Start planning – and planting – for sweet summer strawberries.
It’s hard to imagine a June garden without the mouth-watering flavour of strawberries, and the good news is, planted now, both the everbearing and day neutral varieties will produce fruit this year.
For serious strawberry growers, however, the June bearing varieties still produce high volumes of very large and flavourful fruit. Traditionally, strawberries are planted now, develop into good-sized plants over the summer and fall, then produce great crops next year. You will get a few fruits the first year, but they’re just a tease for next season. The flower buds of June berries are initiated in the shorter days of autumn, then produce good crops the following June.
After speaking with Mr. Tom Bauman, a professor with the Agriculture Technology Department at the University of the Fraser Valley, here are some of the better June bearing varieties for home gardens:
• Hood: This variety has very large, round, red cone-shaped berries on upright vigorous plants. It is one of the sweetest varieties and is terrific fresh and for jams.
• Rainier: The good-sized berries of this variety maintain their size all through the season with great flavour.
• Stolo: A relatively new release providing high yields of very large, firm, excellent-quality fruit.
• Totem: This is a very hardy variety developed at the Canada Research Station in
Agassiz. It is still a favourite for productivity and good-sized fruit.
• Puget Reliance: The beauty of this variety is its generous crops of very large fruit and its reliability to produce in a wide range of growing conditions. It is more resistant to fruit rot in wet springs and is one of the earliest to produce.
Everbearing varieties have the unique ability to initiate fruit buds during both short and long days, providing more continuous crops. The day neutral varieties will produce fruit under all day lengths and are perhaps the most productive, providing tasty berries all summer and into the fall.
Another distinct advantage of the everbearing types is that they can flower and produce fruit and runners all at the same time. The runners will produce fruit even without rooting, and this unique ability makes them ideal for growing in containers, hanging baskets and other unusual garden situations. They will also provide good quality fruit the first year. Some of the top everbearing varieties are:
• Albion:A California variety producing very high yields of large, firm fruit with an attractive pink interior. It also produces very evenly throughout a long season.
• Fort Laramie: This variety is noted for its vast runner production and is often sold as a climbing variety. It has good-sized, very flavourful fruit.
• Quinault: Still one of the best everbearing varieties, it has good-sized, very flavourful fruit.
• Diamante: Another California variety providing good crops of large fruit with medium flavour, red internal colour and a great shelf life. It has significant flushes of fruits throughout the season.
• Tristar:This variety is still one of the most popular day neutrals. It has medium-sized flavourful berries and is very disease tolerant.
• Seascape: This is a newer introduction with high-quality, flavourful fruits that are red all the way through. It also stands up very well in late summer rains.
• Eversweet: The medium- to large-sized berries of this variety are noted for their high sugar content.
For the best results, all strawberries need a sunny location and good drainage. Growing them in raised beds or hilled rows creates not only good drainage but also warmer soil. They love moisture, but it must drain away quickly to prevent root rot. Although slightly acid-loving, well-rotted manures, worked into the soil will help get strawberry plants off to a good start. When setting out the plants, it is very important to plant them to a depth that just covers the roots, but not the stem. Planted too shallow or too deep can cause them to dry out or to rot.
A well-balanced fertilizer like the old-fashioned 6-8-6, used as a side dressing, will help get them off to a good start. Once flowers set, use 10-15-19 (or similar) fertilizer to really size up the berries. If we get a dry spell during the ripening stage, and this applies to the everbearing and the day-neutrals, make sure you water thoroughly and deeply to keep the plants actually growing and to maintain their sweetness.
March is a great time to begin planting, so find a spot in your garden for some wonderful flavour this year and for years to come.
Brian Minter is a master gardener who operates Minter Gardens in Chilliwack.
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