anyone has the slightest recollection of this strawberry

[swaine]

for christmas my wife managed to track down some old strawberry books i was after,
the book this black and white picture was taken from is circa 1962 ( a re print from the 1950s under a different title, so this variety KUNTNERS PINEAPPLE TRIUMPH (everbearer), was possibly pre war?,

Anyone remember parents/grandparent growing it, i have lists of hundreds/thousands of strawberries and this one dosent appear on a single one, web search revealed zero info

it could be a white type? a lot of pineberry types doing the rounds at the minute have pineapple in the name, but i do have some old types of strawberry that have pineapple in the name that are red fruiters,

the book also mentions another strawberry that dosent seem to appear on any list
WHITE PERPETUAL, from the laxton bros, same people who produced the amazing royal soverign strawberry pre 1900, the author does mention he lost his white perpetual stock so says it maybe extinct now,
many thanks stew

[Aberdeenplotter]

Never heard of them but that pic showing them staked is interesting

[swaine]

the old books are great always something intresting to be learned, mightbe a bit messy , but im going to give it a try staking like this

Never heard of them but that pic showing them staked is interesting

[Aberdeenplotter]

I've seen easier methods like cutting the top and bottom of a 4pint plastic milk bottle and placing that over the plant forcing it to grow 6" or so vertically before spreading out.

What is your interest in the old strawberry varieties? Is it purely historical? Only asking because I read on one site that " The old ones are of questionable quality by today’s standards. "

It's sometimes interesting to find out why something floats someone else's boat

[ladylottie]

Sorry, but I've never heard of them either . The photo of them staked looks interesting so I will definitely be trying that next year! As Swaine says, there's always something new to be learnt or tried out.

[swaine]

many thanks for asking, i have a real passion for older (victorian) type fruit, mainly to keep them going, but to try and learn a bit about them, i have approx 15-20 varieties pre 1900, and about 150+ after 1900,(and around 200 of my own hybrid strawberries) i find the newer types strawberries quite similar to be honest (i think a few breeders would like to flog me for that comment) while the real old sort berries are a mixture of colours, size, texture, flavours, seems each berry really did have a individual use, for jam, for eating fresh, etc
some can be a bit of a headache to just keep alive from year to year, one variety i have called marshall, from around 1890, is a real nightmare suffers from near every problem possible but its on an endangered fruit list, so every year it gets super special treatment,
i also find the newer types dont need much care, which is great, while the old types do need you to go the extra mile, and each individual variety needing a slightly different soil, or method of growing (the marshall i mention is only good on real heavy soil, but its not just old strawberries that intrest me, i have around 60 types of gooseberry, 70+ types of currants, 20+types rhubarbs, 60 varieties of raspberries, and also blackberries around 80-90% the older types, stew

I've seen easier methods like cutting the top and bottom of a 4pint plastic milk bottle and placing that over the plant forcing it to grow 6" or so vertically before spreading out.

What is your interest in the old strawberry varieties? Is it purely historical? Only asking because I read on one site that " The old ones are of questionable quality by today’s standards. "

It's sometimes interesting to find out why something floats someone else's boat

[swaine]

many thanks for the reply, think this one will truly be needle in a haystack, im giving it a go, so if you do, let me know how you get on, think bird protection might have to be stepped up, passing birds might think its christmas come in june/july with a nice crop of strawberries being held aloft

Sorry, but I've never heard of them either . The photo of them staked looks interesting so I will definitely be trying that next year! As Swaine says, there's always something new to be learnt or tried out.

[greenjelly]

Really interesting thread - my fathers family come from Titchfield near Southampton where 'back in the day' they grew acres and acres of strawberry's. Some of my Father's family were involved with strawberry growing back in the 1920/1930's but sadly they are all dead now. As a child all we did all summer was pick and eat strawberry's!

I haven't heard any of the named varieties you mentioned but possibly these weren't grow commercially by then. I would interested to know where one could purchase some of these to try out.

Also I haven't ever seen strawberry's staked before - I found your photo very intriguing.

