I have a fond place in my heart for the infamous red berry.  Planted on April 1st,  these Sequoia strawberries are supposed to be June-bearing.  With our timing we weren’t sure if we’d get berries or not, however we have gotten quite lucky and they have returned from their dormancy with a beautiful 1^st round of fruit.  These are 2 full Rainforest 236 systems , of 72 Sequoia crowns, outdoors in a micro greenhouse.  (You can see a hint of the other system hanging in, from the right of this shot)

The crowns are situated in 2” neoprene inserts, which support heavy upright growth, while keeping moisture at bay.  This is a great way to prevent crown rot.  These systems have been fed FloraSeries, at ½ strength Label recommendations since their 2^ndweek.  An often overlooked option for feeding, is the “Basic Applications Table” found on any FloraSeries Label.  The numbers are in order of Grow, Micro, Bloom with the recommendations made  in ratios of tsp/gal.  Each number corresponds to a different part of the Flora Series trio(Grow, Micro, Bloom) by giving the number of teaspoons per gallon, for any phase of growth.   For example, the 3-2-1 recommendation for “Growth” provides 3 tsp Grow, 2 tsp Micro and 1 tsp Bloom per gallon.  It is a great idea, to start things with the 1/2 strength label recommendations, to see how your plants are able to be fed.

Recently, the switch was made to ½ strength 1-2-3 (Bloom Recommendation), to bolster heavy fruit production.  We have used NO additives.  They seem to enjoy a pH of around 5.8; we fed them at a higher pH (6.3-6.4) for a few weeks, before switching to the lower pH based on results.

We have been enjoying them here in the GH kitchen for about a week now, and we have a few thoughts.  The higher phosphorus content seems to make them ripen quicker, while allowing for a heavier water weight and pushing for the more distinct Strawberry sweetness.  The earliest berries, which were harvested from the systems while they were running ½ strength 3-2-1, seemed to have less water weight, but were a tad bitter and lacking in sweetness.  Happy Growing!