Alpine Strawberrys

Last Christmas I purchased a pack of Alpine Strawberry seeds and planted them in seed pots under my grow light. I followed the instructions exactly, as I have heard that they are very hard to germinate. I used seed mix and carefully laid the seeds on top (they were very small) and then gently sprinkled a little sand on them to keep them touching the mix as they germinated. In all, I planted about 70 seeds. Of those, 16 germinated & when I moved them to the garden 14 survived (almost perfect for the 4X4 Square Foot Garden grid I had set up for them). From what I understand they do not have runners and next year I should be able to split two of the plants apart to complete the grid of 16.

This week I can see the first couple of flowers, if you look carefullly you can see one of them in the pic.

I have a wire mesh tunnel hooked onto a wood base covered with 50% shade cloth & bird net on each end. This should protect them from birds and the hot Texas sun, they are located in the center of the garden with full sun all day long.

They seem to be doing great, I hope that they are as good as advertised. Has anyone else grown these in Central Texas?

Kirk

I haven't grown them, but they look great and you have done a lovely job.

Lucky! I tried but was unsuccessful with them. Where did you find your seeds? Were they the Semanti from Italy?

The seeds were Ruegen Alpine Strawberry from Pinetree Garden Seeds www.superseeds.com - only $1.50.

I forgot, I actually got them in November and put them in the freezer for a month before I planted them (pack said to cold treat first).

Germination was very weird, several weeks and then about 6 sprouted. Much patience was required since it took another 8 weeks + before the remainder of them came up one at a time (little tiny leaves). I had the pots setting in a pool of water about 1/2 inch deep to keep them moist. I checked it every other day. I heard that they need light to germinate so I kept the grow lights on everyday.

Because it took so long for them all to sprout the older ones got spindly, but they still did OK when I planted them.

After seeing your little beauties, I'm going to try again! Thanks!!

Yes KirkH ~ please continue to post your success.

I am interested as I dabbled with the idea of ordering these earlier this spring...
from here http://store.underwoodgardens.com/searchprods.asp but resisted temptation.

I will be curious to see how yours do. Kristi

I understand the seeds are a good winter sowing candidate. Hmmmmm, might be worth a try!

Odd but when I heard of Alpine strawberries, I did not think they would be suited to Texas heat.

I thought so too, alpine sounds so much like a high mountain plant. But, the pack says zones 5-8. We shall see :-)

I have been growing them in morning sun since last year through the heat and drought.
I bought a wilder variety of Alpine Strawberry that has lots of runners.
I bought a wild regular variety of Strawberry off of Ebay this year. The person said they spread so fast that they covered a location as big as my whole yard in a year or two.
So far, it hasnt disappointed. It is spreading like a weed and just one plant has turned into 12 so far.
The yields are pretty small as well as the fruit but it has a nice taste. I am hoping they will have larger yields once they are fully established.

KirkH , where do you get your shade cloth ? I want to make fold up shades for my porch in south Texas . I have some that was given me but don't think I have enough . Thanks .

Digger, I got it in the garden center of Home Depot.

Duh , I'll look there . As much as I buy from them, I think they should give me some stock . Preciate it , thanks .

Alpine Strawberry plants are still looking healthy and look here :-) my first strawberry is almost ready to pick. I moved some leaves around to get a good picture.

It look like it will be yummy!

My Alpine Strawberries are doing good in the shade and part sun this year too. The berries are small but very rich.
The wild Strawberries I bought off Ebay are still spreading like mad. Some went from sprouts to five feet long in runners in just a few months. Their taste is getting much better with the heat. I started putting their runners in hanging baskets and they are flowing to the ground. I really hope they will take the heat this summer. I put one in full day sun and it is doing fine so far.

jujubetexas, are your wild strawberries strawberries or are they strawberry spinach? Just wondering purely as an academic question. Those sound really cool for a hanging basket, good idea!

Also, not to highjack the thead or anything, but DH and I go on country drives on Sunday afternoons. We drove past someone's garden and I saw something very cool. They had all sorts of strawberries growing in one of those blue, plastic 55 gal. drum set ups. The drum had holes spaced around the sides and top through which the strawberries were growing. There was a white PVC pipe sticking out of the top. I've not seen anything like it before and thought that looked pretty cool. We stopped and honked as we were way out in the country and that seems to be the standard proceedure out here, but no one seemed to be at home. Does anyone know what I saw? It looked like a cool DIY project.

I've got a very small patch of Alpine strawberries growing under one of my roses. I don't every see any ripe strawberries as the birds get them (or one of my dogs--the strawberry loving one) which is fine. But I want to grow the regular kind for jam and dont' want to share so much.

Nope.
They are wild aggressive growing Strawberries.
I am familiar with the plant you are mentioning but these are just your standard Strawberries that just spread like crazy.

OK, thanks for the info! They sound very cool!

What are these wild strawberries that have no flavor at all ? In Michigan wild strawberries were very good , just small .

Hi all, I also got some Alpine seeds and was able to start them very easy in the AeroGarden. Repotted them and moved to a very small GH. Didnot progress at all. Same size for the last 6 weeks.

The alpine strawberry plants have been producing strawberrys now for several weeks. With the sunscreen there has been no problem with the Texas heat. The little strawberrys look great and smell/taste remarkable. But they are so small and fragile. For me it is not worth picking them and bringing them into the house. Nice to pick and eat out in the garden though.

I think that when it cools off this Fall I will dig them up & put them in pots. I have 14 of them, I wonder if I could sell them on Craig's list.

This message was edited Jun 30, 2012 4:48 PM

I decided to test the wild Strawberries growing power by putting it in this hanging basket.
It sent out 6 runners and some of them are already down past the rail on the stairs. I dont believe the runners will flower unless they are in soil but it sure is pretty.



This message was edited Jul 6, 2012 10:24 AM

Is that a rain barrel back behind ?

2000 gallons!
All we need now is some rain.
It is down to the last 150 gallons.

Seascape Strawberries in an eBucket (pictorial).

That is pretty nice.

Thanks, Jujube,
But, I am pretty impressed that KirkH started all his strawberries from SEEDS!!!! I LOVE to grow things from seeds!

KirkH,
I'm gonna need a tutorial from you!