Which of these strawberries do you recommend?

[Nicos]

Elsanta are one of the main varieties which M&S sell. ( I always make by Xmas pots of jam with those)

[FB.]

Thanks Hermit.. only wondered as my alpines say to plant out when the risk of frost has passed..

Perhaps it's because your alpines have been in a greenhouse all winter, so the sudden drop in temperature might shock them.

My alpines live outside all year round.
Most strawberries die back to some extent during the winter, but I don't recall losing any to frost - and I don't give them any winter protection at all.

[chris]

Nah, sorry i meant on the packet FB... i just sowed them today!

I dont remember what time i planted my honeyo last year, but they weren't protected which is why it got me thinking

[FB.]

I've found Honeoye to be a very frail strawberry.
Give them any excuse and they die.

Christine and Pegasus are tough as old boots and grow like weeds.
Perhaps not as flavoursome as some, but they're very sweet, heavy cropping and give several good runners per plant per season (although Pegasus doesnt produce many runners until year two).
The vigorous growth and large number of runners makes them very easy to rapidly increase your number of plants without having to pay for them.

[Alison]

I have some Honeoye which seem pretty undestructable and very sweet so I can't complain about them at all. Took a load of runners off them last year which have been sat in 3" plastic pots on the side at the lottie with no protection and they are nicely sprouting again now that the weather has warmed up a tad.

[Nykied]

I've got 12 Elsanta plants (free with the Mail/Homebase last weekend) and some Honeoye bare root runners on the way.

When should I plant these? The Elsanta ones I'm putting in a terracotta strawberry pot and the Honeoye ones (if they finally arrive) in a hanging basket.

[FB.]

I have some Honeoye which seem pretty undestructable and very sweet so I can't complain about them at all.

If you saw my soil, you'd appreciate that growing things here really puts their toughness to the test.


Cambs is one of the warmer and sunnier parts of the UK.
We get the lowest rainfall of any part of the UK.
It is also flat and windy.

To maker matters worse, my topsoil is poor and shallow. About a foot of stony/sandy loam, with subsoil of sand and gravel to a depth of at least 6ft.

So, it's hot, sunny and dry (made worse by an always-present breeze), with a poor shallow soil that drains of water and nutrients in a matter of minutes.
Even the weeds usually die of drought-stress in July.
No matter how much I feed or water, only the very toughest plants survive.

[gojiberry]

Strawberry plants will withstand the British winters but the fruits wont, so if your plants start to flower then they will need frost protection.

Ian

[Llamas]

I've got 12 Elsanta plants (free with the Mail/Homebase last weekend) and some Honeoye bare root runners on the way.

When should I plant these? The Elsanta ones I'm putting in a terracotta strawberry pot and the Honeoye ones (if they finally arrive) in a hanging basket.

I've already planted the Honeyoe and Symphony bare roots I got off ebay though those came from someones cold and unprotected plot and were used to it. Bare roots need to go in asap so they don't dry out.