Alpine Strawberries

[golddustpeak]

Wow I just sampled a couple of Reine des Vallees Alpine Strawberries that I grew.

They were incredible (super sweet)!

As I've said before, my Kratky experiments have been extremely SLOW to grow.....

I started these seeds in December of last year and these were just now the first to try.

Now I want more... A LOT more, I just do not know how to go about setting up for a bunch of plants.

I sort of hate to dedicate one of my Bounties to them.

[Shawn]

Glad to hear they tasted so good.  Maybe one of our Kratky growers can assist or maybe create a Tote system.

[Sher]

That sounds like a good tote project.

[digitalfarming]

Hello,


I am a hydroponics "noob" and I have several questions.
I hope someone can help me out

I use Aero Garden products, and have had fairly good results with the "out of the box" instructions of using the micraclegrow (4-3-6) plant food and feeding every 2 weeks when the machine says to.

Ive added strawberries to my recent garden re-do

I have 2 FarmXLs, 2Harvests, and 2 Sprouts.
I have been feeding based on the fox farms chart, I am doing weekly feeding, but out of convenience I am also doing weekly water changes
I use RO water and i have Vivosun test pens that are calibrated once a week.


I have been trying to start some "Pine Berries and Strawberries" in a Harvest and in Mason "Kratky Method" jars.
so far i have only had 1 strawberry sprout in a harvest... 
it is 2 weeks old and does not seem to be doing much
are these just super slow plants?
any tips for the mason jar? i have had some sprouts, but not alot of success.

Also, when planting a pod with these super tiny seeds, do i just put 1 seed per pod?

[campingcorgis]

Jan 23, 2022 16:56:18 GMT -5 digitalfarming said:

Hello,


I am a hydroponics "noob" and I have several questions.
I hope someone can help me out

I use Aero Garden products, and have had fairly good results with the "out of the box" instructions of using the micraclegrow (4-3-6) plant food and feeding every 2 weeks when the machine says to.

Ive added strawberries to my recent garden re-do

I have 2 FarmXLs, 2Harvests, and 2 Sprouts.
I have been feeding based on the fox farms chart, I am doing weekly feeding, but out of convenience I am also doing weekly water changes
I use RO water and i have Vivosun test pens that are calibrated once a week.


I have been trying to start some "Pine Berries and Strawberries" in a Harvest and in Mason "Kratky Method" jars.
so far i have only had 1 strawberry sprout in a harvest... 
it is 2 weeks old and does not seem to be doing much
are these just super slow plants?
any tips for the mason jar? i have had some sprouts, but not alot of success.

Also, when planting a pod with these super tiny seeds, do i just put 1 seed per pod?

Hello & welcome to AGA!  I've not grown strawberries in an AG or other hydroponic system.  There are at least 1 or 2 AGA members that have, so hopefully, they will chime in.  I understand that strawberries take patience!  I've grown them outside, but finally gave up the efforts because my doggies would beat me to the ripe ones!  Grrrrrr.  

Anyway, welcome & look for other answers in the next couple of days!  

[ERR0R1755]

I tried growing strawberries in a Kratky-style mason jar before - it took over three months before it formed a flower and it never produced an edible strawberry.

I'm planning to retry growing them in an AeroGarden at some point.

[lynnee]

digitalfarming, I grew AG strawberries in a Bounty a few years ago. It required special equipment and procedures. AG used to make a special bowl for growing strawberries. You filled it with loose fiber (not perlite--AG sold the growing medium), and planted the AG pods. I don't remember exactly how the watering worked. AG had complete instructions in the blog, now found under Resources on the AG web site.

I did get a few tiny strawberries, but my garden was ended prematurely when I slipped on a seed pod outdoors, rolled my ankle, and broke my leg (some 5 years ago). I haven't tried again to grow strawberries, because they were slow to grow, and more trouble than they were worth.

