Does anyone else have strawberries

[garden5]

You guys are making me jealous (and hungry :p). I don't even have any plants in the ground, yet and a deer ate down my blueberry bush.

[gixxerific]

You guys are making me jealous (and hungry :p). I don't even have any plants in the ground, yet and a deer ate down my blueberry bush.

It will probably come back if you want to wait for it. I have had mine eaten to ground a few times on year it still came back but is still way behind.

[rainbowgardener]

My strawberries are covered in blooms and green berries. Yesterday I weeded out the strawberry patch, laid down compost top dressing, then peat moss, then straw mulch. Looks very pretty the green plants against the straw.

Today I have to get out in the rain and put the deer netting back up or critters will get all the strawberries.

[farmerlon]

If you remove blossoms this spring and early summer, you should be able to get a good crop in the fall of this year.

Good information; thanks.
I also found this at doityourself.com ... "There are many different varieties of strawberries; however, all fall into one of three categories: June-bearing, everbearing or day neutral. June-bearing strawberries produce a large, concentrated crop once a year during a three-week period, usually in June as their name suggests. Everbearing, also called ever bearing, strawberries produce two crops of strawberries, one in the spring and another in the late summer or fall. Day neutral are often considered new improved everbearers. They are capable of bearing fruit continuously from June through September. Day neutral strawberries prefer cooler temperatures, however, and will not flower or bear fruit during hot weather."

As you suggested, I think I will continue to remove the blossoms from my new planting of Everbearers, through the Spring and early Summer. Then, I will stop (maybe around July?), and wait to see if those Everbearers set a Fall crop.
FYI, I planted the "Tribute" variety of Everbearing strawberries.

[Ozark Lady]

The oddest thing:

A couple of weeks ago, the chickens were up on the strawberry tower. They left as I went to water. I thought cool they are eating the bugs. But, when I got to looking, they tore off the green strawberries and simply threw them down. There were over a dozen there, just torn off.

Okay, can anyone explain that?

I put chicken wire over the strawberry tower too, and now I see strawberries getting a decent size.

Surely chickens don't mistake strawberries for grasshoppers? And then spit them out? They didn't dig, scratch none of that.

[sleepawaycampr]

I've got some "Allstar" June bearing strawberries and I am wondering if I should be pinching the flowers off as they are now coming in. I live in an apartment so they are in a container and I don't know if it will be feasible to keep them after the growing season is over. Should I just allow them to flower and produce fruit now? (I'm new to the who veggie/fruit growing thing)

[Ozark Lady]

I wouldn't pinch any. I know the books all say to do that. But, I didn't and mine survived, set fruit, not a lot, but some, and still they made some runners.

I vote: Don't pinch, let them grow!

[nes]

You guys are making me jealous (and hungry :p). I don't even have any plants in the ground, yet and a deer ate down my blueberry bush.

Me too!

Plus my dogs ran over my strawberry seedlings I'd planted out, because they wanted to bark at the cows. I found the dried corpses the next day - I was NOT pleased.

[BrianSkilton]

Currently they are blooming! I can't wait until June or so to get some strawberries. I also have to expanded the bed though, they are growing out and around the bed (from last year). I too have to cover the bed to stop the thrushes from eating all the berries.

[sleepawaycampr]

Thanks OzarkLady! I will let them grow, its just me in this apartment so even if they don't set a lot of fruit I am sure I will still have plenty for myself!

[Ozark Lady]

I would let them set fruit, and then just be prepared to catch a few replacement plants when they throw runners. They will be pretty house plants, with all the babies hanging off of the big ones!

[tomf]

If you remove blossoms this spring and early summer, you should be able to get a good crop in the fall of this year.

I did not know that, next year I will give it a try, thanks alex.

I am thinking I would like to make my garden bigger next year and that would give me more room for more strawberries and corn.

[hendi_alex]

Personally I never pinch any flowers off of my first year strawberry transplants, unless the plant is struggling, and have never seen any adverse effect on vigorously growing plants. Last year my first year everbearing plants gave a light crop in the spring and a much better crop in the fall. I was just responding to the previous poster who is removing blossoms [this first spring/early summer] and agreed that the plants should give a pretty good fall crop. But is my opinion that the plants should give a decent crop this fall whether the blossoms are pinched or not.

[farmerlon]

Personally I never pinch any flowers off of my first year strawberry transplants, unless the plant is struggling, and have never seen any adverse effect on vigorously growing plants.

In the past, I did not pinch the first-year plants either.
But, I've read that the second-year crop will be much more prolific if the blossums are pinched the first year. So, I thought I would try it this time, to make a comparison.

However, since this is an Everbearing variety, I am going to modify my plan a bit... I am going to pinch in the Spring, and then see if the plants will set a nice Fall crop of berries.
I've got another Strawberry crop that is full of berries right now; so that's why it doesn't "pain" me to pinch the blooms off of this second "experimental" planting. I like to tinker with it .

[applestar]

Great! Then let us know what you find out.