Strawberry Plant Archives – Page 2 of 3

Thrips & Strawberry Plants

Thrips and strawberry plants simply don't go well together. Thrips are one of the devastating strawberry pests that afflict strawberry plantings and enrage gardeners. If you are having difficulties with “something” damaging your strawberries, it just might be this common pest.

To most clearly communicate the nature of strawberry thrips and information regarding these insects, a question and answer format will be used. For additional information on both strawberry pests and strawberry diseases, use the search function at the top right of Strawberry Plants .org.

Strawberry Nutrition Facts

Strawberries are jam-packed (no pun intended) with wholesome nutrients. A serving of whole strawberries is generally considered to be one cup (see here for strawberry conversions). A cup of fresh strawberries will vary by weight depending on the size and specific variety of strawberry that is consumed. Also, strawberry nutrition can be affected by the quality of the soil and care given to the plants as they produced. In general, however, the following table will provide an accurate representation of the vitamins, minerals, and other components within a serving of strawberries. These strawberry nutrition facts will help you realize just how beneficial strawberries are in one's diet!

Strawberry Nutrition Facts

Say Hello to Mr. Pineberry

It's STRAWBERRY ORDERING TIME! People all over are in full strawberry-buying mode. Strawberries are the first crop to come in after a long, cold winter. They are planted as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring, and the following year they burst forth and produce a blessed harvest, often while the nights are still chilly.

This season, why not try something new? Plan on incorporating the Pineberry into your gardening plans. If you have even a square foot or two of extra space in your garden plot, consider planting a few pineberry plants. Pineberries are hybrid strawberries just like the normal strawberries you buy at the store or grow from ordered plants. The difference can be seen in the photo.

They get their name from their unique pineapple/strawberry taste: PINEapple + strawBERRY = PINEBERRY.

The downside is that they are hard to obtain. You can buy them commercially at the beginning of April in the UK, but they aren't offered commercially in the United States. BUT, you CAN grow them yourself, if you act soon. There is only one supplier of pineberries that is known to us at present. If you are interested in growing this novel strawberry, click the following link to learn more: Pineberry Pineberries.

Say Hello to Mr. Pineberry today!

Strawberry Allergy

Millions of people have allergies. The range of allergic reactions to different allergens varies depending on the magnitude of the sensitivity and the type of reaction elicited. Unfortunately, many people are allergic to strawberries. I know what you are thinking: having strawberry allergies might just be a fate worse than death. Of course, that is an exaggeration, but just think of a life devoid of the wonders of strawberries.

This post discusses the main aspects of strawberry allergies. These include what causes the strawberry allergy, the different types of common reactions, and a possible method of getting around a strawberry allergy so that the delicious morsels can be enjoyed!

How Many Strawberry Species Are There?

If you have ventured over to the Strawberry Varieties page and seen the extensive list of strawberry cultivars presented there, you may have thought to yourself, “Just how many strawberry species are there out there?” Good question. When it comes to identifying strawberries, strawberry plant taxonomy comes into play (for introductory information, view the Strawberry Plant page). And, to identify strawberry plant species diversity these days, genetics plays a big role.

One important consideration to keep in mind is that there is a fairly big difference between species and cultivars. Species have a degree of genetic variation that sets them apart from their counterparts while cultivars are identifiable plants expressing genetic diversity within a species (or hybridization). So, how many strawberry species are there?

Genetics of Strawberry Plants

Strawberry plants have a very unique diversity when it comes to their genetic makeup. The genetics of most things are relatively complex, but the genetics of strawberry plants throw an additional twist into the mix. Strawberry plant species have varying numbers of chromosomes (see the Strawberry Plant page for introductory information).

Most species are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, one set of chromosomes is normally inherited from each parent. Polyploidy, a condition more common in plants, occurs when multiple pairs of chromosomes are present in the genetic component of an organism. Strawberry species and hybrids can be diploid, tetraploid, pentaploid, hexaploid, heptaploid, octoploid, or decaploid (having 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 10 sets of the seven strawberry chromosomes, respectively).

Use the sortable table below to see a list of the polyploid genetics of strawberry plants. The various major species of strawberries are listed, along with their genetic makeup and informational notes. For more information, see the Strawberry Varieties page.

Species of Strawberry Plants

0021 : Strawberry Plants Library

This is an entry in the Strawberry Plants Library here at Strawberry Plants .org. Continue reading for summarized information. The entire resource may be accessed or downloaded by clicking the link at the bottom of this post.

Life Cycle of Strawberry Plants

Strawberry plants are a wonderful forb. Their life cycle is much more complicated than the simple appearance of the humble strawberry plant implies. The growth cycle of strawberry plants spans the entire year and repeats annually. The life cycle of strawberry plants begins either from seed or from runner plants, and continues until senescence. This post is an overview of the life of a strawberry plant from germination until withered, brown leaves signify the passage from life unto death.

