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Re: Strawberries, Soil Amend, Annuals?

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

>>>I  wrote:>>Matted row is treating them more or less like annuals, where
>you >let all the runners do their thing, making more plants, and then you
>>replant the whole bed next year.

Bill wrote:
>[Even calling that an 'annual-system' is sort of a hybridization and bluring
>of the term, to my slightly studied understanding.  I can see it is, yet
it is
>sort of perennial. too.  Clue me in if you have a hard line definition of
each
>to offer, that I could use it for this walk-the-fence issue, for future ref.
>and edification.  TIA  May be hard to apply here?]

Okay, understand that I'm no expert here. I have strawberries for the first
time this year, planted last fall, so the roots should be well developed
and I won't be picking off the blossoms this year. (I also planted some
alpine strawberries last spring -- they do not produce runners, and I spent
the whole summer nipping off those little blossoms -- probably way more
trouble than the smallish berries are worth. Oh well.)

Soooo, I actually do not know for sure whether this year's daughter plants
produce fruit the same year. They may not, but I was under the impression
that at least for some varieties (those that are everbearing?)  they do.

As for the annual versus perennial question, my understanding is probably
the same as your own. An annual is a plant that lives one year. A perennial
is a plant that lives more than 2 years. Tender perennials are those that
can't live if temps go below a certain temperature. I'm used to 32 degrees
Fahrenheit as that *can't go below* temperature, but I bought some herbs
from Richter's in Canada last fall and their catalog uses a different
(higher) temperature as the breaking point. Some herbs that are not
*tender* perennials in my area are tender perennials to them. It was all
very confusing for a while.

Anyway, strawberries are perennials. So are tomatoes. Because tomatoes are
TENDER perennials (being a tropical plant), we treat them as annuals.

So, if one were to take strawberries and *treat them like annuals,* one
would be replacing the bed after one year. There could be many reasons for
that, and I for one don't know why one would want to do that, BUT I might
find out. It might be there's too much heat for them here, the growing
season is too long, or something else entirely. I just don't know. My sense
is that growers here prefer to get the most production from them possible,
and that weakens their performance in years after. But there may be other
factors involved. 

Personally, when I go to the trouble of putting something in the ground, I
want it to last as long as possible after all that time, money and effort.
I don't mind babying it a bit after planting it to make it last longer if
possible. (It's for that reason I have a strong preference for perennial
flowers over annuals, too, tho annuals bloom longer during the growing
season whereas most perennials have a shorter bloom period.)

I wrote: >>"Runners take fruiting energy" is the key point, it seems to me.
You seem
>to be describing a sort of hybrid version of the two systems. Kewl.

Bill wrote:
>  More runners, fruit later.  

Ummm, I'm not sure about that. I think it might be more runners, less
fruit, made up by more daughter plants also fruiting? After all, the
plant's energy is going into those new roots as well. Correct me if I'm
wrong. What do your sources say?

> One of these
>refs (Spooner, who does raspberries and strawberries only, and does very
well)
>even said, remove all flowers the first season, to establish the plant.  Does
>that still qualify it as an annual?  [Help me unblur that?]

As I said, strawberries are perennials. If you plant in the spring and
don't plan to TREAT them as ANNUALS, then nipping blossoms the first year
is an accepted practice (also for fruit trees, brambles, and so on too).
The plant's energies go into rootbuilding since it's relieved of the
responsibility of building fruit. But if you DO plan to treat them as
annuals, then you wouldn't pinch but rather would let the plant fruit to
the max, which means your roots would be less well-established, and your
plant weaker and less productive in following years.

>***And in Calif, mulch/w Black plastic. (Ortho.) Keeps plants off soil.

Just as a side note, in our Master Gardening class it was pointed out that
black plastic is great for weed control (and surely would also keep berries
off the soil), but it doesn't let the water in and so is no longer
recommended. But that wasn't strawberry-specific, just general info re
black plastic. It also occurs to me that keeping berries off the ground is
especially important where chemicals have been used, and in fact I've heard
that strawberries are the worst food you can buy relative to pesticide and
other residues you really don't want to be consuming (like biosolids? <g>). 

>>I am still learning these, and really appreciate the topic.
>My success is moderate, as I experiment and am in the 3rd year of evolving
and
>expanding a garden, ~50% per annum.  

Well, Bill, you're way ahead of me. This is my second year gardening, and I
use the term loosly as it's applied to my efforts and especially results.
<g> I expect we'll all still be learning as long as we're gardening, eh?
Reminds me of something Oprah said one day, about life being all about
lessons. She said some days she gets up and says, "Please, Lord, no lessons
today." Maybe that'll work with my garden -- ya think? "Please, garden, no
lessons today." Actually, I wouldn't mind the lessons quite as much if the
answers weren't so darned hard to come by.  :-(

I don't know if I've shed any light on the subject, but it's an interesting
discussion. I see no problem with the matted row -- or some hybrid version
of that. It's just not the method I've chosen. Actually, I think what
you've been describing is a more structured approach to what I intend to
do, which is keep the bed self-regenerating -- choose the strongest plants
and best producers and let their daughters replenish the bed as the years
roll on.

> G-Smitty (??? well, someone, sorry) mentioned using 1
> runner only.  THIS is a good compromise!  Saves a plant purchase, expands
and
> replaces slowly, safely.

Yes, maybe a good compromise. But I'd personally rather start with about as
many plants as I want, pick the best ones and replace the weaker ones with
daughters from the stronger. That means maybe NO runners from some -- ?? I
can already see some of my plants are doing way better than others for some
reason. We'll see how they produce. A big pretty plant isn't necessarily
the best producer. 

BTW, if (when?) I find out why they're *treated as annuals* in my part of
the country, I'll definitely let you know. <g>

Patricia


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