MS Posts: 1,523	I'm trying strawberries for the first time this year. So far I've bought a few potten Quinalt (sp?). I see Ozark Beauty, Cardinal, and Sequoia (I think it's called). Can't find any more Quinalt so I guess I'll try something else. Any suggestions? And, I heard that you can't plant strawberries following tomatoes. True? Thanks! Don __________________ Zone 7B, N. MS

March 27, 2008	#7
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	Crop rotation is largely impossible for me because the vast majority of crops I grow are all in the same family. I simply don't have anything else to rotate in. Strawberries can exhibit fruit rot problems caused by anthracnose just like tomatoes. Preventative maintenance with Daconil or another antifungal is the solution here. I think as long as you keep the soil rich and rejuvenate it every year with compost and other organic matter, you'll be in decent shape. Quinault is one of the most successful in our climate. Note that if your pots of Quinault contain multiple crowns bunched together, I would strongly recommend that you separate the crowns and plant them 1' apart. Really, the proper time to plant strawberries here is in September, not April, as the big crop is from March 1 -> May 1st, but I realize that the only plants that are available at that time of year (and only in bare root form) are off the Internet. I planted 24 plants of Chandler Septembers 2006 and I was satisfied with the size of crop I got in March through April 2007, but not the flavor of the berries. I found them to be very tart and one-dimensional. This September, I will probably buy 24 plants of Quinault and have another go. I found Quinault to be much sweeter. Chandler Chandler The important thing besides crown placement as I mentioned earlier is to plant in sandy, loose, acidic soil, rather than the clay, poor-draining, basic soil we have. One more tip, it is pretty much essential that you install bird netting over your strawberry plants once the fruit start ripening. If you don't keep the birds and squirrels out, then you are essentially growing a crop for them, not yourself! I made a simple framework out of cheap 1 x 2 wood strips and stapled bird netting to it. Then I secured it at the corners with bricks. Removing 2 bricks and lifting up the framework every time I wanted to pick strawberries wasn't really that much work. I will probably build something more solid and perhaps hinged for my next attempt. __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]

March 3, 2008	#4
Ard Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Zone 8B Northern California Posts: 19	Can I ask which state or should I guess at Texas and not Alaska at this time? What variety did you choose or grab blindy. Last year at the local F'sM I noticed none of the other growers had strawberries, duh. The next week I brought in a few quarts and they were snapped up and gone before the raspberries which sell way better than my toms. Well ,so I sorta got this crazy idea and about three weeks ago planted 600+ plants. I know I am fussy about such an out on a limb project, to the point that I won't let anyone help and I'll just push till it is done. Took about two and a half days. Final till and make raised rows, set some hoses. Go over each plant fanning roots, removeing all damaged or dead leaves and runner remnants. Oh-my-back. Then planting out, not too high not too low. They are well on track and I have not had to replant any so far. At the compost pile this morn I noticed a few of the less than perfect plants I had tossed away as hopeless were looking great now. To bad for them. How fussy was I? 8.5 out of 10. A big part of me thinks that is just a voodo mindset, knocking on wood. Brian

April 8, 2008	#10
bbb123 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: ny Posts: 72	The important thing besides crown placement as I mentioned earlier is to plant in sandy, loose, acidic soil, rather than the clay, poor-draining, basic soil we have. I just picked some up on a whim these planting guidelines sound the same as the asparagus I just got. The strawberrys are in a box with some green coming out what should I expect when I open it? I'm hopefully going to get the asparagus in tomm. maybe I'll put a row of starberry in front of them. __________________ NY

April 8, 2008	#11
gssgarden Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: N.C. Posts: 1,827	I planted mine last year, in this wonderful NC clay and had good results last year and what looks to be a big crop this year. Question: Do I have to remove older plants after a couple of years. Does production slow down on older plants? I let the runners grow wild but all seem to be doing well. After the crop, should I thin them back to 1' apart and let them produce new runners? Thanks, Greg

April 9, 2008	#12
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	Yes, 2-3 year old plants start to wear down. Commercial strawberry farms either save daughter plants and remove mother plants, or buy new plants each year. I had an interesting discussion with the owner of a commercial strawberry farm. She said that they rolled the dice on not doing any crop rotation and after 3 or 4 years, they lost 1/4 of their plants this year to crown rot. So they are going to have to do some crop rotation. __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]

April 20, 2008	#13
JimmyWu Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: North Carolina Posts: 100	I'm looking to grow some strawberries like my G.G. used to grow. From what I remember they were low growing, small foliage and dense. Any ideas? -Jimmy __________________ All Typos are Crappyrighted @

April 26, 2008	#15
TZ-OH6 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Mid-Ohio Posts: 847	I bought a flat of Ozarks (18 plants) a month ago, half went in the ground and half into a 2 ft strawberry tower filled with perlite. The strawberry tower plants all have 4-5 berrys per plant while the in-ground plants are just sitting there thinking about growing. I'm impressed with the little device so far.