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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Another one from James on strawberries

> Please explain the whole day neutral thing to me...

Bev, this has probably been covered adequately but there are three 
schemes of
strawberries:  June bearing, everbearing, and day neutral.   What has 
passed
for years as "everbearing" really aren't.  They bear a big crop, usually in
June, and then one or two (usually one)  smaller crops later on.

Both June bearing and "everbearing" strawberries, as you read, measure the
length of the night and when it's short enough, they are triggered to 
blossom
and fruit.

This trait is missing in day neutral plants.  As soon as it's warm 
enough to
grow, the set on a flower cluster and mature the berries.  About six weeks
later they do the same thing with pretty much the same size crop, and 
again, and
again,  until frost nips the last blossoms and then they go dormant.

I've found the plants live a long time and produce a longs time, five years
or more.  They set a lot of runners but sometimes as many as three out 
of four
will be puny and make small plants of weak growth.  As soon as the runner
roots, feel it's girth and if it's stem thin, get rid of it.  Same as 
they set
berries periodically all summer, they set runners periodically all 
summer too
(between crops usually) and you do a lot of elimination of runners.

The two varieties I've grown are Tristar and Tribute.  Both are excellent
berries, modest sized as berries go but unlike some which are hollow or 
white
inside, both these varieties are dark red to the center and solid.  The 
Tristar
plants petered out after the second year and so I've not replaced them but
rather have all Tribute plants now.  Too bad, too, those were really good
strawberries.  I have some fourth generation plants in the bed and I 
can't tell much
difference between those and the originals (provided I grub out the little
ones).
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--
Bevanron of EarthNSky Farm   Sleep well tonight, for somewhere in the 
ocean's depths, MY son is protecting YOUR freedom.