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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

No fruit is more likely to provide home gardeners with success
and satisfaction than strawberries. Strawberries are well adapted
to our climate, require a very small investment, and will produce
a good crop of fruit about 13 months after planting. Strawberry
plants will bear every year if blossoms are protected from frost
by mulching and will produce a good crop of berries for up to four
years.

Before planting
Select the best site. Strawberries need full sun. Soil should
have good surface and internal drainage. Ideally, the organic
matter content should be about 5 percent, although strawberries
will grow in soil that has as little as 2 percent organic matter.
Take a soil test. During the fall before planting, take a soil
sample to your local University Extension center and have it
tested. If the soil test results indicate that additional
nutrients are needed before planting, incorporate them in late
winter. If the organic matter content is low, leaf mold, compost,
rotted manure or aged sawdust can be incorporated to improve the
soil tilth.

Decide how many to plant. You can expect to harvest about 1 quart of
berries from each plant you set out plus its daughter plants if
grown in a matted row system. Twenty-five to 50 plants will provide
plenty of fresh berries for a family of four. For freezing berries,
set out an additional 50 to 100 plants.

Purchase well-adapted cultivars.
In selecting varieties consider (1) disease resistance, (2) dessert
and freezing quality, (3) yield and (4) season of ripening. Always
purchase new plants rather than getting plants from neighbors or
relatives. New plants are certified to be free of disease and should
be free of viruses.

Buy your plants from a nursery with a good reputation, and check
garden watch dog just to be sure. Consult your neighbors to see
what their experience has been with various nurseries. If you are
the first in your area to order strawberries, look at catalogs from

A variety of nurseries. Do they guarantee disease-free plants?
What is their policy if you get poor-quality plants from them? Do
their descriptions give cultivar limitations as well as positive
traits? Do their prices seem fair? Within reason, it is always better
to pay a little more for high quality plants than to spend less for
cheaper, weaker plants. The following is a list of some of the more
popular varieties:

Earliglow.
An early-season cultivar that produces berries that have
outstanding flavor. Fruit is attractive with high quality, and it
freezes very well. The primary berries are medium-sized and
secondary berries are small. The plant is vigorous and usually
winter hardy. Shows resistance to leaf and root diseases.

Cardinal.
Vigorous plants produce high yields of large fruit in
early midseason. Fruit are firm and have good flavor. Plants are
winter tender but often are planted as far north as zone 5. Plants
are not resistant to red stele but are resistant to leaf diseases.

Honeoye.
Berries are medium-large and bright red but sometimes lack
good flavor. High yields are harvested in early midseason.
Tolerant of most foliage diseases but not resistant to red stele
or verticillium wilt. Excellent for freezing. Winter hardy.

Redchief.
Berries are medium-large, sweet and have exceptional
quality. This cultivar is resistant to five strains of red stele
root disease and verticillium wilt. It produces runners freely,
and the berries are harvested in early midseason. Excellent for
freezing.

Surecrop.
Berries are large, light-colored and tart with fair
quality. This is one of the most productive, vigorous and
disease-resistant cultivar available. Berries ripen in early
midseason.

Allstar.
Berries ripen in late midseason. They are large, glossy,
orange-red, firm and very good quality for fresh eating. Allstar
is resistant to red stele and verticillium wilt and is tolerant
of leaf diseases.

Guardian.
A late midseason cultivar with moderate to high yield
potential of medium to large fruit. Excellent fruit firmness
and very good flavor. Susceptible to leaf spot but resistant
to leaf scorch, red stele and verticillium wilt.

Jewel.
Plants produce high yields of large wedge-shaped fruit with
good firmness and very good flavor that ripens in late
midseason. Plants should be hardy in most Missouri winters,
but runners do not grow excessively. It has some resistance
to leaf diseases but no resistance to red stele or verticillium
wilt.

Lateglow.
A late-season cultivar with high yield potential. Fruit
are very large with excellent firmness and very good flavor.
The plants are resistant to red stele and will tolerate most
Missouri winters.

Sparkle.
An old favorite with fruit that ripens late in the season.
Berries tend to be soft and medium-sized, but have very good
flavor. Plants bloom late so they may escape spring frost injury.
They are resistant to the most common strain of red stele but
susceptible to leaf diseases and verticillium wilt.

Everbearing and day-neutral cultivars

Traditional everbearing cultivars such as Ogallala and Ozark
Beauty are not truly everbearing. They tend to produce a crop
in the spring and a small crop in the fall, with little or no
crop in between.

Ogallala berries are medium sized and dark colored with a fair
flavor.

Ozark Beauty produces medium-sized, light-colored berries of
average quality and has been extremely variable in its
performance in Missouri.

Day-neutral cultivars can potentially produce flower buds,
and fruit can be harvested about every six weeks regardless
of day length. However, these cultivars do not initiate floral
buds when the temperature exceeds 85 degrees F. Thus, day-
neutral cultivars such as Tribute and Tristar generally produce
a spring and fall crop in most of zone 5.

Tribute plants produce moderate to high yields.
Berries are large, have excellent firmness and very good
flavor. The plants have good winter hardiness, are resistant
to red stele and verticillium wilt and tolerant of the leaf
diseases.

