Author Topic: Alpine strawberries from seed in subtropical Florida  (Read 1267 times)

bovine421

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1978
    • Shake Rag Rd Fl 9b
    • View Profile
Alpine strawberries from seed in subtropical Florida
« on: March 21, 2023, 11:10:54 PM »
Has anyone grown alpine strawberries from seed in Florida instead of getting transplants from up North. 

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/propagate-alpine-strawberries-21957.html

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS1326

From The Extension: Strawberries for central Florida
Juanita PopenoeFor the Daily Commercial
Strawberries are grown as an annual crop in Florida over the winter.
Have you ever wanted to grow your own strawberries so you can pick those luscious berries at peak ripeness off your own plants instead of the practically tasteless hard ones you get at the store? You can grow your own, but it is not easy and it is very different from how they are grown in the north.


Strawberries are grown as an annual plant in Florida
Strawberry transplants from the north (usually Canada) that have been cold stored and exposed to short day lengths are planted in September-October in Florida so they will start flowering quickly. They will continue to produce flowers and fruit in cycles through April if cool temperatures continue.
« Last Edit: March 21, 2023, 11:19:38 PM by bovine421 »
Tete Nene Julie Juliet Carrie Ice Cream Coconut Cream Little Gem  Dot  Mallika PPK  OS  Pina Colada Cotton Candy Buxton Spice Karen Michelle M-4 Beverly Marc Anthony White Pirie Lychee Cherilata Plantain Barbados Cherry

Galatians522

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1825
    • Florida 9b
    • View Profile
Re: Alpine strawberries from seed in subtropical Florida
« Reply #1 on: March 21, 2023, 11:29:11 PM »
Its funny that you mention this. I was just doing some research on the topic last week. Apparently, some people have fruited alpine strawberries from seed in Florida. If you look at the comments section in this link, one of the posters was from Florida and says that he got fruit.

https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwiCtsDdye79AhUmypQJHRhhAmAYABAGGgJ5bQ&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAASJuRosDKwul5F0Yf9B9Vwx5SFEEzAaPP3lPEdno_0hluAgIk8HYDh&sig=AOD64_2m8yJJg8UsaewE_e-DPlqkbsbW8Q&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwjvpLbdye79AhULk2oFHXfLDW4Qwg8oAHoECAIQCw&adurl=

I have decided to try growing some seeds from Plant City strawberries that I got a couple weeks ago. They are stratifying in the fridge right now. I will plant indoors in July with the goal of having sets that can go outside by October. Since I will be growing seed from hybrids, I will need to select for several generations to stabilize the genetics that I want. If it works I will be able to develop a Florida heirloom strawberry that I can grow from seed every year just like my tomatoes... Surely if it were this simple someone else would have done it already??? Time will tell.

Aiptasia904

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 70
    • Orange Park
    • View Profile
Re: Alpine strawberries from seed in subtropical Florida
« Reply #2 on: March 22, 2023, 06:53:45 AM »
No. But I do grow heat resistent camarosa strawberries in the winter. If you grow them in containers and put them in the shade for the winter, you can keep them alive for about three years.

bovine421

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1978
    • Shake Rag Rd Fl 9b
    • View Profile
Re: Alpine strawberries from seed in subtropical Florida
« Reply #3 on: March 22, 2023, 08:02:19 AM »
No. But I do grow heat resistent camarosa strawberries in the winter. If you grow them in containers and put them in the shade for the winter, you can keep them alive for about three years.
This is how I started this Quest my daughter bought my mother-in-law a few strawberries plants recently. I'm doing some irrigation work for someone starting a small Nursery that I know is into strawberries so I ask and they said they had a bunch that I could have but they're going out of season. I just assumed they were perennials and would make it through the summer until I started to read. So ideally if I could get some and put them in the shade and try to pamper them through summer. I may get some alpine strawberries to Tinker with. I remember as a kid picking wild strawberries that were very sweet🙂
« Last Edit: March 22, 2023, 08:12:38 AM by bovine421 »
Tete Nene Julie Juliet Carrie Ice Cream Coconut Cream Little Gem  Dot  Mallika PPK  OS  Pina Colada Cotton Candy Buxton Spice Karen Michelle M-4 Beverly Marc Anthony White Pirie Lychee Cherilata Plantain Barbados Cherry

