Strawberry Season in PG

By Jos Van Hage

Many local gardens are producing fresh strawberries now. There is no strawberry sweeter than a freshly picked strawberry directly from the garden, and if you have a large amount they are easy to freeze or make into pies and jams. Strawberries grow well in our area with a few varieties that have become very popular.

When choosing a variety of strawberries you can pick from two different types and these are the June bearing or the day-neutral/ ever-bearing. Day neutral types are those that produce one heavy crop of berries per year in late June early July. These are great if you want to do a lot of jams or freezing as you get it all done in a couple of weeks. The ever-bearing types are those that produce a crop in late June/early July and then produce less heavily throughout the summer and into fall until killed by a frost. These tend to be the more popular type as you can enjoy fresh berries throughout the summer season.

If you are looking for a good June-bearing variety, the Totem is a good one and has been around in local gardens for the past 25 years. It is a vigorous hardy plant that survives our winter as well as being tolerant of virus disease. The large, red, firm berries good taste and are excellent for freezing and processing.

Day-neutral types are excellent for our area as they flower and set fruit regardless of how many hours of sunlight they receive. Of these the ‘Tri-star’ is a good variety that grows well here. Fruit is large and sweet with a good yield that will bear fruit well into September.

Often in September we get a couple of night frosts that will freeze the young immature fruit, but if you cover the plants at night with ‘Reemay’ and take it off during the day you can lengthen the fruit producing season. The plant is hardy to withstand our winters and is almost disease free. Another day-neutral is the Quinault which bears a moderate early crop and a heavier second crop in mid summer. Patio gardening is becoming very popular and strawberries grow well in pots especially Ft. Laramie because of the many runners it produces. Tri-Star is also suitable for containers.

When planting strawberries choose a sunny spot in a well-drained soil that is slightly acidic. Strawberries do well planted in hills or in a raised bed, however will also grow if just planted in the garden. This time of the year you would be buying the plants already growing and these are planted at the same level in the soil as they are in the container. In the spring the roots are available and these are easily planted in the garden, but it is important to plant them with the crown above ground level. Water plants well and thoroughly throughout the season as they have a shallow root system. Fertilize once in spring and then again in late July with a berry fertilizer. Strawberry plants produce runners, which can either be left on the plant to produce more plants or taken off the plant by cutting them off.

By about the third or fourth year you will notice that the berries will become smaller and this means that the plants are getting old. The old plants should be taken out and replaced with new young plants. It is not necessary but I like to move to another area of the garden when I replace my plants.

Email | Print | Facebook | Twitter | Digg | Del.icio.us