Gourmet Strawberries

Did you know that strawberries come in a range of shapes? If you run into descriptions of a berry’s shape, use this chart to give you an idea of their shape.

Thanks to http://strawberry.ifas.ufl.edu/breeding/varieties.htm for the image.

My inbox is filling up with emails from families who are interested in growing their own strawberries. Almost every one says that they are looking for varieties that will produce large volumes of strawberries. Most mention that they also want varieties that taste great.

First, I want to congratulate these folks for making the decision to grow their own fruit. Next, I want to mention that I’m not in the “volume strawberry business”. I would love to be able to offer every variety that is available. However, I’m in the business of selling seeds and plants for gourmet strawberries, what I like to call strawberries with taste.

Don’t get me wrong. There are strawberry varieties being sold that taste great when they are allowed to ripen on the plant. I’m not a big fan of June bearing strawberries. It’s not necessarily the taste. Yes, many produce large volumes of berries. My opinion is that I’m not really interested in taking care of plants for a whole year and only being able to harvest for a couple of weeks. I like the day neutrals which will produce a spring and a fall crop. But, that’s just my preference.

I do sell a gourmet June bearing type that produces a lot of fruit called ‘Madame Moutot’. I will have more available in the spring but these sell out quickly. I will be introducing other heirloom varieties in the future. One that I hope to have available in the fall of 2011 is ‘Fairfax’.  My recommendation for buying June bearing varieties is to ask your local county extension office for their recommendations. Most states’ land grant universities publish recommendations for varieties and how to grow them. They can also test your soil for pH and nutrients. Use those resources.

The main day neutral hybrid that I carry is ‘Mara des Bois’. The fruit is generally medium sized and the plants are productive. It now has a large market share in Europe. The taste is terrific and the volume isn’t bad. You won’t get a giant crop in spring but you will get a nice crop and another in fall. The best part is the taste. Given the right nutrition this variety is very tasty.

Those would be my selections for producing a lot of fruit. But, it’s all relative. The alpines are not slouches when it comes to production. Many Americans are not aware that alpines, also known as fraises des bois, are being imported into the U.S. from overseas for a LOT of money. These European growers must know something that we don’t? The truth is that most of the literature here in the U.S. from garden writers and descriptions in garden catalogs is wrong (I have been on this high horse before so please forgive me for repeating myself). Most descriptions call the alpines cute little ornamentals that look and smell great along the sidewalk when planted about 6″ apart.

A customer recently sent an email and noted that planting any plant that you care about along the sidewalk is not a good idea. The soil along a sidewalk is not usually very rich. It’s usually packed clay. It will likely be walked on and in colder climates the plants will get a large dose of salt used to melt ice and snow. He’s exactly right. Given the space and care, alpines can be very productive. Yes, they are small, but wouldn’t you rather spend more time picking small aromatic berries with a heavenly taste that picking some giant relatively tasteless berries? The Europeans are treating their alpines like a crop. I can assure you that they are producing a lot of very tasty strawberries AND, they are making a LOT of money doing it.

I invite you to view a video I put together last year. Here’s the link:  The Strawberry Store Sells Gourmet Strawberries.

My recommendations for alpines is to check out the chart that I put together that rates the varieties. Here’s a link:
Alpine Strawberry Variety Characteristics.  For the most consistent production choose a couple of varieties. These plants flower cyclically when conditions are favorable. Planting several varieties will overlap each other in their cycles and produce fruit more consistently. Decide if you want to try yellow or white fruiting varieties. Why not try them? Grow a couple of red varieties and a novelty variety like ‘Yellow Wonder’. ‘Yellow Wonder’ is as productive as the best red varieties. I think yellow and white fruiting alpines are sweeter than the reds. And, the birds aren’t as apt to steal the yellows and whites.

Another recommendation is to not start out too big. I have received emails recently from families saying that they have these large areas set aside for next year’s strawberry patch. Unless you’re an experienced gardener, start out slowly and small. Experiment with different strawberry species, different types, different varieties. Learn to grow them. Learn how they grow in your climate, your soil, etc. Take those experiences into account for the next year’s crop. I too often learn that customers gave up after trying to do it all. Take it slow. We’ll have plants in future years for you to try. I’m planning to be around for some time, God willing.

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.

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).

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.