Epicatt2

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 881
  • Fruit forest in progress . . .
    • Tampa, FL / Zone 9b
    • View Profile
Re: Alpine strawberries from seed in subtropical Florida
« Reply #4 on: March 22, 2023, 01:11:21 PM »
This strawberry thread also leads me to ask about the new introduction 'Pineberries' that I've been reading about which produce berries that look like a negative version of a red strawberry, i.e., having ivory colored fruit covered with red seeds!

Pineberries just this season seem to be showing up in places like Publix in the Tampa, FL area.

But will they grow and survive in west central Florida, I'm wondering.  WIll the plants last more than one season?  Anyone know?

Paul M.
==

Rispa

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 300
    • Houston, TX
    • View Profile
Re: Alpine strawberries from seed in subtropical Florida
« Reply #5 on: March 22, 2023, 01:13:59 PM »
If you find yard strawberry I think you're better off experimenting with creating a bigger version of them through breeding. I have the one that isn't sweet growing wild in my Houston yard, so that one is definitely heat tolerant. https://homeguides.sfgate.com/little-strawberry-things-yard-76337.html

Tropicaltoba

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 269
    • Canada, Manitoba, Winnipeg, zone 3
    • View Profile
Re: Alpine strawberries from seed in subtropical Florida
« Reply #6 on: March 22, 2023, 01:53:23 PM »
Bovine,
I live in zone 3, I actually grow them year round in my heated greenhouse zone 11. I grow yellow wonder and they are delicious. Very small i can usually get about 3berries per week per plant all
Winter long. I have them next to a window so they may dip down to 8-9c in January. I grow them in 2 gallon buckets and they produce well until the heat of the summer, my greenhouse maxes out at 32-33c. I will usually divide the plants in summer and plant them all Outside except for a couple. I grew them from seed and chilled them in the fridge for a month.

pagnr

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 941
    • View Profile
Re: Alpine strawberries from seed in subtropical Florida
« Reply #7 on: March 22, 2023, 04:12:36 PM »
Alpine strawberry is available as seed from various seed companies, including different named red varieties, and also named white and yellow types.
Indian strawberry is used as an ornamental in subtropical areas. The fruit are pea sized, but not very sweet.

Galatians522

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1825
    • Florida 9b
    • View Profile
Re: Alpine strawberries from seed in subtropical Florida
« Reply #8 on: March 22, 2023, 11:35:27 PM »
This strawberry thread also leads me to ask about the new introduction 'Pineberries' that I've been reading about which produce berries that look like a negative version of a red strawberry, i.e., having ivory colored fruit covered with red seeds!

Pineberries just this season seem to be showing up in places like Publix in the Tampa, FL area.

But will they grow and survive in west central Florida, I'm wondering.  WIll the plants last more than one season?  Anyone know?

Paul M.
==

The ones you are buying in Publix were grown in Florida. UF bred them from a Japanese strawberry. They will probably be no more heat tollerent than any of the other Florida strawberries. I know of several people that have kept plants over the summer. Shade and nematode free soil seem to be requirements with regular fungicide applications being very helpful. Back when plants were $0.25 each it was more costly to keep them over the summer than to buy new. Not sure if that is still true.

Daintree

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1209
    • Boise, Idaho - zone 6, with a zone 12 greenhouse...
    • View Profile
Re: Alpine strawberries from seed in subtropical Florida
« Reply #9 on: March 23, 2023, 09:13:20 AM »
Like Tropicaltoba, I grow strawberries year round in my greenhouse.  It gets pretty hot in there in the summer, in the 90's, and never below about 55 in winter.
I grow day neutral strawberries, in my aeroponics tower. I have 25 plants that I just started from dormant bare root plants, and they will produce berries all year long. Yum yum!



