The ONE stop for EVERYTHING related to strawberry plants and growing strawberries
Get your dose of strawberry plant information here. Strawberry plant details are fascinating, and the complexity of strawberry plants and their fruit is wonderful!
This is a question submitted to Strawberry Plants .org by a reader. The information provided in response to the question may benefit others with the same or similar inquiries. Therefore, it has been added to the archive page of submitted questions. See the Strawberry FAQ for more questions, or use the search box at the top right of this page to search this site for information.
On July 21, 2012, Sara Allister asked:
Pollinating strawberry plants is not all that complicated. However, if you want to have a heaping helping of delicious strawberries, it must be done. The good news is that your friendly neighborhood bugs and bees are usually pretty good at pollinating strawberry plants for you. If your strawberry plants are grown indoors or away from insect access areas, there are a few basics you should know.
The male pollinating structure of a flower is called the “stamen.” Stamens usually consist of a filament and the pollen-containing anther. There are typically between twenty and thirty-five stamens of varying lengths in a strawberry flower. These stamens (collectively called the androecium) are arranged in a circle and are usually surrounded by five (or more) petals. Initially, the anthers are a yellow color while they hold the pollen, but they quickly pale after the pollen is released. The flower stem (pedicel) extends up into the flower and forms the cone-shaped area in the middle of the stamens. This stem extension is called the “receptacle” and will eventually turn into the strawberry after the pollinating strawberry plants has been completed. The receptacle is covered with the female part of the flower called “pistils.” Up to 500 pistils cover the receptacle in a spiral pattern. Each pistil has an ovary at its base, and an ovule is present within.
What is the key to a heaping harvest of mouth-watering, juicy, delightful strawberries? Simply put: the strawberry roots. Healthy strawberry roots are the key to a healthy strawberry plant. Roots are just roots, right? Well, the fine filaments that absorb the needed nutrients from the soil that help each plant set a heavy crop of strawberries are a bit more sophisticated than you might imagine. This article will help you understand the nature and importance of strawberry root systems.
There are two types of strawberry roots: primary roots and secondary roots. Primary roots are the main roots of each strawberry plant. Primary strawberry roots carry absorbed water and nutrients from the soil into the crown of the strawberry plant. These roots are perennial in nature and survive for multiple years.
Secondary strawberry roots are also called “feeder” roots. They are short-lived. A normal lifespan for feeder roots is days to weeks. The secondary strawberry roots are much finer than the primary roots. Consequently, they are damaged very easily. The actual water and nutrient absorption is performed by these roots.
Strawberry plants information is plentiful on the internet. Lots of useful nuggets are already prominent and readily available on this site. I get many questions, however, about the strawberry plant itself. So, it may be helpful to revisit some of the general characteristics about the strawberry plant.
Habit: Strawberry plants are non-woody. They are classified as forbs. Since they have no woody tissue to support tall growth, they are short. The four major anatomical features of strawberry plants include the crown, leaves, roots, and runners. The plants typically reach a maximum height of around one foot (12 inches) in height, but can be a bit taller or a bit smaller.
Q: How Fast Do Strawberry Plants Grow?On January 26, 2017, Mostafa, asked: How fast do strawberry plants grow in km/h?
Mostafa,
No one has ever asked me before how fast in km/h a strawberry plant grows! An average modern strawberry plant can be expected to reach towering heights of about 12 inches at its highest point (it is, after all, a forb). It usually takes an established strawberry plant about 2 months from the break of dormancy to get there. A new seedling will typically take around 6 months to reach that milestone after germination, depending on its environment.
Few things are more frustrating for a farmer or gardener than to toil for hours in heat and rain while nurturing his growing plants with tender loving care only to see some infernal sign that a microscopic invader has set up shop among the plants. After working for hours preparing the earth, planting the plants, and weeding out the uninvited party crashers, it can provoke feelings of desperation, despair, and disillusionment to watch once-healthy plants wilt and die.
The wilting of future dreams and enjoyment as the plants become marred and disfigured with bacterial blemishes and fungal flaws is enough to make a budding gardener hang up the trowel and garden gloves for good. Be ye irked no longer! You don’t have to wave the white flag of final surrender if the unseen organisms wage war upon your growing goodies. In fact, you can identify and slay such scurrilous offenders with a little help from qualified specialists.
If You Plant a Strawberry Top, Will It Grow a Strawberry?Over the course of the years, I have had several people ask me this question, or a version of it: “If you plant a strawberry top, will it grow a strawberry?” This year, however, I have received a noticeable increase in the number of curious questioners hoping to make good on the part of the strawberry most commonly used as a grip while the rest of the fruit is gnawed in happy contentment. After all, the little bit of white flesh left under the calyx and stem isn’t good for much other than, perhaps, making a bit of strawberry water. I don’t know why the curiosity has spiked, but it is a valid question. Since curious minds want to know…
Read moreIf You Plant a Strawberry Top, Will It Grow a Strawberry?
Strawberries are relatively simple little plants. Their genomes have been completely mapped, and their life cycles are fully understood. But, as simple as strawberry plants may seem, they are still complex enough to warrant study; and, the study that goes into them continues to reveal much fascinating information. This post is dedicated to that topic of plant fertilization that sometimes can induce somnambulism in all but the most ardent botanists: strawberry pollination. But, once you’ve reviewed this information, you’ll be ready to tackle hand pollination of strawberries or be better able to situate your strawberry bed in the most ideal location for growing gargantuan berries!