Tristar plants produce moderate yields. Berries are medium
to large and have excellent firmness and outstanding flavor.
These plants have good winter hardiness, are resistant to
red stele and verticillium wilt and are tolerant of the leaf
diseases.

At planting
Plant as early as soil is workable in the spring: early
March to early April. Test for workability by digging a shovel
full of soil and tightly squeezing a handful. Does the ball of
soil break easily? If so, it is ready to till. Add 10 pounds
of compost per 1,000 square feet and work into the upper 3
to 4 inches of soil. Plants can now be transplanted.

Space rows 42 to 48 inches apart; plants in the row should be
spaced 30 to 36 inches apart. When setting out plants, (1)
keep the roots moist at all times; (2) spread roots out in
hole; (3) plant at proper depth (see home page photo); and
(4) water plants (you can add 1 T of a water-soluble fish
emulsion or dry molasses per gallon of transplant willow water).

First-year care
Remove blossoms. Remove blooms on newly planted strawberries.
If berries are allowed to develop, they deplete the food reserves
of the plant and delay runner production.

Cultivate.
Perhaps the most important practice in a new strawberry
planting is cultivation. For the first six weeks or so it
should be frequent, perhaps once a week. This does two things:
(1) kills weeds, and (2) loosens soil for better runner penetration.
(Omit if you mulch heavily.)

Train runners.
To establish manageable rows, train runners to root in the row
rather than the aisle between rows unless you plant in beds.

Irrigate.
Strawberries can survive all but the most severe drought periods.
However, irrigate to get the highest yields of large berries.
Strawberries should have a minimum of 1 inch of water per week
a bit more during prolonged hot, dry periods. A simple rain
gauge will determine weekly rainfall. Irrigate to make up
for rainfall deficiencies.

Mulching.
Winter mulch is used to prevent alternate freezing and
thawing of the soil and subsequent heaving of the plants out
of the
soil. Other benefits of mulching include help in controlling
weeds and grass, protection from severe cold temperatures and
help in keeping berries clean during harvest.

Kinds of mulches.
Many materials can be used for mulching; The two most commonly
used mulches are straw and aged sawdust. Obtain straw shortly
after wheat harvest. Loosen bales and soak with water. This and
subsequent rains should germinate most of the grain before it
is time to apply the straw.

When to apply mulches. Apply straw mulch in late November or
early
December after a few days of temperatures down to 20 degrees F.
Straw should be sifted loosely over the plants, just enough to
cover them from view. After a week of settling, add additional
straw where necessary.

When sawdust is used for a mulch, try to maintain a 1-inch
mulch depth. No additional winter protection is needed.

Second- and third-year care:
Remove mulch. Remove straw mulch in the spring as the weather
begins to warm (before bloom). Check closely after each warm
period (late February through March); if the strawberry foliage
begins to show yellowing, remove the mulch. Rake mulch toward
row aisles, but leave a light sprinkling on the plants; they
will push through. If spring frosts threaten, rake the mulch
back over the plants. But be sure to rake off the mulch during
the day. Control insects and diseases. Many pest problems can
be avoided by using good cultural practices, beneficial insects
& companion planting.

Harvest.
Pick berries daily if possible and pick all berries that are
ripe. Toss out all moldy berries for your chickens. This will
help prevent rots from spreading.

Renovate and fertilize. After harvest decide what to do with your
strawberry bed. The two options are

Simply re-fruit the bed by renovating the plants immediately
after harvest. First, remove weeds from row middles. Next,
mow old tops off of the strawberry plants to renovate or renew
the bed. Set lawn mower high enough to remove strawberry leaves
but not injure crowns. Then use a rototiller or spade to cut
each plant row to a 6-inch width. This sounds drastic, but do
it! Runner plants from the 6-inch strip of "mother" plants will
form a new matted row of plants.

Apply about 1-1/2 to 2 inches of water a week to the newly
forming bed during June, July and August (include rainfall
in total). To prevent overcrowding of plants and reduce the
incidence of leaf diseases, thin plants to 5 to 7 plants per
square foot. This method of renovation can be used to fruit
the strawberry bed for a total of three or four years. During
the rest of the growing season, irrigate to provide 1 inch of
water per week, and continue to control weeds.

Replant beds after harvesting berries for three or four years.
After several years, strawberry plants tend to become infected
with several leaf diseases and have declining yields. When this
occurs, plants infected with diseases may be removed and a
different crop can be planted on this site. Establish a new
strawberry bed next spring where another crop was previously
planted. To avoid infecting new strawberry plants with
verticillium wilt, do not plant them where tomatoes,
potatoes, peppers, eggplant, okra, raspberries or vine crops
 were planted within the past three years.

Diseases
Black root rot is caused by soil fungi, nematodes, winter injury,
fertilizer burn, drought, too much water or any combination of
these. Plants show poor vigor, produce few runner plants and may
die in patches. Roots may be spotted with black zones or lack feeder
roots, or the entire root system may be killed. Infected roots are
black when cut in a cross section. There is no way to control black
root rot. However, proper cultural practices that minimize plant
stress should limit this disease. If a bed becomes infected with
black root rot, plant a new bed in different location, and use only
healthy, white-rooted plants.

