Waiting bed strawberries are the ones to buy if you want a really good crop in same year the fruit is planted. They will be expensive but it is the recognised way of maximising yield. Also known as the 60-day crop, the waiting bed strawberries will produce fruit 60 days after planting.
RW Walpole in Terrington sell waiting bed strawberries, which they raise in Germany. Unfortunately these are not available for the average vegetable gardener, only commercial strawberry growers. But 60 day cold store plants are a good alternative to waiting bed strawberries.
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The Sonata Table Top Strawberries are ripe – 60 days after planting as promised!
ripe-60day-strawberries
These Sonata Table Top Strawberries were planted in May to replace those lost in the cold winter.
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They were purchased as “waiting bed plants” from the continent. They are designed to give the maximum yield in the first year, and to crop in 60 days after planting.
”Waiting bed plants” are an expensive option, but a heavy crop in 60 days will help the cash flow!
The Sonata Table Top Strawberries are available for Pick Your Own at Skylark Farm, near York.
We thought the only problem with table top strawberries was that they were at the right height for the deer to eat the leaves. However, the cold weather has shown that they are very prone to frost damage. Stuck up on the tables, cold air can circulate round the strawberry bags and there is little protection. Over 80% of table top strawberries have been killed by the frost in some areas.
table-top-Elsanta
Table top strawberries have proved to be pest free – slugs cannot climb up to the table tops, & fungi do not like to be in such an exposed position!
Not having to bend to pick the strawberries is an added bonus.
But there are problems with table top strawberries!
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Picking strawberries is an art, if the strawberries are to remain bright and unbruised.
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The aim is to :
- break the strawberry stalk without actually touching the berry
- end up with a stalk about 1 cm long attached to the strawberry
- not squeeze the strawberry at all
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The method of picking strawberries:
- surround the strawberry with your hand, and with the fore-finger & thumb nail pinch the stalk about 1cm from where it is attached to the strawberry
- twist the stalk so that it breaks off
- let the strawberry roll into the cup of your hand so it rests gently in the palm
- carefully place the strawberry in a bowl
- do not overfill the container or the berries at the bottom will get squashed
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Strawberries are very tender & bruise easily. Once bruised they will start to deteriorate and rot . Bruised strawberries loose their bright appearance and the colour darkens.
The strawberry must not be held in the fingers and pulled off the strawberry bush, because the pressure of the fingers on the berry will bruise it. It is important to pick strawberries with the hull intact by breaking the stalk!
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Table top strawberries have proved to be pest free – slugs cannot climb up to the table tops, & fungi do not like to be in such an exposed position!
TableTopStrawberries
Not having to bend to pick the strawberries is an added bonus. Click this link to read about a Pick Your Own Grower who was surprised to discover how popular his table-top strawberries were!
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The strawberry variety Flamenco is ideal for gardeners who are short of space, or use containers, as it produces lots of sweet, juicy strawberries over a long period.
Strawberry-present
Strawberry Flamenco
- fruits June to November – but peak harvest is September
- extend growing season with polytunnel
- ideal for containers on patio
Click this link to buy some Strawberry Flamenco plants, which can be planted out in the vegetable garden or grown in pots & containers on the patio.
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Cupid is a great variety of strawberry to grow in the garden or in containers.
cupid strawberry
Cupid strawberry is:
- a June-fruiting strawberry
- earlier if grown in a greenhouse or polytunnel
- juicy
- well flavoured
- rain tolerant
- disease resistant
- suitable for growing in containers
Click the link below for more details of this book about growing fruit.
Click this link to buy some Cupid Strawberry plants.
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The Honeoye strawberry plants were pruned at the end of July. and every leaf was cut off each plant.
Today the row of Honeoye strawberries looks a picture of health.
Honeoye-strawberry-regrowt
Fresh, new, green leaves have grown and the strawberry plants look very healthy.
fresh-strawberry-leaves
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The Elsanta table top strawberries planted earlier this year have produced delicious, tasty strawberries in 60 days.
strawberry-60dayElsanta
Intensive strawberry growers can buy strawberry plants which have been ‘programmed’ to be ready in a certain number of days. The young plants are frozen for a certain length of time depending on when they are required to be ready. These plants were called ‘60 day strawberries’, which means that they will fruit 60 days after planting – and they did!
ElsantaStrawberry60day
The strawberry variety Elsanta suits intensive growing, and are the most widely grown variety in Europe. The intensive production involves growing the plants through polythene and feeding them through the water pipes.
These Elsanta 60 day Strawberries are very good quality, and they have not been treated with any chemicals:
- The polythene keeps the weeds down.
- The table legs stop attacks from slugs.
- As the strawberry plants are raised on the table tops, fresh air blows around them and seems to keep diseases at bay.
The Elsanta 60 day strawberries, planted on table tops this year, will produce more strawberries next year.
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These Elsanta strawberries were planted on table tops last month just outside York.
table-top-Elsanta
The Elsanta strawberry plants are growing in special strawberry bags imported from Ireland.
A water pipe runs alongside the bags. Water drips into the bags to keep them moist, but liquid fertiliser is added to the water to provide nutrients.
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One of the advantages of table top strawberries is that the slugs cannot get to them to cause trouble. But the deer have realised that another advantage of table top strawberries is that you do not have to bend down to pick them, and the deer like the variety Elsanta!
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