[lynnee]

digitalfarming , the Aerogarden blog says that AG no longer sells the special Grow Bowl needed for growing strawberries. However, it includes this method for growing them without the Grow Bowl--starting with live strawberry crowns purchased from a nursery.

www.aerogarden.com/blog/growing-strawberries/

Method 2:

Here's what you will need to begin:
-An AeroGarden - Recommend the Bounty or any Farm Model.
-A Grow Anything Kit
- Strawberry Crowns

Here's what to do:
1) Rinse off all the dirt from the strawberry roots with room temperature
water.
2) If the roots are small, use scissors to cut a wet grow sponge down half of
its length (more if the roots are long) and gently insert the roots into the
grow sponge. If the root mass is too big to insert into the grow sponge,
then just insert the roots directly into the plastic grow basket.
3) The "crown of the plant" - the growing tip - should be above the top of the grow sponge.

4) Insert the grow sponge through the grow basket label, if you are using
one, and then insert the grow basket into the grow deck of the
Aerogarden.
5) After you have planted all of your strawberry crowns, add the liquid plant food into the AeroGarden bowl and reset the nutrient timer. You should see new growth on your strawberry plants in 7-10 days!
6) When your nutrient timer comes on in two weeks, add nutrients as
instructed and reset the timer.

What's next?
Tending and harvesting your strawberry garden!

A little bit of care for your strawberries will ensure rapid growth and bountiful harvests. As your plants grow, you will start to see flowers, and before long you'll be harvesting your first crop of ripe, luscious strawberries.
Here's how to get the most from your plants: Keep the water topped up. Raise the grow lights as the plants grow, keep them 2-4 inches above the top of the plants. Prune your strawberry plants.

Pollinate strawberry flowers:
Check out our new video on 3 methods of pollinating!

Keep an eye on your garden:
As your strawberry plants grow, the older leaves will start to brown and die. This is perfectly normal. Remove the brown and dead leaves by cutting them at the base of the stem. To help prevent bugs keep the grow surface clear of dead leaves.

Harvest your strawberries!

Rinse and refill the AeroGarden bowl at least monthly – very important for
best growth and fruiting! How to Rinse & Refill Video.

[maskedsonnet]

Just today I started a Farm for Alpine Strawberries from seed. I and a couple others have done strawberry crowns in AG and they did very well, grew very fast, and grew in regular pods instead of the special bowl that AG used to sell - I ended mine (and all my other gardens) because of a thrip infestation and decided to experiment with seed because I never want to bring outside plants into my AG room again. But the berries were wonderful when I grew the crowns!!

The problem with strawberries from seed is that they need cold stratification before planting in order to increase the chances of germination. Putting the seeds in the refrigerator for a while (at least a month) will accomplish this. The pods, I think, are also too deep for the tiny strawberry seed (like chives). I brushed the seeds onto the tops of the pods in the hopes that it would improve germination chances. From my research the seeds can take 1-6 weeks to germinate, so they are slow to grow.

I'm looking forward to experimenting with growing from seed!

[lynnee]

maskedsonnet, the strawberries-from-seed project will be fun to follow!
🍓🍓🍓

[digitalfarming]

hey ok cool! i like that someone had success with the AG
I am trying from a seed in a pod... so far the best i can do is a little sprout... but he died already.

Please forgive my ignorance but what is a "crown" Is this like the berry plants i see for sale that are bare root?

[maskedsonnet]

Jan 27, 2022 21:20:30 GMT -5 digitalfarming said:

hey ok cool! i like that someone had success with the AG
I am trying from a seed in a pod... so far the best i can do is a little sprout... but he died already.

Please forgive my ignorance but what is a "crown" Is this like the berry plants i see for sale that are bare root?

Yes, bare root strawberry plants are usually crowns! This is a pretty interesting article on propagating strawberries (in the soil), if you're interested, but crowns are one of a couple of ways that strawberries spread themselves - they're the easiest way to separate and grow new plants, and are what's usually sold to folks not wanting to start from seed. The relevant quote from that article though:

Many types of strawberry plants will, either by nature or if encouraged by pruning runners, put out lateral crowns at the base of the strawberry plant. The crown of the strawberry plant is a short, thick stem that has a growing point slightly (maybe one-quarter of an inch, less than a centimeter) above the surface of the ground and a thick mass of roots growing down into the soil. These lateral crowns can be divided and replanted to propagate strawberry plants.