The Growth Cycle of Strawberry Plants

As with any cyclical scenario, it is difficult to choose a starting point (which came first, the chicken or the egg?). For the purposes of describing the life cycle of strawberry plants, a dual starting point will be considered as a sprouted strawberry seedling and a new strawberry runner. While both of these starting points require the existence prior life, a discussion of the origins of life is outside the purview of this article.

Strawberry Plant Diseases

0019 : Strawberry Plants Library

Deformed Strawberries

Have you ever seen those hideous, misshaped strawberries? If so, you might have wondered what causes deformed strawberries to be that way. Well, Strawberry Plants .org is dedicated to bringing light to all things related to the strawberry plant. And, unfortunately, deformed strawberries are a fact of life.

Hopefully, with the information contained within this post, you will never have to deal with your own mutant strawberries. Who wants to eat hideous fruit when nice, red, symmetrical fruit can be had? But, if you find yourself out in the strawberry bed picking your own deformed strawberries, here is what you need to know:

Tarnished Plant Bugs & Strawberry Plants

There are a host of strawberry plant pests that are a constant nuisance to the gardener who has planted strawberry plants in hopes of a bountiful strawberry harvest (see the Strawberry Plant page for the most common perpetrators). With studies showing that organic strawberry plants are better than conventionally-grown strawberry plants, there has been a shift away from using the highly toxic chemical pest control methods. One of the most maddening pests is the tarnished plant bug (TPB).

TPBs are the bane of farmers who grow small fruits and vegetables, including strawberry growers. The bugs are tremendously resilient. In an attempt to kill them off, farmers will often apply insecticides three to five times per year. All these insecticides may be necessary for commercial operations, but home gardeners may be able to avoid such measures (see here for 10 Reasons Why You Should Grow Your Own Strawberry Plants).

What Type of Plants Are Strawberry Plants?

Have you ever wondered what type of plant classification into which the humble strawberry plant falls? Think about it for a moment, and you will see just how unique strawberry plants are. They are short. They have dark green leaflets with serrated edges. They produce strawberries that weigh a tremendous amount compared to the weight of the vegetation that supports them.

They obviously aren't trees. They aren't shrubs. Due to the fact that they produce strawberry runners, some might be tempted to think they are a vine. They aren't. Are you curious yet about what type of plant is a strawberry plant? The answer can be found by continuing to read, but I'll give you two clues. The classification of strawberry plants comes largely from the characteristics of strawberry flowers and its vegetative growth.

Medicinal Uses of Strawberry Plants

The various parts of strawberry plants have long been used in various herbal remedies or traditional medicines. From tinctures to strawberry tea, the medicinal uses of strawberry plants and strawberries have quite a history (see the Strawberry Plant page for more strawberry history and folklore). What is not known by most strawberry enthusiasts is just how extensive the potential uses of stawberry plants are.

In the Compounds in Strawberry Plants post, all of the known strawberry plant compounds are listed. Each one is accompanied by a notation of the part of the strawberry plant in which it is found. Many also have minimum and maximum expected concentrations. Here you find a listing of the chemical activities of strawberry plants. The table below provides a list of all 721 known biological activities of the various strawberry plant chemicals and compounds.

The medicinal uses of strawberries would be synonymous with the first column. The parenthesis indicates how many components in the strawberry plant are known to have that biological activity characteristic. The specific compounds that have the action are then listed next to the activity.

Compounds in Strawberry Plants

Strawberry plants are relatively small: usually around a foot tall, give or take a few inches. Yet, within this small package, numerous compounds in strawberry plants have been discovered and cataloged. With an increased interest in herbal remedies using strawberry plant parts this sortable list can be of use to a researcher.

I do not advocate self-diagnosis or self-treatment of medical conditions. However, this table may help you discover compounds in strawberry plants that may have positive health benefits. So, use and peruse the table at your own risk. The first column has the scientific name of each compound, the second lists the part of the plant where the compound is located, the third lists the lowest measured concentration in parts per million of the compound that was discovered in testing, the fourth lists the highest measured concentration, and the fifth lists the reference source.

For educational purposes only, you can view this list of Medicinal Uses for Strawberry Plants as well after perusing the table below.

Strawberry Plants Producing Runners but no Strawberries?

A common complaint of new strawberry growers is that their strawberry plants aren’t producing strawberries. They have planted them, provided them tender loving care, and waited expectantly for them to return the “love” by setting a harvest of nice, plump, juicy strawberries.

And then no strawberries come. You may have lots of leafy greens and too many strawberry runners shooting out to count, but the strawberries themselves are sadly absent.

Here are the top 10 reasons your strawberry plants aren’t producing strawberries. It is likely that your situation will fall into one of these: