Minor frustration. Last year I bought what I thought where plenty of strawberry plants, (75) filled out all my little porch planters, gave some away to my wife’s cousin put the rest in nursing pots for this year. This year comes around the extras where not nearly enough to fill in the spots I needed. Worst of all the area I worked for 4 years improving for blueberry’s paied off, The blueberries are doing fantastic for the first them and the surviving Straberries (2) are producing for the first time.
Its not that I can’t still order strawberries. Last year they where so over produced. I would walk into any garden center or home depot and buy cheep discounted strawberries. This year nothing.
Regret 2.
Not buying Hollybrook farms Espalier apple and pear trees. 2016 trees where 6:1 2017 3:1 .
Where are you located? I think I remember you were in the DC area and if you are I can happily give you some plants if you feel like driving to Arlington.
absolutely, I am sure its a regional thing. Strawberries where likely over sold last year and the local shops responded by ordering less this year. My post is as much a warning as it is a complaint. If vendors are flooding the market with something you think you want next year. Don’t wait next year they may move on hard to something else.
I have 25 archer strawberries in my fridge forever. They sent 50 instead of 25. I tried to give them to a local community garden, but nobody wanted them. Probably no good now. I planted 20 of them, and didn’t need the rest.
Only one nursery is selling Archer, the new hybrid that is large aromatic, and super flavorful. Out of Rutgers I think?
your thinking of Rutgers Scarlet, much hyped a couple years ago. I sought it out at a Pick your own that planted it and they said it was a total dud. having falling to all the strawberry deseas in the field already. Never got to taste it, might still be an excellent berry with out desease pressure. The Archer berry I looked it up is out of Geneva, NY
I feel like this is the case here for blueberries at the box stores. There were a ton of them last year, and, admittedly, it is late, but I did not find any last weekend when I went looking for them.
that’s awesome thanks. The ground I need to plant them is my mothers place inn DC. But I am in NJ. I am sure I will be back in DC before the month is out though. I will keep you in mind.
This my second year with Rutgers Scarlet, I got them from Nourse, let a few fruit last year, thought they were good, the plants exploded and doubled or tripled in quantity later that summer. This year they are set to ripen a good looking crop of berries, the first 2# have been outstanding in flavor, with the largest single berry topping out at 1.5oz.
The foliage is a very dark green, i have a touch of leaf spotting on some plants that are bit shaded by a blueberry, but otherwise this variety seems like a winner in my garden.
It’s one location, Archer took about 18 years to release. They don’t release these without a lot of testing. Scarlet looks like it was tested for 20 years. So I myself blame the farmer for failure, these are well researched out products. They might not work everywhere.Taste was the major consideration. Same with Archer.
“Since developing better flavor was the top priority, the Rutgers Scarlet strawberry has undergone hundreds of formal and informal taste tests,’’ said Peter Nitzsche, associate professor and agricultural agent for Rutgers Cooperative Extension. What sets the scarlet strawberry apart is its solid balance of sweetness and acidity, he said.
Vendors do sometimes flood the area with something. Will Give you an example how this occurs and it will help you understand … When I was very young I raised lots of tropical fish and I had an idea to raise guppies to breed in a 100 gallon tank that winter so I raised thousands. The story does not end I bought several kids swimming pools the next year and let them fill with rain water. I waited patiently for the Mosquitos to lay eggs and turn to larvae. Then I dumped my thousands of guppies in those pools to breed like rabbits on the best live food all summer! In the fall I traded all my guppies for things I wanted which dessimated the guppy market! Now I raise pears and I’m building up my thousands and you see where this story is going. Some vendors raise strawberries! The vendors will make sure they are first to market and the price tanks for the late to market vendor who didn’t know and then there will be a glut. Last year you experienced a glut in strawberry plants. The late to market vendor can’t afford that mistake twice so he backs off. The other vendor tanked the market intentionally last year and won’t do it again for awhile. You will see some lean strawberry plant years for a bit until the market recovers and the original vendor builds up again or another does the same thing. The laws of supply and demand cause that to happen over and over. Cattle farmers breed cattle in good times when they should be selling at times and sell in the lean times when they should be breeding. The smart cattle farmer is big enough to control his feed and raises it himself so the increase in hay or grain price doesnt effect him. The big grain farmer may intentionally hold grain back from the market to increase the price artificially. The cattle farmer holds back beef at times. That’s why buisness that has monopoly are carefully monitored because they dominate a market and the little guy can never get in and the consumer is price gouged.
Super mild winter and I lost two plants that should have had no problem with such a winter. One, actinidia polygama ‘hot pepper’ is supposedly hardy to zone 3. Not a sign of it this spring, and everything else is growing well…(except for that other vine which I can replace)
Few nurseries offer it and many of which do don’t offer shipping .
Anyone else growing this weird kiwi? Any hardiness issues for you…
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