My strawberries were REALLY small last year.

We put in new raised beds and I transplanted strawberries in October 2004. I was expecting these big beautiful strawberries in the summer of 2005 but it didn't happen. All the strawberries were very small--about the size of the end of my finger. The taste was not what I had hoped for either. I fertilized them with an all-purpose slow-release type but it didn't help. Even the strawberries grown in another area of the garden were the same. The plants were about 12 inches apart. Runners were cut off. Some were June-bearing and others everbearing.

What can I do to prevent such a disappointing year again.

I had a very disappointing year with my strawberries last year, too. I was thinking that maybe it was just too wet - because we got an extraordinary amount of rain last year. I am thinking of pulling up all the strawberry plants in my box and starting over with something new.

Did you get a lot of rain last year, too?

Last Summer was a mixed season for my strawberries.
My June bearers did great and my 'Day Neutral' Tristars did poorly.
I suspect the Tristars are just getting old. Every 2 years I transplant some young ones to start a new bed but after a dozen years with them they may have lost their vigor. I'm ordering fresh plants for this spring.
I don't know if a wet season would affect the harvest. About 5 years ago in the months of July and August we had heavy rain nearly every day. The Tristars produced fine, I called them my Monsoon berries.
Andy P

We had a very wet cool spring followed by sudden heat, then SNOW. After that the summer was quite dry. I don't know if I watered them too much or too little after that.

Linda,
Strawberries make their minature fruit [bud] formation in the fall [June bearers]. If transplanting was too stressful and they didn't get over that enough before winter, that might have hurt the size etc.
I like to establish them earlier in cold areas.

This message was edited Jan 31, 2006 4:13 PM

Thanks for the help. Hope they are better this year. I wanted to transplant them earlier, but health problems prevented it.

I've never grown strawberries, but want to try. The strawberries in the grocery stores are not exactly tasty. Has anyone tried growing them in the pottery containers that have the holes to stick the plants in? Does that work well? I live in Texas, so they have to tolerate some heat.