When you buy crowns/bare root plants, they usually arrive with quite a bit of soil still clinging to the roots. Thorough washing is a must if you plan to put them into any sort of hydroponic system, and still not guaranteed to get everything off the plants, if you don't want to damage them. Since these are plants generally grown outdoors, you run the risk of outdoor problems - in my case, thrips. Never been a big deal when I was only growing things outside, but the second I got them indoors they were a BFD, because there were no natural predators keeping them from becoming a real Problem indoors. I had other outdoor plants in the same room when that happened (which now overwinter in my garage with a radiant heater), and therefore no proof that that's where they came from, but if I ever try crowns again, I'm going to move the machine I use for them to a different room than my usual AGs. And it's very tempting to use crowns!! They are very fast-growing, and most strawberry varieties won't produce fruit in the first year from seed - I'm really only assuming the Alpine varieties will, since they're wild and not a bred garden type. But there are no guaranties on the seed page that I bought them from, and no research that I can access without downloading a PDF, which I've always been leery of on my personal computers. But crowns will produce for you in the same year, and in my brief (delicious) experience within a few months in hydroponics. I LOVE strawberries, and am desperate to find a way to do them hydroponically without risking my other gardens. If it's the only fruit I could ever eat for the rest of my life, I'd be happy. So please excuse the weird fixation I've got going on here lol DcKpvN

[patlab]

I know this is an old thread but I was wondering if any of you had success growing these from seed. I I tried them about 6 months ago and all 12 sprouted and were about 2 inches tall when leaves started turning brown and they all died. I’m pretty sure it was too much water that did them in. Anyway, I’m trying them again and will try to keep them a little drier once they start growing by keeping the water level lower on the pods. I’ll keep you updated on my progress.

[maskedsonnet]

I did try alpine strawberries from seed, but I never got any fruit from them and gave up eventually. I tried transplanting them into dirt and ended up killing every single one of them. :/

[lynnee]

Jan 7, 2024 12:00:39 GMT -5 patlab said:

I know this is an old thread but I was wondering if any of you had success growing these from seed. I I tried them about 6 months ago and all 12 sprouted and were about 2 inches tall when leaves started turning brown and they all died. I’m pretty sure it was too much water that did them in. Anyway, I’m trying them again and will try to keep them a little drier once they start growing by keeping the water level lower on the pods. I’ll keep you updated on my progress.

Do you have something for monitoring pH? I found that strawberries are more sensitive to pH than other AG crops.

Most strawberries don't fruit until the second year. I don't know whether this is true of Alpines, which I haven't tried. When AG was promoting strawberries, I think it was Alpines, and their growing kits included crowns.

Good luck! 🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀

[patlab]

Alpine strawberries will produce the first year unlike regular strawberries. And I’m pretty sure when aerogarden was promoting them they were not alpine… they are not usually grown from crowns. This will be interesting. I don’t monitor ph so that could be a problem.

[patlab]

My strawberries are coming along great. I’m trying to post a picture.. but having difficulty for some reason.. stay tuned!

[swimmom500]

Feb 18, 2024 13:48:38 GMT -5 patlab said:

My strawberries are coming along great. I’m trying to post a picture.. but having difficulty for some reason.. stay tuned!

Mine are too and I have several flowers. Are your leaves starting to turn a reddish color? Each plant now has several reddish leaves and I don’t know why.

[patlab]

www.amazon.com/photos/shared/ucA1wiceQTORFxcaw1UbdA.oeAQbV0hKFeTk1y7QpgdBF

Hopefully you guys can see this. It’s the only way I could get this photo to show up!

[lynnee]

Feb 19, 2024 11:26:38 GMT -5 patlab said:

www.amazon.com/photos/shared/ucA1wiceQTORFxcaw1UbdA.oeAQbV0hKFeTk1y7QpgdBF

Hopefully you guys can see this. It’s the only way I could get this photo to show up!

The strawberries look fantastic.

Even though your link works, I think that Shawn can help you with posting the photo so that it will show up here despite being hosted by your photo service.