FRUIT Strawberry Albion 4″ rnd
$9.00
Day-neutral strawberry with very large berries.
Conical-shaped berries with excellent flavor. Compared to Seascape, Albion bears larger and slightly firmer berries, and is more disease resistant. Albion’s disease package includes resistance to verticillium, phytophthora crown rot, and partial resistance to anthracnose crown rot. Grows best in Zones 4-7.
$9.00
$9.00
Strawberry Growing Tips
Nothing says summer has arrived quite like harvesting fresh strawberries from your garden. We carry two types of strawberries. Earligrow are June-bearing strawberries that produce berries during the month of June. Albion are day-neutral strawberries which will continue to produce berries throughout the summer. Enjoy strawberries fresh or in recipes for all sorts of different sweet treats like strawberry shortcake. Make your own strawberry jam or homemade strawberry ice cream.
Planting
- Strawberries should be planted in full sun ( at least 6+ hours) to produce the most berries. Prior to planting, prepare the soil by incorporating a good quality compost and a balanced fertilizer.
- June-Bearing Strawberries:
- Space plants 18 to 24” apart in rows that are 3 to 4 rows apart. These plants will send out numerous runners later in the season and the wide spacing will allow plenty of room to grow and fill in. Overcrowding strawberry plants will reduce air circulation and could lead to disease problems.
- Day-Neutral Strawberries:
- Day-neutral strawberries can be planted into perennial borders or even containers. They don’t produce as many runners as June-bearing strawberries so they don’t require as much space between plants.
- We sell our plants already established in pots, so just plant them at the depth of the soil in the pot, not any deeper which could bury the crown.
Watering
Strawberries require regular watering and should receive about 1” of water per week. Drip irrigation is an effective and efficient way to irrigate vegetable crops because the water is delivered directly to the soil where it will be taken up by the roots. Drip irrigation also keeps water off of the foliage which will reduce the risk of disease development.
Maintenance
- Keep the planting well weeded. Using mulch, such as cocoa mulch, straw, untreated dry grass clippings or shredded leaves will suppress weed growth and help retain soil moisture.
- For June-Bearing Strawberries – starting in the second season, cut back the foliage right after they have finished producing their crop, usually sometime just after the 4th of July. Cutting back the foliage will help reduce disease issues for next year’s crop. First year plantings don’t need to be cut back. After cutting the foliage back, add compost or fertilizer. The plants will put out new growth during the remainder of the season. Adding fertilizing in the spring can cause strong growth of leaves but at the expense of producing berries, so it is better to wait until after they’ve produced their crop for the season. It’s also easier to reach the soil to make the application since the leaves are out of the way.
- When the plants go dormant in the late fall, cover the planting with a thick layer of straw mulch to protect the crowns over the winter. When new growth resumes in the spring, pull the mulch back off of the plants.
Harvesting
- Harvest the berries when completely red. Check daily, sometimes twice a day for June-bearers. You want to get to the berries before the critters do!
- Strawberries can be stored for the short term in the refrigerator, but don’t store well for very long. It’s best to eat or process as soon as possible. Strawberries may be frozen or canned for longer storage.