Red stele root rot is caused by a soil-borne fungus and occurs most
frequently on poorly drained sites with clay soils. The fungus is
most active in the spring and fall when soils are cold and wet.
Small feeder roots are killed, giving a "rat tail" appearance. Main
roots that are infected have rusty-red color in the core or stele.
Plants may wilt and die during hot, dry conditions. To avoid this
disease, plant only red-stele-resistant varieties and plant in a
well-drained site in a loamy soil.

Leaf spot and leaf scorch are two common foliage diseases. Leaf spot
produces spots 1/8 to 1/4 inch in diameter with purple borders and
light gray centers. Leaf scorch produces small solid purple spots
with rather undefined borders. When numerous they almost cover the
entire leaf. Cultivars vary considerably in tolerance to these
diseases. Foliage fungicides aid in the control of these diseases.

Verticillium wilt is caused by a soil-borne fungus. In new
strawberry plantings, symptoms appear about the time runners start
to grow. In established plantings, symptoms appear when the berries
ripen. Older outer leaves of infected plants wilt, turn brown around
the edges and between the veins and eventually die. Petioles of the
leaves may also turn red. Few new leaves develop and new roots that
grow from the crown are short and have blackened tips. To avoid this
disease, select resistant strawberry cultivars and avoid sites that
were previously planted with wilt-susceptible crops.

Gray mold is caused by the fungus Botrytis, which overwinters on
plant debris on the ground. During bloom the fungus may be spread to
blossoms during rainy weather, and the infection then spreads to the
developing fruit. This disease often occurs where a dead petal or
leaf adheres to the fruit or where a berry touches the soil. The
disease appears as a gray, fuzzy mass of fungal spores on berries.
To prevent this disease, thin plants to improve air circulation
within the bed and use straw mulch. Fungicides may also be applied.

Leather rot is caused by a fungus that infects the berries when
ripening fruit clusters are in contact with the soil or standing in
water after a period of warm, rainy weather. Infected immature fruit
turns brown. On ripening fruit, the color becomes bleached out and
infected areas are tough and dry. Berries taste bitter and smell
rotten. A single infected berry can ruin the flavor of a whole jar
of jam. To prevent this disease, use a mulch to minimize rain splash
onto the fruit, or fungicides may be applied.

Viruses may stunt plant growth or cause mottling or curling of
leaves. They are introduced by insects such as aphids or
leafhoppers. To prevent viruses, use certified plants and control
these insects.

Insects and other pests
Tarnished plant bugs cause deformed or "nubbin" berries with a
concentration of seeds at the tip of the fruit. Nymphs puncture
individual seeds and inject a toxin so that the fleshy part of the
berry stops developing where the seed was injured. Damaged seeds are
hollow and turn a straw-brown color. Plant bugs are often in
alfalfa; to prevent the bugs from feeding on strawberries, avoid
mowing alfalfa when strawberry plants are in bloom.

Leafrollers are small worms that roll the leaves together and feed
on the leaves. They must be controlled if they become numerous with
beneficial insects and companion plantings.

Mites are tiny, spiderlike creatures that are typically found on the
underside of leaves. Mites tend to be the most damaging during hot,
dry periods, when they suck plant juices from the leaves. Simply wash
them off with soapy water.

Strawberry weevils or clippers puncture fruit buds with their snouts
to feed on immature pollen. Later, females deposit an egg inside a
floral bud and girdle the petiole of the bud so that it falls to the
ground or is left hanging by a small bit of tissue.

Slugs eat holes in ripe fruit and are worse during rainy weather or
near rotting foliage. Shiny slime trails are evidence of slugs. If
you'll let your poultry free range your berry patch during winter,
they'll find and eat many slugs and slug eggs.  Lightning bugs also
eat slug eggs.

Nematodes are found in the soil and are too small to be seen with
the naked eye. Most nematodes feed on roots. Symptoms of nematode
damage include galls on the roots or stubby, stunted roots. To
avoid a buildup of nematodes, rotate plantings to a different site
when establishing new beds, or heavily plant marigolds which chase
bad nematodes away.

Causes of malformed fruit
"Nubbins" or "button berries" may be caused by feeding tarnished
plant bugs, heavy infestations of cyclamen mites, frost
injury, nutrient deficiencies (boron, calcium), inadequate
pollination, abnormally high temperatures that make pollen
nonviable,  from August 1 to November 1, when fruit buds are
differentiating. Keeping a diverse mulch between plants will
feed the soil life and help your plants avoid deficiencies.

Fasciated berries, those that have a cockscomb shape as if several
berries have grown together with multiple tips, are caused by short
day-lengths in the fall or by cold, dry weather during this time.
Fasciated fruit often occurs when cultivars adapted to northern
conditions are grown in the south.

--
Bevanron of EarthNSky Farm   Sleep well tonight, for somewhere in the 
ocean's depths, MY son is protecting YOUR freedom.