sour strawberries

[Ken the Chef]

I have had plent; still have plenty of strawberries; BUT hardly any of them are sweet.
They are ripe to the point of deteriating, the callexes are well turned back which I take as a sign of ripeness.
My strawberries are Symphany and Irrestable 1 and 2 years old
I have fed with a fruit fertiliser sinse the flowers formed, I have kept well watered.
Can any one tell me why most of my strawberris are not sweet

[Feral007]

No help here sorry. All these complaints of tasteless fruit are saddening me.

[alldigging]

Not enough sun probably. Or too much water.

Were they sweet last year?

[Uber-Uncool]

I think it might be not enough sun too, mine are bland and tasteless this year. Last year they were much sweeter. I'm removing mine either slightly before they ripen or just as they ripen and then either let them have a day on a sunnyish windowsill or pop them in a tub in the freezer. When I have. Enough I will make a preserve with them.

If I don't remove them they are going a manky brown and dropping off. Last year I could leave them longer and they would deepen their colour and sweeten even more before I removed them. Blast it!

[Capsid]

Mine aren't sweet either, it's lack of sun. I have made some lovely ice cream, smoothies and jam with them and they turn out great.

[FB.]

Not enough sun probably. Or too much water.

Were they sweet last year?

Yup.

In some parts of the country it has been colder and wetter than any previous summer. Curiously, the USA has been experiencing a severe (fatal!) heatwave and the worst droughts in over 50 years - crop prices are expected to soar later this year as a result of lack of supply.

Too much water swells up the fruit and dilutes the flavours. Some fruits (especially plums) can split.

Sunlight on the leaves (and a bit of warmth) allows the plant to produce sugars, which it then pumps into the fruit or uses for its own growth and life processes.
No sun = no sugar = smaller, sharper-tasting fruit, and perhaps poor growth.
Plants in shade or partial shade often grow more slowly and produce sharper fruit.

Cooking apples are often recommended for growing in partial shade because many cookers tend to be quite vigorous growers (so can cope with some loss of vigour), tend to produce quite large fruit (so can cope with a slightly smaller fruit size due to less light and sugar) and, most importantly, cookers are expected to be acidic anyway. Hard, acidic apples are more likely to store for a longer period too.

[FB.]

Alpine strawberries cope very well with three-quarter shade; just an hour's sun every few days is all alpines need.
The birds don't steal them either.

[Uber-Uncool]

Rightio, it is alpine strawbs for me from next year!

[Feral007]

Cool, I was planning to get alpine strawbs and put them between other plants to save on mowing (hopefully, anything to save on mowing).