Strawberry Plant Problems

[argyll2bikes]

This is my first year growing strawberries but i have 2 problems.

My first one is the strawberries are quite bitter not sweet

My second one is i have dark patches on the stems and white foaming on the stems and also near the crowns

If anyone could help that would be great

[rustylady]

Hello Argyll, welcome to the Vine.

You don't give us much information though. Are your strawberries growing in the ground or in containers? Whereabouts are you? Any idea what variety your strawberries are?

The white foaming sounds like cuckoo spit Cuckoo spit / Royal Horticultural Society

[Mikey]

The variety can be critical as some make better jam and have higher levels of pectin, as a result they also tend to be sharper in flavour. I tend to pick mine when they aren't completely red (otherwise I share them with the birds) and sit them on the windowsill until they fully ripen. Also try to eat your strawberries at room temperature not from the fridge as this tends to kill the flavour.

A good variety for flavour is cambridge favourite, smaller fruit generally to commercial varieties but consistently sweeter.

[argyll2bikes]

The strawberry plants are elsanta and they are in containers and they are under cover as well. Iam in west of Scotland

[Mikey]

Here's another thread about the best tasting varieties.

Strawberry Best Taste

[SarzWix]

It might be worth giving them a feed with liquid tomato feed, it may be that missing trace elements are causing the bitterness? Also, do make sure they're getting enough water because they can't retrieve nutrients from dry soil...

I don't think I've grown Elsanta, so I've no idea if it could be blamed on the variety, but it has to be worth trying conventional remedies on the off-chance it's something simple.

[kentishgal]

Ive had some bitter ones this year....oddly enough on the same plants as the regular tasty strawberries!