When I first moved here I planted some strawberries at the side of our house where the little hill is. I planted them in tiers and they were lovely, produced well, and spread all over the place. Slowly over the last several years or so most of them have died off mainly because the fig tree produced so much shade on that side of the garden.
Two years ago I redid the tier garden and replanted. That is when I realized how much shade fig tree caused. Those strawberries didn't grow or produce well.
Last year I planted those cute strawberries with the pink flowers like in the picture above. I don't remember what they were. I put them in the berry garden and got just a couple of strawberries from them and now most of those have died off. They also died off in those pots as well.
It is possible I have evolved into a strawberry serial killer since this year I am trying again.
The fig tree as you know was cut down (though it still lives, it isn't fooling me, they are worse than chickweed to kill) and so were a couple of other trees that had grown up to block sunlight from the upper berry garden. Today I picked up two packages of 10 roots each of Allstar strawberries. No there wasn't any research or planning on what variety. They were there in the store at the garden center counter, they were only $3 a package and I just took them.
So the research had to come afterwards.
Allstar strawberries are a midseason strawberry developed by the USDA at the University of Maryland and released to the public in 1981. It is a widely adapted variety that grows well from the East to the Midwest. It is highly resistant to red stele and moderately resistant to Verticillium wilt. It is also quite resistant to root rot (which may have been my problem with last years varieties).
I believe this year I will hill up a couple small rows. I don't usually hill up the dirt for strawberries but it couldn't hurt to try something different.
Oh, I also bought another blackberry plant. I am a blackberry killer as well. Now that I think I it, I tend to kill lots of berry plants and I really need to fix that problem this year.
I never knew there were pink flowering strawberries. All my strawberries produce white flowers. I have about six strawberry plants and they all seem to be doing well in my hanging baskets. I only just harvested the first of my strawberries today. May be the reason your strawberries aren't performing well is lack of sunlight after all. My plants get more than six hours of sunlight. They hang on the south side of my porch.
ReplyDeleteThe ones in the baskets were in full sun but probably didn't get watered enough. I am not sure about the ones on the hill. They should have done alright as the ones that had been planted in the tiers only got partial sun (the house shaded it some of the day) and they grew like crazy the first few years. Anyway, hopefully they will grow better this year with more sun and maybe I can remember to water them too, lol. Now if I can just keep the ants from eating the berries we might actually get some too.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your strawberries this year! I too keep trying but most fall victim to the birds and squirrels. The only ones that grow and survive to be picked are the tiny alpine ones- but you need a heck of lot of them to fill even a small bowl!!
ReplyDeleteWe have lots of wild ones here and I have used them before but they are hard and seedy.
ReplyDeleteStrawberries, greenhouses, pigs... I've missed a lot over the last three days, obviously! Home-grown strawberries are worlds apart from shop-bought ones which are bred only for looks and durability, not taste.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog!
ReplyDeleteYour strawberry serial killer comment cracked me up...but I think you may have bought a variety that can stand up to your killing ways. ;)
Our garden, luckily, is in full sun so the strawberries have done well. We have wild blackberries on our property so we don't need to grow any, and they seem pretty hearty. Best of luck with your efforts this year!
p.s. you have a very nice blog...great categories!
ReplyDeleteTeresa which one is your blog. I can't see your profile so I can't tell.
ReplyDeleteYes Mark, we have had some fun this week and gotten some things done that we (I) have been wanting to do for a while.
I too have problems with strawberries - I'm very good at growing runners, not good at growing the actual berries - also due to shade. This year I too plan to have another go. But I'm thinking of growing mine in polystyrene fruit boxes, I just have to find a good spot for them though. If only they weren't soooo delicious I wouldn't bother but they are so we just keep trying.
ReplyDeleteWhat I really want is a strawberry tower right out in the middle of the lawn/weeds but I haven't found anything to build one out of yet.
ReplyDeleteNow I think I should make a plot for strawberries: I have a small corner, can be good for strawberries. Thanks for the idea: will built a box tomorrow for it. Check out my tomatoes...:)
ReplyDeleteWhere are your tomatoes? I looked at your blog but didn't find them.
DeleteI have seen a great strawberry wall that I would love my builder to make for me.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I have seen a few of those too. They are nice.
DeleteYou sure are busy! I've yet to grow strawberries, another thing on the list!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever seen pink flowered strawberries! I'll have to have a look online to find some, they sure are pretty!
ReplyDeleteThey make long pointy strawberries that take forever to ripen all the way. The tip ripens and then the rest of the berry doesn't seem to want to.
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