Houston Strawberries

feldon30 · March 28, 2007

There is a very interesting article written by TAMU about growing strawberries in South Texas. It is written with a smarmy but useful style which nails some of the important issues that hold so many people back.

Most of the strawberry plants one finds at the local stores are Everbearing (some call them Neverbearing). These varieties generally produce just a few small, malformed berries throughout the Houston heat and humidity. I have sought out (unsuccessfully) Junebearing varieties which are supposed to do well in Houston but have rarely seen them at local nurseries.

After growing some of these Quinault "everbearing" strawberry plants in containers with poor results, I got "serious" about it and purchased 25 Chandler strawberry plants over the Internet last fall. I received the bare-root plants in mid-October and after keeping them alive for a couple of days with frequent sprays of water, I carefully planted them in well-amended (4 bags of composted manure, peat, bark, etc.), somewhat acidic soil.

I took great pains to get the crowns at exactly the right height. If the plants are planted too deep, the crown will rot. Too shallow and the crown will dry out. And if the roots are not planted perfectly straight down but instead the roots form a "J" shape at the bottom of the hole, the plants will be stunted. Suffice it to say it took me over an hour to plant these 25 plants. Over the season I only lost 2 plants.

In January, we had a few warm days which triggered blossoming, but I pinched those off. I covered the plants with blankets during some of the worst weather over December and January. It looks like I have been rewarded for my efforts:

Click for Larger Size

Click for Larger Size

Right now I am getting 1-2 strawberries per day, but that should ramp up to enough for making my own strawberry topping for pancakes.

So the question is, will I keep the plants around? Some people let them grow daughter plants and let 1 daughter plant take root to replace each parent plant. Others rip the plants out and order new ones. The shipping cost would make this prohibitive for me. I think it is more likely that I will arrange a trip to Austin and go to a pick-your-own farm for $2.50 a pound and no entry fee.

A fun experiment I may or may not repeat. In the same square footage, blackberries and raspberries are far more productive.

March 28, 2007	#1
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	Houston Strawberries There is a very interesting article written by TAMU about growing strawberries in South Texas. It is written with a smarmy but useful style which nails some of the important issues that hold so many people back. Most of the strawberry plants one finds at the local stores are Everbearing (some call them Neverbearing). These varieties generally produce just a few small, malformed berries throughout the Houston heat and humidity. I have sought out (unsuccessfully) Junebearing varieties which are supposed to do well in Houston but have rarely seen them at local nurseries. After growing some of these Quinault "everbearing" strawberry plants in containers with poor results, I got "serious" about it and purchased 25 Chandler strawberry plants over the Internet last fall. I received the bare-root plants in mid-October and after keeping them alive for a couple of days with frequent sprays of water, I carefully planted them in well-amended (4 bags of composted manure, peat, bark, etc.), somewhat acidic soil. I took great pains to get the crowns at exactly the right height. If the plants are planted too deep, the crown will rot. Too shallow and the crown will dry out. And if the roots are not planted perfectly straight down but instead the roots form a "J" shape at the bottom of the hole, the plants will be stunted. Suffice it to say it took me over an hour to plant these 25 plants. Over the season I only lost 2 plants. In January, we had a few warm days which triggered blossoming, but I pinched those off. I covered the plants with blankets during some of the worst weather over December and January. It looks like I have been rewarded for my efforts: Click for Larger Size Click for Larger Size Right now I am getting 1-2 strawberries per day, but that should ramp up to enough for making my own strawberry topping for pancakes. So the question is, will I keep the plants around? Some people let them grow daughter plants and let 1 daughter plant take root to replace each parent plant. Others rip the plants out and order new ones. The shipping cost would make this prohibitive for me. I think it is more likely that I will arrange a trip to Austin and go to a pick-your-own farm for $2.50 a pound and no entry fee. A fun experiment I may or may not repeat. In the same square footage, blackberries and raspberries are far more productive.