Tropicaltoba

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 269
    • Canada, Manitoba, Winnipeg, zone 3
    • View Profile
Re: Alpine strawberries from seed in subtropical Florida
« Reply #10 on: March 23, 2023, 06:15:36 PM »
Here’s my pics, I just broke them up in half and repotted 2 weeks ago and already fruiting and flowering. The fruits get to about twice that size. There were from seed.


bovine421

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1978
    • Shake Rag Rd Fl 9b
    • View Profile
Re: Alpine strawberries from seed in subtropical Florida
« Reply #11 on: March 24, 2023, 05:40:47 AM »
Here’s my pics, I just broke them up in half and repotted 2 weeks ago and already fruiting and flowering. The fruits get to about twice that size. There were from seed.

If the planting date in Florida is October for transplants imported from Canada. When do you think I should start my seeds indoors in September? I've had it a hundred strawberry plants donated to my experiment to see if I can get them to survive through the summer in shade. The best I can tell the going rate for plants are 80 cents a piece four times expensive as galatian remembers from back in the day🙂

This has me motivated to double the size of my pineapple plantation
« Last Edit: March 24, 2023, 05:50:42 AM by bovine421 »
Tete Nene Julie Juliet Carrie Ice Cream Coconut Cream Little Gem  Dot  Mallika PPK  OS  Pina Colada Cotton Candy Buxton Spice Karen Michelle M-4 Beverly Marc Anthony White Pirie Lychee Cherilata Plantain Barbados Cherry

Tropicaltoba

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 269
    • Canada, Manitoba, Winnipeg, zone 3
    • View Profile
Re: Alpine strawberries from seed in subtropical Florida
« Reply #12 on: March 24, 2023, 09:52:03 AM »
I grew mine from seed, I’m pretty sure it took 9 months (chilled them for a month) before they were producing. Those are the yellow wonder variety. The plants grow pretty fast and can be divided pretty quickly.

bovine421

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1978
    • Shake Rag Rd Fl 9b
    • View Profile
Re: Alpine strawberries from seed in subtropical Florida
« Reply #13 on: May 01, 2023, 09:00:29 AM »
Update on summer strawberry project Florida





Tete Nene Julie Juliet Carrie Ice Cream Coconut Cream Little Gem  Dot  Mallika PPK  OS  Pina Colada Cotton Candy Buxton Spice Karen Michelle M-4 Beverly Marc Anthony White Pirie Lychee Cherilata Plantain Barbados Cherry

Caesar

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 454
    • PR
    • View Profile
Re: Alpine strawberries from seed in subtropical Florida
« Reply #14 on: May 02, 2023, 01:37:21 PM »
I’ve grown Alpines from seed here in Puerto Rico. No fuss. I’m starting them again and have a few seedlings growing. Once they get past the seedling stage, they are very tough plants, handling heat waves and full-day burning sun like champs. They seem to bear fine under care, but production grows sparse when overly neglected (my neglect grew to the point of eventually killing my prior plants, but they survived under that neglect for several consecutive years). Despite their name and origins, they are very much not fussy about high temps and air humidity variations. Soil & watering might be the biggest concerns, but they’re also the most easily-handled concerns.

StelaG

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 188
    • Central Florida 9b
    • View Profile
Re: Alpine strawberries from seed in subtropical Florida
« Reply #15 on: June 04, 2023, 08:03:14 AM »
We have some strawberries, not sure the variety, growing for a couple 2-3 years.  We first bought some starts from Walmart and then we planted some seeds of some Plant City grown strawberries.  Anyways I would plant them in the pots of my figs and other fruit trees and they kind of just grew there for the past few years.  We don't give them any special care and they kind of just survive on their own.  Remind me next time and I'll take you a few to add to your patch.  They aren't the biggest strawberries though, maybe they need to be fertilized more.  We have started to plant them in our flower bed to use as ground cover. 

Galatians522

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1825
    • Florida 9b
    • View Profile
Re: Alpine strawberries from seed in subtropical Florida
« Reply #16 on: June 04, 2023, 01:07:46 PM »
Berries are probably small because they were from hybrid fruit. Plant seeds from your largest fruts and keep selecting for larger tastier fruit. I think if we could get enough people to plant seeds from locally grown strawberries we would eventually get a good quality heirloom that could be propagated by seed.