Strawberries

[simchah]

For years I have made attempts to grow strawberries and failed. An odd berry here or there that is the size of the tip of a pinky finger. I have grown lots of other things and can have happy green strawberry plants without any berries. However, people keep telling me it is possible to grow strawberries here that actually have fruit. So I have to try again. I am determined to master this thing and successfully grow strawberries. Big ones and lots of them.

 I have read that 1) for this area I have to use June bearing plants. I have tried ever bearing and the results were miserable, so maybe they are right. 2) Strawberries like lots of fertilizer, fish fertilizer. 3) They should not be touching the ground, or if they are they need a nice layer of mulch like straw. I tried bark. 4) You only get berries from second year plants. I tried plants that were guarantied to work.

I came across these easiestgarden.com/pages.php?page=barrel and built a few to use for strawberries. I was told of a good local source for buying plants from. I have lots of minerals for the soil. My next question is about dirt. I have been wondering if they like fertilizer does that mean they like a rich soil? I would like to use the manure and dirt/old hay from the cow in the barrels but don't know if that is a good idea or not. I know some plants love compost and manure and some don't. I don't think I have ever heard which one strawberries are. Had anyone here used the barn scrapings for growing strawberries in? Am I missing something important? Is the only fertilizer they like from fish or would something else work? If anyone has had good results can you tell me what I am missing?

[IdahoFarmer]

I don't have any advice, but I feel your pain. I tried for 4 years, and gave up. I'm anxious to see the replies.

[dinee]

We grew strawberries for years. We grew them in raised rows covered in black plastic with trickle irrigation underneath the plastic. Ground was well worked and had chook manure added.

We used to cut a1 1/2- 2 inch slit in the plastic and lay the plant on the plastic and push the roots through the slit with a wooden ruler. A bit hard to describe but it worked well in planting the plants and keeping the plastic intact.

Planing in raised beds with black plastic kept the plants and fruit clean, the black plastic keep the ground warm and the weeds at bay, the trickle irrigation meant we could water well without problems with fungus on the fruit and plants.

Good fertilizer and good water and a warm spot in the garden and the rows running north south to get the most sun and you should get fruit.

Oh by the way first year plants do grow fruit just not lots and the fruit tends to be bigger. After three years pull them up and start again. A lot of the market gardeners now around here are only growing first year plant because they grow the biggest fruit.

[simchah]

What is chook? Never heard the term.

That is how the strawberries were grown in southern California when I was a kid. (before they were all torn out to make way for buildings) I would worry that it would be too hot here and that I would cook the roots if I used black plastic. I have a tube down the middle of the barrel with slits for watering so I can keep water off the plants.

As far as warm goes, try downright Hot. It is in the 90s in April and stays in the 90s and 100s till Sept. ( about 36 to 42 C? without running the math )

[Tim in NY]

It seems like you should be able to grow strawberries. Florida is the second largest strawberry producing state after CA. Are you more hot and humid than Florida? I would look into the timing of strawberry production that your state ag college recommends. Most commercial strawberry production in CA and Florida has gone over to annual production methods using plug plants rather than with bare root plants anymore. I would say the likely key for you to have success is to use the same system as is recommended locally to you and to try and find the same varieties. There are lots of Florida varieties these days. You might also need to be planting the plugs in the summer or fall to get winter or early spring berries? Not sure of the timing for your area. We grow strawberries for market but our system is build around our winters. With your mild winters the system is likely very different with different varieties that would work best.

[elnini]

Chook is the Australian word for chicken.

[dinee]

Thanks for the clarification Elnini.

Simchah, we used to plant the strawberry runners in winter so the black plastic was very useful for the growth of the strawberries. Come November (spring) they had more than enough foliage to over the plastic and we picked all summer in temps in the 90's and at times well over 100. So long as you keep the water up to them they do well in hot weather, very humid weather can be a pain because of fungus.

[sweetiepie]

I plant my strawberries in my flower bed on the south side of the house. I just put them in last spring. They produced fruit. I didn't use plastic or straw for mulch in the summer but this fall I used a huge pile of leaves. So here's hoping they make it in this cold winter. Since they are right by the front door, I remember to water them and I used 5 year old cow mature on them for fertilizer. I had to buy a four way analyzer, that tells you the ph, water, sunlight and fertilizer. They needed more fertilizer than I had first thought but once set, they have done well.

[simchah]

Thanks for the explanations.