Greenjelly

[swaine]

many thanks for the reply greenjelly,
thats a great bit of back info, im pretty sure you family would have worked with some very intresting strawberries,ive listed a few they may have worked during the 1920-30s,

keens seedling 1821, myatts british queen 1840, black prince, sir joseph paxton 1862, jucunda 1864
doctor hogg 1866, laxtons noble 1864, royal sovereign 1892,
there is some others that i havent listed, and depending on source dates can change by a few years either way

i believe red steele root rot became a problem during the 1920-1930s possibly a big reason why most of the older strawberries arent with us anymore

i have asked around a bit but drawn a blank on the kuntners pineapple triumph,(pictured), maybe it was a trail variety that was photgraphed and never took off, if i do manage to locate it i will be sure to post an update,
best wishes stew

Really interesting thread - my fathers family come from Titchfield near Southampton where 'back in the day' they grew acres and acres of strawberry's. Some of my Father's family were involved with strawberry growing back in the 1920/1930's but sadly they are all dead now. As a child all we did all summer was pick and eat strawberry's!

I haven't heard any of the named varieties you mentioned but possibly these weren't grow commercially by then. I would interested to know where one could purchase some of these to try out.

Also I haven't ever seen strawberry's staked before - I found your photo very intriguing.

Greenjelly

[Jon073]

More information on Pineapple Triumph

The Austrian-bred strawberry Kuntner's (Pineapple) Triumph is described in Edward Hyams' Strawberry Cultivation, published in 1953. Here's the detail in case it's helpful:

"The plants are sprawling, rather weak but very rapid in their growth, with a good colour and medium foliage, not unlike their namesake amongst the French group. The strawberries are of medium size to large, rounded or heart-shaped, and alleged to be of marked pine flavour. I was unable to detect it. But Major Corner reports that with him it is delicious. On the other hand, they are not growing in good conditions here and it may be that the flavour will be better when the soil and site are improved. The variety produces copious runners, and the runners flower as fast as they form, and it is usual to grow the variety as a matted bed. The variety is a large cropper, producing up to one pound per plant in its long, continuous season. There are such wildly enthusiastic reports of this variety in Austria, and its export has been banned by the Austrian Government, that I can only suppose that the Austrians have not much experience of remontants and think they have a miracle, or that the variety has not performed up to form in this country.'

So the export ban may explain its rarity here. Given that with the EU export will now be legal, you should find it if you search in Austria, I'd guess.

Hope that helps.

[alldigging]

Staking them looks like an interesting way of dealing with the damp weather ... will it stop the slugs?

[BUFFS]

many thanks for asking, i have a real passion for older (victorian) type fruit, mainly to keep them going, but to try and learn a bit about them, i have approx 15-20 varieties pre 1900, and about 150+ after 1900,(and around 200 of my own hybrid strawberries) i find the newer types strawberries quite similar to be honest (i think a few breeders would like to flog me for that comment) while the real old sort berries are a mixture of colours, size, texture, flavours, seems each berry really did have a individual use, for jam, for eating fresh, etc
some can be a bit of a headache to just keep alive from year to year, one variety i have called marshall, from around 1890, is a real nightmare suffers from near every problem possible but its on an endangered fruit list, so every year it gets super special treatment,
i also find the newer types dont need much care, which is great, while the old types do need you to go the extra mile, and each individual variety needing a slightly different soil, or method of growing (the marshall i mention is only good on real heavy soil, but its not just old strawberries that intrest me, i have around 60 types of gooseberry, 70+ types of currants, 20+types rhubarbs, 60 varieties of raspberries, and also blackberries around 80-90% the older types, stew

that list of fruit sounds great,it must be lovely when the fruit pies are being made,drooling now at the thought of it,you lucky devil,you might say i was plum envious.....

[Veggiefirsttimer]

I have found these on the Internet

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineberry

The fruit looks the same and possibly the same taste? Although more of a modern name?

Hope this helps!

[AkionTotocha]

I found quite a few results when google-ing:

Kuntners Triumph
Kuntners Triumph Strawberry
Kuntner's Triumph Strawberry.

Maybe that will have better luck if you drop the "pineapple" tag. The book is quite old, maybe the Pinapple part got lost with the ages?

[Bane]

The Austrian-bred strawberry Kuntner's (Pineapple) Triumph is described in Edward Hyams' Strawberry Cultivation, published in 1953. Here's the detail in case it's helpful:

"...There are such wildly enthusiastic reports of this variety in Austria, and its export has been banned by the Austrian Government, that I can only suppose that the Austrians have not much experience of remontants and think they have a miracle, or that the variety has not performed up to form in this country.'

I love it.