Growing larger strawberries??

[chuck_n_grace]

Hi,
Our tiny strawberry patch has yielded several quarts of strawberries over the past couple of weeks. With the exception of a few the rest have had a length and width less than 1".

The berries have been sweet and very tasty.

Do you have any suggestions on growing larger strawberries?

Regards,
Chuck

[grahamhobbs]

Size is not everything as they say, flavour is what you want. Supermarkets like to sell big strawberries, so the growers plant modern varieties selected for size but generally neglecting taste, they also grow them in polytunnels where it is very hot with loads of watering, which also tends to produce tasteless big fruit.

[darkbrowneggs]

When were your plants actually planted. Last August? If earlier than 2010 they will be smaller

All the best
Sue

[Thomzo]

What variety are they? Some are larger than others. Lots of organic manure will help as well.

Zoe

[chuck_n_grace]

Hi,
We planted these plants late last spring (2010). Picked only a couple of berries. The strawberry patch spread through all the runners.

Variety? I need to dig that up. We bought these strawberry plants (10 to a pack) on discount at one of these large home and garden centers. They come from India. I can get some more detail.

Does size matter? I agree these have been very tasty and sweet, so we can't complain.

Grace did pinch quite a few buds off of the smaller plants so they will produce more fruit next year.

Manure? Grace says she can get a lot of horse poo. Maybe that's what we need to add.

Thanks,
Chuck

[Zech]

I have some plants that produce small berries and some that produce large ones. The small ones taste much better, in my opinion, but you do need a heck of a lot of them!

[hedgewizard]

You said they'd 'spread through all the runners' and that means lack of access to nutrients is going to be a problem. Letting plants grow in a mat gives you a better overall yield (perfect for jellies etc) but the berries are smaller. If you want larger berries thin the plants out a bit and top-mulch with a bit of manure when the plants are resting. NOT when the fruit is forming!

[chuck_n_grace]

hedgewizard,
Thanks for distinguishing between the small and larger berries. Our goal was to eventually make some jelly. So we're doing the right thing. Of course it would be nice to have some larger berries that are also sweet. I'll share this with Grace.


Regards,
Chuck

[darkbrowneggs]

If you want large berries (of course the variety will affect this as well) you should remove all the runners. When they are allowed to root down in the beds you get many more but smaller berries.

Ideally each year peg the runners in small pots, and when they have rooted sever from the parent plant and start a new bed. Keep the original bed free from runners, and (as said) feed during dormant / early spring period.

Do the same each year until there are 3 beds, after this destroy the Ist bed and plant something other than strawberries as a break crop. This way keeps virus away, and you will have one bed with large (though less) berries, and two heavier cropping though smaller berries

All the best
Sue

[hedgewizard]

hedgewizard,
Thanks for distinguishing between the small and larger berries. Our goal was to eventually make some jelly. So we're doing the right thing. Of course it would be nice to have some larger berries that are also sweet. I'll share this with Grace.
Regards,
Chuck

In case it helps, for our family of 4 I have three rows of strawbs, each 4.5m long. The first are really early ones, which I cloche from late Feb to have the fruit ready as early as possible. I keep it down to ten (small clumps of) plants, using straw between them to help deter runners. The second are later ones, and I let these form a long continuous row but thin them out a bit at the end of the season. The final row are perpetuals, and I remove all the flowers until I'm harvesting the first strawbs from the first row - that way they give some fruit in the autumn. I have to keep them well thinned out as they're prone to botrytis, but there you go.

This strategy gives us big berries at the start of the season, and we eat those fresh. Later we get a glut of smaller berries for jams etc, and still take some of the larger ones for fresh use (when we get sick of raspberries). Then in the autumn we get a few perpetuals - the flavour's not so good but we're still sorry to see them go!

oh, and I forgot: the bottoms of the hedges are planted up with wild alpines so we can usually forage a small bowlful any time from May to September.

[chuck_n_grace]

Thanks to both of your for your thorough responses. I hadn't thought about putting some runners into pots until they are established, and then snipping the runner.

Again, I'll share this with Grace.

Thanks,
Chuck