Need strawberry recommendation for hot/humid climate.

I presently have two beds of Eversweet strawberries. This is their second year. I'm considering changing to a different variety. Any recommendations for a day neutral strawberry for this area?

Thanks,

Karen

LSU recommends Chandler, Strawberry Festival, Camarosa and Earliglow. You can find this information at the LSUagcenter. Just search for “home orchard”.
Oldjude

Thank you very much for the info. I'll look up those varieties.

Karen

Chandler should do excellent for you, as far as productivity. My problem is I just didn't like the flavor. Too tart. I'm considering Quinault.

I saw that Chandler is described as tart -- probably not my choice either. I also am looking at Quinault. Supposed to be big berries, excellent flavor, and productive. Do you know anyone who has grown Quinault?

Karen

Karen - Check out this site. http://www.willisorchards.com/category/Strawberry+Plants

BocaBob

Bob,

Thanks for the link.

Maybe I'm pushing it to want day neutral. Maybe I should be looking at an early June Bearing and a late June Bearing?

Karen

I think you will have a much crop with June bearing. My luck with day neutral has been poor. I got berries over a long period of the summer but never got enough to do more than just eat as I was in the garden. I would reccommend a early bearing variety and a late bearing variety which will spread your season over 4 to 6 weeks with a heavy crop during this time.
RED

Red,

I'm beginning to think that way. I got lots of berries all summer, but the problem was that they dried on the plants almost as soon as they ripened. Now that the weather is cooler, they are bearing very little although they're not drying up either.

Do you think a shadier area would help?

Karen

I think it is a characteristic of the variety. Strawberries are recommended for full sun. I just never have had any luck with everbearing strawberries.
RED

Red,

Thanks. I suggested the shadier area because a lot of full sun plants actually need to be in only partial sun here. I'll look into an early and late variety.

Karen

To the folks who grew everbearing varieties, did you plant them in September and pinch off blossoms until February, forcing them to operate like Junebearing varieties?

I didn't. I planted them in the spring and pinched the blossoms for the first three-four weeks. Those were my instructions from the nursery I bought them from. This is their second year, and I did the same thing this year as well.

I picked lots of berries in June and early July. Then after it got hot, I had lots of blossoms and fruit all summer but the fruit dried up almost immediately. Now that is is cooler I thought they would continue to produce and I would have some to pick -- but they are producing very little now. This is a repeat of last year's behavior.

I had good crops until the heat hit -- then nothing I could pick -- now when they are supposed to produce later and into the fall, they aren't.

Supposedly, Eversweet will produce well in hot, humid climates, even up to 100 degrees, but it doesn't appear to be working for me.

Karen

Karen
Dan Gill with the LSUagcenter recommends these for our climate. Tangi,’ ‘Chandler’ and ‘Camarosa. He has been my best source for zone 9 recommendations and has not let me down yet. I have tried so many plants that just don’t survive our hot humid climate.
Tropicals, we are so close to having them do well here except for those three or four freezes each winter.
Good luck with your selection!
Oldude

oldude,

Of those, which did you like the best for taste and production?

Karen

Karen
“Chandler” but I have not had a strawberry that I did not like. Tart, yes but I like the intense flavor and I probably eat strawberries in a different way than some folks. I always slice them in half and sprinkle with Splenda. Chandlers just need a little more splenda but what a knock your socks off flavor combination.
You may want to try a few different varieties to determine what you like.
Oldude

I usually slice them in half and sprinkle with a little sugar. I think it makes more juice for shortcake that way. But you consider Chandler best for production? I think the big box stores carry that variety every spring here.

Karen

Planting strawberries in spring seems to be a recipe for a very protracted, small harvest of poor quality berries. It just seems to me, stepping back and analyzing the situation, that strawberry plants need several months to get established before they start producing lots of high quality fruit.

I planted Chandler in September in sandy soil, taking particular care on root placement, and pinched off blossoms until February. I got over a pint of berries per plant. I was picking a plateful of berries every other day. But they were SO tart that the roommates ended up eating most of them.

I need to get on the ball and order my 25 plants of Quinault and get my garden bed ready for them.

This message was edited Sep 21, 2008 9:27 AM

The planting instructions I've seen for June bearers is to plant in the spring and pinch off all flowers for the first year. Chandler is a listed as a June bearer in some places and an everbearer in others, so planting in September and keeping the flowers picked off until spring would make sense to me.

Karen

I see that advice and kind of scratch my head since strawberry plants start to decline at 2 or 3 years. I wonder if that advice is being spread by the folks who sell strawberry cuttings. ;)

I guess we could do some tests of whether the 12 months gives the plants that much more "oomph" to produce good berries vs. 6 months. Of course it may depend a lot on climate too.

This message was edited Sep 21, 2008 9:04 PM

As I remember one of the reasons I got the everbearing was because I didn't want to have to fool with the plants for an entire year before I got any berries at all, and then berries only for 2-3 weeks, then 2-3 weeks the following year, and probably have to start the next spring with new plants and waiting another year. I can stretch it to maybe 4-6 weeks with two varieties of June bearing plants, but still . . .

If they just sold good berries in the store, all this would not be worth it. However, as the store berries are a lot like buying store tomatoes . . . well, I guess I will persevere.

Karen