Disappointed with my strawberries. :(

[gardening_gal]

My strawbs are ripening now and I've been picking them each day but they're a bit of a disappointment tbh.

They seem pretty tasteless, certainly no better than supermarket jobs. I was expecting lovely tasty 'reminds me of the old days type strawberries' and that's not what I got.

Is this down to the plants (Elsanta) or down to my care of them?

They are each in individual pots in compost from Tomorite tomato growbags, I've fed them with a high potash feed and they have looked really healthy so I had high hopes. Ha!

[Two_Sheds]

overwatering can literally dilute the flavour. I don't water mine at all (they're in the ground)

[Bigmallly]

They seem pretty tasteless, certainly no better than supermarket jobs.

If I am not mistaken,the bulk of supermarket strawbs are also Elsanta.

[Nicos]

Mine are in the ground too and are only watered by the rain.
They have a much more watery flavour this year...plus all the slugs are munching on them

As 2sheds suggests- try watering them a bit less and then the fruit bulking up now may have a more intense flavour.
Are they in full sun too?...that would help concentrate the flavour ( from what I recall??)

[gardening_gal]

They are in the polytunnel but the tunnel does get a lot of sun each day (if we do actually have any, that is!)

I don't have ground to grow in so I have to have pots on top of tarmac.

I thought I was watering the right amount simply because the plants looked so healthy but it is possible I have overwatered so I'll cut back a bit on that and see if it makes any difference. Thanks.

[FB.]

Lots of direct sunshine. Lots of warmth. Lots of food. Adequate but not too much water.

My guess is that there's not enough direct sunshine. Sunshine helps with flavour and sweetness. The polytunnel is letting in light but will be blocking some of the real strength of the sun (try to get yourself a tan in a polytunnel compared to sitting outside in the sun).

Potted plants can easily have too little or too much food or water (their roots can't spread out in search of what they need, when they need it); too little or too much can spoil the quality of the fruit.

Too many runners can also spoil the quality of the fruit as they draw energy and nutrients from the mother plant.

[Alison]

I'd say the variety is partly to blame too, Elsanta are a supermarket favourite. The ones I have that are fruiting at the moment are Honeoye which are VERY productive and extremely tasty. I have some later variety ones too but I've changed those this year as I didn't find the variety anywhere near as nice as the earlier ones so am trying Lucy this year - not ripe yet so can't comment yet.

[roitelet]

I find the ones that are grown undercover and therefore earlier not as tasty as the later ones. Let them get really ripe before picking. I grow Suprise de Marche and the ones in the ground are better than the earlier forced ones.

[Richard Eldritch]

I like Elsanta, they're vigorous and tasty despite their supermarket pedigree. Perhaps you're picking to soon? I let them go fully red and then wait for a while longer untill they're fit to burst. The longer they're growing the more sugars.

[swaine]

im feeling the same with mine at the minute, ive got around 140-150 named varieties , about 15-20 varieties already had berries ripe, and only maybe 2 varieties (and they been pre 1900 types) of them ive been remotely pleased with and they seem blander and a tad insipid as mentioned a lot of mine are grown out doors so blaming the rain at the minute, im hoping for some warmer drier weather to get some real flavour out of them,
stew

[Shadylane]

Ours were very nice, but not quite as delish as we've had them in the past. It'll be the rain.

[Bal]

I like Elsanta, they're vigorous and tasty despite their supermarket pedigree. Perhaps you're picking to soon? I let them go fully red and then wait for a while longer untill they're fit to burst. The longer they're growing the more sugars.

Glad to hear that. I couldn't resist buying some from B&Q when I had to pop in for some canes. Got six good plants for a pound wish I had bought more but am currently under a ban on buying any more plants

[Nicos]

I've noticed over here, the trick with slightly unripe/ tasteless strawberries seems to be to pop them in a pan with a small amount of sugar and heat them gently stirring for a couple of minutes...sort of as if you are making jam , but stopping just as the fruit starts to soften....literally a couple of minutes- if that. (say 1 teaspoon sugar to a small punnet)

Seems to really bring out the flavour.

....just thought I'd share that with you so you can enjoy your strawberries more


Yeh..maybe this should be posted on the season for taste thread....but it seemed appropriate here

[Alison]

im feeling the same with mine at the minute, ive got around 140-150 named varieties , about 15-20 varieties already had berries ripe, and only maybe 2 varieties (and they been pre 1900 types) of them ive been remotely pleased with and they seem blander and a tad insipid as mentioned a lot of mine are grown out doors so blaming the rain at the minute, im hoping for some warmer drier weather to get some real flavour out of them,
stew

Blimey, you've got a lot of fruit! I've only got 36 plants at the lottie (12 first years, 12 second and 12 third) and that gives me huge amounts so can hardly imagine what I'd do with almost 4 times that many :-o


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[Alison]

Glad to hear that. I couldn't resist buying some from B&Q when I had to pop in for some canes. Got six good plants for a pound wish I had bought more but am currently under a ban on buying any more plants

Quick question, what are the canes for, strawberries shouldn't need any support?


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