Strawberry

The Garden Strawberry was first bred in Europe in the early 18th century, and represents the accidental cross of Fragaria virginiana from eastern North America, which was noted for its fine flavor, and Fragaria chiloensis from Chile and noted for its large size.

Cultivars of Fragaria ×ananassa have replaced in commercial production the Woodland Strawberry, which was the first strawberry species cultivated in the early 17th century.

 History

The typical cultivated strawberry comes from the Americas, and is a hybrid of the North America F. virginiana and the South American F. chiloensis, developed in the early 18th century. Interestingly, the crossbreeding was done in Europe to correct a mistake; the European horticulturists had only brought female South American plants, and were forced to cross them with the North American variety in order to get fruit and seeds. The name Fragaria comes from "fragans", meaning odorous, referring to the perfumed flesh of the fruit. Madam Tallien, a great figure of the French Revolution, who was nicknamed Our Lady of Thermidor, used to take baths full of strawberries to keep the full radiance of her skin. Fontenelle, centenarian writer and gourmet of the 18th century, considered his long life was due to the strawberries he used to eat. Though originally from the New World, strawberries were considered poisonous in Argentina until the mid-nineteenth century.

Popular etymology has it that the name "straw" berry comes from gardeners' practice of mulching strawberries with straw to protect the fruits from rot (a pseudoetymology that can be found in non-linguistic sources such as the Old Farmer's Almanac 2005).

There is an alternative, albeit equally implausible, theory that the name derives from the Anglo-Saxon verb for "strew" (meaning to spread around) which was streabergen (Strea means "strew" and Bergen means "berry" or "fruit") and thence to streberie, straiberie, strauberie, straubery, strauberry, and finally, "strawberry", the word which we use today. The name might have come from the fact that the fruit and various runners appear "strewn" along the ground. However, there is no evidence that the Anglo-Saxons ever grew strawberries, and even less that they knew of this practice, as strawberries are originally from the America

 

Fragaria x ananassa 'Gariguette', a cultivar grown in southern France.

Strawberry varieties vary remarkably in size, color, flavor, shape, degree of fertility, season of ripening, liability to disease and constitution of plant. Some vary in foliage, and some vary materially in the relative development of their sexual organs. In most cases the flowers appear hermaphroditic in structure, but function as either male or female.

For purposes of commercial production, plants are propagated from runners and generally distributed as either bare root plants or plugs. Cultivation follows one of two models, annual plasticulture or a perennial system of matted rows or mounds. A small amount of strawberries are also produced in greenhouses during the off season.

The bulk of modern commercial production uses the plasticulture system. In this method, raised beds are formed each year and covered with black plastic, which prevents weed growth and erosion, under which is run irrigation tubing. Plants, usually obtained from northern nurseries, are planted through holes punched in this covering. Runners are removed from the plants as they appear, to encourage the plants to put most of their energy into fruit development. At the end of the harvest season, the plastic is removed and the plants are plowed into the ground. Because strawberry plants more than a year or two old begin to decline in productivity and fruit quality, this system of replacing the plants each year allows for improved yields and more dense plantings. However, because it requires a longer growing season to allow for establishment of the plants each year, and because of the increased costs in terms of forming and covering the mounds and purchasing plants each year, it is not always practical in all areas.

 

Ripe fruit of the Garden Strawberry

The other major method is to maintain the same plants from year to year. The runners of established plants should be allowed to root in the soil adjoining the plants, which should, therefore, be kept light and fine, or layered into small pots as for forcing. As soon as a few leaves are produced on each the secondary runners should be stopped. When the plants have become well-rooted they should at once be planted out. They do best in a rather strong loam, and should be kept tolerably moist. The ground should be trenched 50-100 cm deep, and supplied with plenty of manure, a good proportion of which should lie just below the roots, 25-30 cm from the surface. The plants may be put in on an average about 50-60 cm apart.

 

The plantation should be renewed every second or third year, or less frequently if kept free of runners, if the old leaves are cut away after the fruit has been gathered, and if a good top-dressing of rotten dung or leaf mold is applied. A top-dressing of loam is beneficial if applied before the plants begin to grow in spring, but after that period they should not be disturbed during the summer either at root or at top. If the plants produce a large number of flower-scapes, each should, if fine large fruit is desired, have them reduced to about four of the strongest. The lowest blossoms on the scape will be found to produce the largest, earliest and best fruits. The fruit should not be gathered until it is quite ripe, and then, if possible, it should be quite dry, but not heated by the sun. Those intended for preserving are best taken without the stalk and the calyx.

A mulching of straw manure put between the rows in spring serves to keep the ground moist and the fruit clean, as well as to afford nourishment to the plants. Unless required, the runners are cut off early, in order to promote the swelling of the fruit. The plants are watered during dry weather after the fruit is set, and occasionally until it begins to colour. As soon as the fruit season is over, the runners are again removed, and the ground hoed and raked.

 

Fragaria × ananassa 'Chandler' , a short day commercial variety grown in California.

Strawberries are often grouped according to their flowering habit. Traditionally, this has consisted of a division between "June-bearing" strawberries, which bear their fruit in the early summer and "Ever-bearing" strawberries, which often bear several crops of fruit throughout the season. More recently, research has shown that strawberries actually occur in three basic flowering habits: short day, long day, and day neutral. These refer to the day length sensitivity of the plant and the type of photoperiod which induces flower formation. Day neutral cultivars produce flowers regardless of the photoperiod. Most commercial strawberries are either short day or day neutral.

