Catch-Up: Strawberries, Strawberries and More Strawberries

I started the garden in late March, so here's what you missed Strawberry Edition...

In May last year, I found out I was too late to start growing strawberries. So, this year, I started early with one of those Complete Strawberry Growing Kits. The kit included 10 Ozark beauty strawberry plants, a bag of potting soil and a glazed ceramic planter. I followed the directions, but I think I may have smothered the poor dears. The plants were what they call bare roots, one short dead looking stem and no leaves. I wasn't sure how to plant them and there was no picture.

Had I looked this up on the Internet first, I would have learned that I should have soaked the roots first.

So, I tried again with another kit. I got an adorable little stem with a leaf.:

This is my first strawberry sign of life. I've since learned that this is a runner.

A small leaf eventually emerged from the original kit that I thought I killed:

Strawberry leaf emerges to my surprise in the plant I thought I killed.

Now, both plants are growing, but it didn't look like I was going to get flowers this year. This is what they look like now:

My original Ozark Beauties today. What is growing on the right side of the in the pot on the right? I have no idea, but it sure does not look like a strawberry plant.

Strawberry leaves usually come in threes and have ridges:

There is something un-strawberry-like growing in my first planter:

If you have any idea what that could be, please comment.

In any event, I was in the garden store a few weeks ago and saw some very healthy and hearty Sequoia strawberry plants. I couldn't help myself, so I tried again with these plants. They've flowered, but I've pulled the flowers as I have learned through Internet research that the flowers should be pulled off in the first group to ensure a healthier and more productive plant.

My first strawberry flower.

Here are the new Sequoia strawberries as they look today:

I'm starting to get some new growth where I picked the flowers:

What I've Learned About Strawberries

1. They like acidic soil of a pH of 5.3-6.5. So, you have to add peat and/or something like Holly-tone, both of which smell terrible. Those pH detectors don't work all that well either. I tried both the meter and soil testing kinds and the results were odd. pure Canadian sphagnum peat moss (that's supposed to have a pH of about 4.5) and pure Holly-tone came out with high pH results. I'm still confused about this, but the plants are growing and the third group I tried have flowered, so something is working there.

2. There are many varieties, but three basic kinds. The three basic kinds are Day Neutral, Juneberries and Everbearing, the latter having three flowering and fruitingseasons, spring, summer and fall. My plants are Everbearing. I am supposed to pull all flowers that appear until the end of June and then I can let 'em rip.

3. It is considered advisable to start with the bare root plants because they are less susceptible to disease. However, the Sequoia that started as full plants are doing better than my Ozark Beauties that came as bare roots. That's probably because I did not know to soak the roots before planting.

4. Strawberries are fairly hearty plants and can stand to be outside in a light frost or inside. Right now, my plants are inside along my western window wall. I read that I should bring them outside in June for the warm summer months and then bring them back inside. Next year, if I don't kill them, I should have a better harvest.

5. The plants I have are supposed to be self-pollinating, no bees required. Or so they say, I might need to play bee with wind or a Q-tip (possibly a curious cat). I hope I don't need bees:


Next time, blueberries meet cranberries or bye bye to the Ocean Spray guys in the bog.