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Old 05-03-2019, 02:01 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
songbird[_2_] songbird[_2_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jun 2010
Posts: 3,072
Default Growing strawberries vertically that winter well

Pavel314 wrote:
....
I was unable to tend the strawberry patch last year and now my wife wants to turn it into an asparagus bed. I was thinking of transplanting whatever strawberry plants are left along the rows in the vineyard, so that they can grow beneath the grapes.


sounds ok, they may not produce a huge amount of
berries, but will survive and grow towards the light.

one experiment i did very early when starting out
with strawberries was using beans/soybean plants to
keep them along the edges of the garden for a season.
it worked pretty well.

most strawberry patches need to be redone after
three years anyways to keep the plants producing
well. once you can see/feel that crown being really
extended you know it is time (at least for most
varieties i've taken care of - i'm not sure of
the habit of the alpine strawberries). i just turn
them all under after picking out enough to replant.
it's pretty rare i don't have enough plants to
work with...

they are forest land edge plants that take
advantage of any clearings that happen from storms
or fires. they produce the most in full light
and high organic content soils. pick often and
remove all berries that are ripe even if they are
damaged and laying on the ground. that way you
can avoid a lot of the fungal/bug problems and
won't need to use any sprays.

some diseases i've not seen yet, but we do get
black spots on the leaves when the plants have
gotten to the middle of summer. the leaves will
die back and then when the next round of growth
happens the plants are fine. i don't consider it
worth it to spray for a cosmetic issue. all plants
go through stages and fungi are a natural means of
recycling that energy from the sun.

it will be interesting to see how the newly
redone patch will survive this winter. my attempt
last year was too late and almost all the plants
didn't survive. this year the plants had a few
months before the really cold weather to get
ready for the winter, but it has been a pretty
cold one...


songbird