While rarely if ever done commercially, strawberries may also be propagated by seed, and a few seed propagated cultivars have been developed for home use. Seeds are acquired commercially or saved from fruit ripened early in the summer. They may at once be sown, either in a sheltered border outdoors or in pots, or better in March under glass, when they will produce fruits in June of the same year. The soil should be rich and light, and the seeds very slightly covered by sifting over them some leaf-mould or old decomposed cow dung. When the plants appear and have made five or six leaves, they are transplanted to where they are to remain for bearing. The seeds sown in pots may be helped on by gentle heat, and when the plants are large enough they are pricked out in fine rich soil, and in June transferred to the open ground for bearing.

Pollination

Most cultivars are somewhat self fertile, but good bee activity has been shown to improve pollination, which results in larger and better shaped berries. Commercial growers sometimes place beehives within range of the fields to increase bee populations.

 Forcing

 

The runners propagated for forcing are layered into 75 mm pots, filled with rich soil, and held firm by a piece of raffia, a peg or stone. If kept duly watered they will soon form independent plants. The earlier they are secured the better.

When firmly rooted they are removed and transferred into well-drained 150 mm pots, of strong well-enriched loam, the soil being rammed firmly into the pots, which are to be set in an open airy place. In severe frosts they should be covered with dry litter or bracken, but do not necessarily require to be placed under glass. They are moved into the forcing houses as required.

The main points to be kept in view in forcing strawberries are:

• use strong stocky plants, the leaves of which have grown sturdily from being well exposed to light, and
• grow them slowly until the fruit is set.

1890 watercolor of strawberries (cultivar 'Parker Earle').

When they are first introduced into heat, the temperature should not exceed 8°C to 10°C, and air must be freely admitted; should the leaves appear to grow up thin and delicate, less fire heat and more air must be given, but an average temperature of 13°C by day may be allowed and continued while the plants are in flower.

When the fruit is set the heat may be gradually increased, till at the ripening period it stands at 18°C to 24°C by sun heat. While the fruit is swelling the plants should never be allowed to get dry, but when it begins to colour no more water should be given than is absolutely requisite to keep the leaves from flagging. The plants should be removed from the house as soon as the crop is gathered. The forced plants properly hardened make first-rate outdoor plantations, and if put out early in summer, in good ground, will often produce a useful autumnal crop.

Pests

A number of species of Lepidoptera feed on strawberry plants; for details see this list.

Diseases

The most troublesome fungoid attacks to which the strawberry is subject are mildew, leaf spot and leaf blight. The former, like all mildews, attacks the leaves and spreads to the fruit, these being covered with the white mycelium. The fungus is identical with that causing mildew in hops (Sphaerotheca humuli), and its development is greatly furthered by exposure of its host to cold draughts or low night temperatures. Spraying the foliage with potassium sulfide (K₂S) (mixed with water at a 1:40 ratio by volume) should hold it in check, but the plants should not be sprayed when the fruit is developing.

Leaf spot is caused by the fungus Sphaerella fragariae. The first symptom of this attack is the appearance of small, circular, white spots on the leaves, having a broad, definite, dark reddish margin.

On these spots a whitish mould develops, and this is followed later by the perfect form of the fungus, the fruits of which appear to the naked eye as small black spots seated on the white dead spot on the leaf. Potassium sulfide may be used as for the mildew, or, perhaps better, Bordeaux mixture. Some recommend cutting off the leaves after fruiting and turn the beds over so as to destroy the fungus in the leaves.

Leaf blight is caused by the fungus Phomopsis obscurans. The symptoms begin as one to several circular reddish-purple spots on a leaflet. Spots enlarge to V-shaped lesions with a light brown inner zone and dark brown outer zone. Lesions follow major veins progressing inward. A copper sulphate containing spray like Bordeaux mixture will help control this disease.

The grubs of the cockchafer (Meloloniha vulgaris) and the rose chafer (Cetonia aurata) frequently feed upon the roots of the strawberry and do considerable damage, while the larvae of the Ghost Moth (Hepialus humuli) and garden swift moth behave in a similar way. The imago of Cetonia aurala also frequently damages the flowers of the strawberry by devouring their centres, and is often troublesome in this way in forcing-houses particularly. The carnivorous ground beetles, particularly Pterostichus nigra and Harpalus rufimanus, when the fruit is ripe attack it at night, returning to the soil in the daytime. They are to be caught by placing jars containing some attractive matter, such as meat and water, at intervals about the beds with their mouths sunk level with the surface of the soil. Millipedes also are often found in the ripe fruit, but occur mostly where the soil is very rich in organic matter and poor in lime. Slugs and snails also snack on the fruit, as do birds. Slug pellets can be used to reduce their numbers, with child and animal safe versions available. Organic solutions to slug attacks include beer baiting.

In addition to being consumed fresh, strawberries are frozen or made into preserves. Strawberries are a popular addition to dairy products, as in strawberry flavored ice cream, milkshakes and yogurts. Strawberry pie is also popular. Strawberries can also be used as a natural acid/base indicator. They are also supposedly used for whitening teeth.

Nutrition

One cup (144 g) of strawberries constitutes approximately 45 calories (188 kJ) and is an excellent source of vitamin C and flavonoids.

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