Who can save my strawberries?

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JillBurgh

Sous Chef
Joined
Jan 22, 2008
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597
Location
Steelers Country
This is the first year we've yielded a crop from our strawberry patch. It is a relatively large plot for the city yard with 25 plants. I am getting the most beautiful, sweet, large berries. We put hay down under the plants (I read somewhere to do that).

But, I will see a pink berry and think "That'll be ready for pickin' tomorrow!" When tomorrow comes, it is red but rotten where it touches the ground (hay). :ermm: How does it rot in one night? Why is it rotting? I have tried turning them periodically to discourage them from sitting on one side for too long, but I'm still losing more berries than I am keeping. The bugs will crawl into the rotten side.. I'm not sure if they are the cause or the effect of the rot.

Could I be overwatering? Maybe the hay shouldn't be wet? As usual, I've asked a hundred questions in one post. Any help appreciated! Thanks
 
You can try picking them a bit earlier and letting them ripen on your counter. But I would vote for too wet a patch as the culprit.
 
Strawberries need to grow on a mound so that as little contact with the ground is achieved. Try putting some well-draining mulch around them might help. Strawberries really hate getting their feet wet.
 
Ah, I had a feeling it might be the moisture.

As for ripening on the counter, will they still get as red and sweet? Should I put them in a sunny spot, and when, if ever, do they go into the fridge?
 
They get pretty red and sweet if I can keep everyone off them! LOL. They don't need sun, just heat. The best solution is to keep the berry dry on the plant but if you have to pick them they are OK on the counter.
 
As for ripening on the counter, will they still get as red and sweet? Should I put them in a sunny spot, and when, if ever, do they go into the fridge?
All fruits and vegetables will continue to ripen on the counter. Refrigerate if necessary but it is a moist environment......
 
No need to feel foolish. Most people do not realize that is where the name came from. I know I didn't until just a few years ago.

Good luck with your strawberries.
 
I just wanted to mention that there was a woman on a show I watched the other morning here in Cleveland that owns a strawberry farm where you can go and pick them. She said strawberries Will Not ripen after they're picked. I've never tried it with the strawberries that I grow, just relating what the woman said.

Barb
 
I don't have any luck getting them to ripen on the counter.

Strawberries rot if they get rain when they're ripening, so I'd hold off on the watering if I were you.
 
Great resource, sparrow. Thanks!

As for the ripening, I brought a biggie in yesterday that was pale pale pink. This morning, after a night on the counter it was dark dark pink. I popped it in the freezer before work because we've been having ants and I didn't want to risk letting it sit out any longer. I'll eat it when I get home tonight and report back on its sweetness. That should learn us, all right!
 
Is it difficult to transplant strawberries? I have a huge patch in a flower garden. It looks nice but the runners are going to take over and drown my pansies. I want to move my strawberry plants to an isolated area. Is it better to do it in the fall or spring? Or not at all? (This is the second year).
 
Strawberry Do's and Don't's

I've been wanting to grow strawberries on my balcony in one of those strawberry pots, haven't yet, too chicken I guess. I have however been reading up on them. Once picked strawberries unless frozen or canned should be eaten in two to three days. Leaving them out on the counter for more than a couple of hours, invites them to be exposed to the browning effect, not good. Putting them in the refrigerator doesn't improve their taste, however, if you aren't going to be eating them right away, its best to put them in the coolest part of your refrigerator, like I said no more than 2 or 3 days. Put them away with their green caps intact and unwashed. When you do wash them don't leave them in the water as they will lighten in color and flavor. When you remove the green caps use a potato peeler or something like that, remove the cap without any of the fruit. I hope this helps. Now I don't know a dingdang thing about planting them, only about storing and eating them.
 
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