You probably are sick of hearing terms that you don’t understand. I hear them all the time and wonder if someone is trying to pull the wool over my eyes.
Here, I’m going to try to set the record straight on the products that I sell - at least pot size, not plug trays. Standard horticultural flats are 10″ x 20″ x 1.5″ deep. Everyone in the industry refers to them as 1020’s. There are various inserts that fit into a standard flat. The one I call a starter plant is in a 1206. This means that there are 12 paks of 6 plants that fit into the flat. That means that there are a total of 72 plant in a 1020 flat. They are fairly small as you can imagine. Just for your information, strawberry plants in this size take about 3 months to grow at near optimal conditions. The size of starter plants are shown in the picture below - the “72″ is the one on the far left (my thumb is shown to add perspective).
Strawberry Plant Containers
The plant is the middle is known as a 32. I’m no longer selling this size because I have found that they do not overwinter well under the conditions in our nursery.
Quick Starts as I call them are shown in the picture on the far right. These are what are known in the industry as 1801’s. There are 18 plants in single “pots”. They are perforated and come apart from each other like the 6 paks do. The size of each of these plants is 3.25″ square by 3.5″ tall. They are actually taller than the flat that holds them. It takes about 4 months from seeding to have a nice, well-rooted Quick Start plant. Quick Starts overwinter nicely under our conditions here in Delaware. Of course, they have to be mulched with straw.
So, the next obvious question is “how much fruit will I get from a starter plant vs a Quick Start”. The answer isn’t simple because it all depends on when you plant them and where you are. Where you are dictates how long the season will be, all assuming that they are being planted indoors instead of in pots.
Let me get into that in the next post since it’s a separate subject from container size. But, you get the drift about size. Now, you can get an inkling about why the plants are priced differently.
How is production effected by transplant size?
I wanted to make a comment or two about production that one can expect from different sized transplants. A few days ago I posted pictures of starter plants and quick starts. There is a huge difference in size, right? What does this mean for production.
Obviously, if you transplanted a starter plant and a quick start on the same day there would be a big difference in production. The starter plant likely has 1-2 more months before it will produce the first flower. Sometimes, later in the spring season, starter plants are starting to flower. But, a starter plant doesn’t have enough of a base, roots, and plant size to support much fruit.
Quick Starts are usually in bloom or have bloomed already when they are shipped. By have bloomed I mean that quick starts shipped in the fall and winter were blooming the past fall. Once they start growing again they will flower fairly quickly.
So, how much production can one expect from the two sizes. I have “eyeballed” some of the trials I have conducted over the last several years and will make some VERY general observations. If both sizes are planted in the spring, the Quick Start will produce more than twice the number of fruit that the starter plant will produce. And, the size of the fruit from the Quick Start will be substantially larger.
Starter plants are an economical way to get started growing alpines. You will get fruit the first season. If you live in a northern area with a short growing season you won’t get a lot of fruit. Farther south with a longer growing season and the possibility of getting a fall crop, you will get more fruit.
Quick Starts planted in the spring will be in a position the following year to produce nearly a full crop. If planted in the fall, quick starts can produce a fairly decent crop the next spring.
I’m sorry that this is not more clear, but that’s what happens when one is generalizing. Make comments if you need further explanation.