Strawberry ive been working on,

[swaine]

few years ago I was reading about a commercial breeder trying to breed a strawberry for what I can remember mechanical harvest, the book ive long forgot, with berries facing skyward with firm fruit stalks,for ease of picking and ripening, so with all my other little strawberry experiments I set out doing something similar for a bit of fun,
after a few years this one seems to be doing quite well, holding some quite big berries and just been watered and still holding fruit up well(my petite size 12 feet in the picture for some idea of size of fruit)
these were raised from a white pine type strawberry, the sibling to the right is ripening red so I don't know if this one is going to ripen red, or whitey-pink,
im thinking the birds might struggle to land and get to the berries with the fruit stalks over 10-12" inch tall, but will certainly be easier for a naughty flying bird to see from above with no leaf cover
best wishes stew

[hollychap]

birds are clever boogers they will land on your crop pinning it down to eat ( a wood pigeons favorite trick on farmers fields )

[boundtothesoil]

Looks promising. Does the upright habit also mean they may escape the attentions of our sluggish friends?

[swaine]

Looks promising. Does the upright habit also mean they may escape the attentions of our sluggish friends?

at the minute ive had 0 (zero) problems on this stand up type from either slugs or birds, whereas im already having losses with other types of strawberry to slugs and birds, maybe as these ripen pest problems will start to happen,

[boundtothesoil]

Even more promising! What about impact on rotting of the fruit - usually the biggest cause of losses for me, especially in a wet year? Presumably, if the fruit are not only off the ground, but experiencing good air flow, tendency to rot may be reduced?

[swaine]

yes , there is that also , I have that trouble with the older types of strawberries I keep fruit low to the grown, if you continue to have problems with rotting fruit and maybe would like to try giving these a go drop me message and ill root some runners for you(if this type has runners)
id be interested to see how they preformed in other locations, I have another strain of these strawberries with strong fruit stalks but shorter stockier plants, ill take a picture and post today at some point
best

Even more promising! What about impact on rotting of the fruit - usually the biggest cause of losses for me, especially in a wet year? Presumably, if the fruit are not only off the ground, but experiencing good air flow, tendency to rot may be reduced?

[Polytastic]

wondering if the good old toilet roll can be used on the new smaller plants and then this will force them upwards somewhat. I must try it and find out .... maybe even the plastic bottles middles (I used the bottom of the bottle as a pot and the top as a watering feeder so the middle is redundant ... until now