Few things are more exciting to a green thumb than strolling about outside and discovering a native fruit-producing plant growing wild. I’ve had several such occurrences in just the last few years. I was as giddy as a kid in a candy shop a while back when I noticed a mulberry tree laden with dark, almost black fruit tempting me with its heavy branch hanging over my head and almost brushing my hair on a sidewalk in the middle of a suburban setting. I guess no one ever thought to cut down the tree growing near the runoff drain, but I harvested as many fresh mulberries as I could before I had to leave the area. I’ve often stumbled into wild blackberry thickets in my wanderings, and just last year I discovered four wild American persimmon trees not a mile from my dwelling place.
While blackberries are generally loved and known by everyone, mulberries are less known, and knowledge of persimmons is confined to a fairly small group within the general population. Strawberries, however, are the A-List celebrities of the fruit world. Virtually everyone loves them. So, many people who find what they believe to be wild strawberries in their yard often ask me, “Why aren’t my wild strawberries with yellow flowers producing any strawberries?!” Well, here’s why:
This is a question submitted to Strawberry Plants .org by a reader. The information provided in response to the question may benefit others with the same or similar inquiries. Therefore, it has been added to the archive page of submitted questions. See the Strawberry FAQ for more questions, or use the search box at the top right of this page to search this site for information.
On October 15, 2012, cheese asked:
More and more people are growing their own strawberries as a hobby or as ornamentals or for production in their home gardens. Few things are as frustrating as eagerly anticipating years of bountiful strawberry harvests and then watching the plants go from apparently healthy to wilted. Wilting strawberry plants can make even the most stolid gardener attempt to forcibly remove his own follicles in a fit of perplexity. This post is a review of what causes strawberries to wilt.
Sometimes wilting strawberries can be salvaged if the underlying cause is discovered and remedied. Oftentimes, however, once the wilt sets in, there is little that can be done if it is caused by a pathogen.
For the sake of accuracy, it is good to distinguish between non-infectious wilting and blight. Both look similar and can be easily confused, but they are actually different. Blights can lead to wilting strawberry plants, but wilting is a symptom only. Wilting is evidence of a problem, not necessarily a disease (blight).
Nitrogen deficiency in strawberry plants can cause rather significant problems for the longevity and vitality of strawberry patch. If your soil is low in nitrogen, you can expect consequences. This post will cover the basics of what to look for to determine whether or not your strawberries lack sufficient nitrogen-containing soil for optimal health and vigor.
In order to confirm nitrogen deficiency in strawberry plants, one ultimately must take a few tissue samples from affected leaflets that are “middle aged.” The leaflets that must be sampled cannot be the old ones toward the bottom of the plant or the new, bright green ones emerging from the crown.
Once samples are collected, they must be tested for average composition. The baseline measurement for nitrogen sufficiency is 2.6% to 2.8%. Should the measured percent composition of nitrogen be below 2.6% for the tested sample, it is very likely that the soil is nitrogen deficient, resulting in less-than-acceptable levels of nitrogen in the foliage tissue of the strawberry plants.
People love strawberries. Gardeners who are new to growing strawberries often start out with dreams of bushels of berries and end up with virtually no harvest at all. One of the common causes of this undesirable phenomenon is overzealous fertilization by well-intentioned budding horticulturalists!
When strawberry plants have access to seemingly unlimited resources, they tend to get fat and happy. Just like a 500 pound behemoth of a sloth who has millions of calories within reach of his armchair won’t go out of his way to be productive, strawberry plants who sit in an environment saturated with high concentrations nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus think good times are here to stay. So, they don’t produce much of harvest. They will devote their production to vegetative output. While it is true that strawberry plants have many medicinal uses and useful compounds, most people would prefer the simple delight of the strawberries themselves.
Most people who raise strawberries do not start them from seed. They buy strawberry plants from a local nursery or a mail-order nursery. They then receive, most often, dormant strawberry crowns that they quickly plant in their prepared beds, water them, and watch as the dormant strawberries spring forth into new life.
However, there are brave souls out there that want to begin the life cycle of their strawberries by germinating strawberry seeds and then coaxing the tiny seedlings to grow until they are ready to transplant. With all the TLC given to the tiny plants, it would be a shame to make a mortal mistake for them when they are finally sturdy enough to make the transition to the outside.
This post will help you successfully transplant strawberry plants that you have germinated. It is best to know what TO do and what NOT to do before risking potential damage or death to your fledgling shoots!
With the number of chemicals, pesticides, and other unnatural residues found on and in our food these days, many people are turning to growing their own edibles. Since there are often significant quality improvements gained from home-growing food, this is often a great thing for both sustainability and the health of the growers (see this link for 10 Reasons You Should Grow Your Own Strawberries). With the trend being toward more gardening, even those with less space are beginning to venture into the realm of produce production.
One of the challenges of growing food for the freshly-minted green thumb is deciding on space. Most rural or semi-rural folks simply dig a hole, put seeds or strawberry plants into the hole, and let the plants do their thing. Even city slickers often will have a usable section of their yard or space to build a raised-bed garden. Urban dwellers can often find an area for a community garden. But, particularly for those living in urban areas, space-utilizing tools are often employed to grow food in areas of contained soil. Usually, pots on a window sill or porch are used.
However, there is a new kid in town: the Topsy Turvy. There is also the Topsy Turvy Strawberry Planter, which is slightly better suited for strawberries. This post is a discussion of the pros and cons of growing topsy turvy strawberries.