[tillyt]

Hi All,

I have never grown strawberries before so I was wondering what is the best time to plant them and also what varieties do you all grow both for flavour and cropping? I have an allotment in Beds and the soil is quite light and free draining mostly. Look forward to your comments. Thanks

[jokey333]

hi,

i grow marshmello and this year (second year) had a very good crop of large sweet strawberries, but these come quite early so i don't have a long crop

hope this helps a bit

jo

[Chrysalis]

All strawberries are fab.   Especially if you have them straight from the plant.

You can plant them in late winter or try and get a few runners to root after this season. Get a few different varieties to prolong your cropping season and read the blurb about them on the grow your own section of the site...

[BabbyAnn]

there are so many varieties of strawberries that it would be difficult to pin down a particular one that stands out.  You can almost guarantee that the one with the most outstanding flavour is not the most prolific or give the biggest yield.  As a general guideline (only), smaller sized fruits tend to have more flavour than big ones.  No matter what variety, picking a ripened strawberry off the plant while it is still warm from the sun and eating it there and then is quite an experience you'll never get with a strawberry from the supermarket  

You might want to think about whether you want an early, mid or late season (or! an everbearing which as its name suggests is a long season one)  Also, some older varieties are popular because they are well known but some are more prone to diseases unfortunately.  Newer varieties can be more disease resistant, higher yields, bigger fruits.

You could be novel and go for pineberry, framberry or the fourberry instead  

[mumofstig]

A friend gave me some Irresistible runners, and I have to agree that they are 

[shokkyy]

A friend gave me some Irresistible runners, and I have to agree that they are 

Yes, I was thinking about trying some of those. Last year I moved my strawberry bed and the old one was so chaotic I really wasn't too sure what I was moving, and even allowing for the weather this year the crop has been poor, with some plants giving no crop at all and some giving deformed or very small fruit. No idea what varieties I've ended up with. So maybe a complete replant might be in order this year.

[Mrs Bee]

I think Garigette have a flavour to die for.

I planted a couple of old varieties, Cambridge and Royal Sovereign and then Mara do Bois and Garigette.

There was another but I can't remember what it was called without going out and looking and it is raining at the moment........now there's a surprise

But without doubt the the flavour of the Garigette, even in this sunless summer was streets ahead of the others.

Hard to describe the taste but sweet, and slightly perfumed.

I have had a good crop from all apart from the Mara de Bois but the rain has caused a lot to rot.

[carlrmj]

I grow a type called Honeoye.Last year was 1st year growing them and didn't have many.

This year had 1oo's,They cropped for about 5 weeks and have almost stopped now,some of

them were massive

Cheers Carl

[gazza975526570]

Royal Soverign for me - gorgeous!

[tillyt]

Thank you everyone for your replies, looks like I am in for a treat next year and beyond!! Sounds like a good plan to have some earlier and later varieties to extend the growing season.