First Strawberry Disappointment :o(

[Justy]

Just picked my first strawberries.  They looked lovely - nice all over red colour and I carefully brought them home to share (showing great resitance to temptation).

BUT....

They are not juicy.  They have a nice flavour but a dry texture.   :'(  When I picked them they left the stalk on the plant too.

Anyone got any ideas why?

[Justy]

[DenBee]

Don't know much about growing strawbs, Justy. I've got some alpines in the greenhouse which have beautiful little red berries on them. Look lovely - taste of mush.  ::)

[elhuerto]

We picked our first ones a month or so ago and were also pretty disappointed but after a month of hot weather and plenty of sun there's no comparison in taste and texture now. We may have picked the first ones a tad early  but the difference has been huge. Don't know if that helps but maybe you'll get the same turnaround with a bit of sun and tlc.

[Eristic]

You can grow for quantity and good looks or you can grow for Quality.

[jennym]

Sounds like they need more water and food to me. You don't say how you grew them, but if outside, the soil needs to be nice and rich to start with - I always dig plenty of muck into a new bed, ( the soil is heavy clay) and change the bed every three years.  I put them in about a foot apart and let them form a mat with the runners. They need a lot of irrigation as the berries are forming, insufficient water will make them dry, tough and sometimes bitter. Some lack flavour if grown in too shady a spot.  Some varieties do have better flavour than others, I find for eating that Maxim are big and juicy, and others have found the same with Marshmello. I also grow Symphony which is a long berry with good flavour but doesn't keep and is prone to fungal infections, Bolero which is a smaller sized very red berry with good flavour and an everbearer.

[OllieC]

Do you know the variety? Some are pretty insipid whatever you do with them...

[Digeroo]

A lot of the strawberries you buy in the supermarket are tasteless, particularly those from Spain.

[Kendy]

A lot of the strawberries you buy in the supermarket are tasteless, particularly those from Spain.

I would suspect it is not because they are from Spain itself - more the way they have been intensively grown under plastic for our supermarkets.   I bet those from a local smallholder will be delicious.

[OllieC]

It's partly because they're from Spain, picked before they're ripe so that they can survive the journey... They're mostly Elsanta which can have an okay taste, although it's grown because of it's shelf life & is the normal supermarket one even with UK grown ones. A locally grown Honeyoe would have to be my favourite.

Did I ever mention that I worked on a fruit farm for 3 or 4 months a year for 5 years, and have picked about 20 tonnes in my life? Not that this makes me an expert... just an enthusiast!

[antipodes]

I did give my strawberries a good watering this week, it's been that hot, and I fertilised them twice, once at the end of winter and once when teh flowers started to appear. They have rewarded me with LOADS of berries, 2 kilos this week! They are mostly Mara des Bois which are terrific, very tasty and another french variety called Cijoree which gives biggest, very juicy berries.
I would say water and fertilise them and they will give better next time.
I don't know why people grow alpine strawberries? Everytime I have eaten them they have tasted like c**p.