Does anybody know of good places to purchase strawberry seeds? Im interested in maximum diversity to create a “Pre-Grex” mix.
My new place was previously in organic strawberry production, and we already have a decent diversity of varieties growing in the area. I have already collected seeds from everything that Ive been able to get my hands on locally. Now id like to really get the genetic variability added in to maximize potential for creating a strong Grex from upcoming seasons.
Creating a strawberry landrace seems to be falling into my lap so far. It is exciting, and maybe this could be a great way to give back to the GTS community eventually.
Yeah, wouldn’t it be cool to have a strawberry grex eventually?
Especially if a number of us develop populations that are less fragile in seedling stage, and therefore more likely to grow to maturity when direct sown. That would be awesome.
Strawberry genetics are a bit complicated. I expect you’re most interested in the octoploid Fragaria × ananassa that is best known for garden strawberries, whereas most sources for seed are going to be for diploid species such as the alpine and woodland varieties (F. vesca). The hybrid of these is a bit disappointing and has fertility issues, so not something you’re after (though labs that can do embryo rescue, ploidy analysis, and gene parity restoration are working in it).
Since F. ananassa is exclusively propagated asexually for fruit production, all of the common varieties are going to be F1 hybrids, with no seed available to grow them, so nothing to sell or purchase–much like true potato seeds. F2 is easily obtained by saving seeds from the fruit, but will largely yield less desirable fruit from the parent, so won’t ever be commercially offered. But since what you’re after is the genetic diversity, that shouldn’t be a problem.
Just save seeds from any variety you want to add to your grex. Or cross a couple varieties you like and add seeds from that cross (with 8 copies of each gene, bottlenecking is not a huge problem here). Researchers regularly create gene pools this way by intentional crossing to get a selection field (I wish I could get a hold of their lines, but they’re usually restricted).
Before you start, though I would consider bearing patterns. If you intend to create an open-pollinated grex, you may run into problems if you mix short-day, long-day, and day-neutral varieties. The mix will remain perpetually segregated because pollinators won’t be available outside of their own type. If you hand cross them, you may produce a lot offspring that don’t yield well, or only yield at awkward times of year. If you really want to turn june-bearing varieties into everbearing, or vice versa, I would make that a separate project, and recommend maintaining your grexes as all one type. But, it will be your grex, so up to you what you want to do with it.
I guess I would also mention that I’ve been working on a couple Japanese strawberry lines, with the primary goal of increasing brix (primarily sugar content) in domestic varieties. I’ve seen brix averages as high as 16.5 in conditions where my controls Eclair averaged 8.4 and Mara de Bois averaged 9.6.
Producing a selection grex was required early on, so I may be able to dig up some seed from that–it would have to be grown out and multiplied again, though. My health hasn’t been great since Covid, so I haven’t been working on it lately (or on this board much). These are strict short-day varieties, though I’ve done a little work to broaden their bloom period, and they should overlap with June-bearing in some climates.
High brix is a terrific goal! That’s exactly what I want from my strawberries, too.
It’s very true that day neutral / everbearing and short day / June-bearing would be very different in goals. I suspect most gardeners would rather have everbearing. I certainly would!
The downside of high brix is that acid levels and flavor levels need to be higher as well, or else the fruit is perceived as bland. And acid/fructose perception and expectations vary by individual, as well as culturally, so there isn’t a single standard to target, though American fruit juice companies and winemakers have charts they follow. I’m starting with actual sweetness, rather than perceived sweetness, so I’m using brix meters to establish my lines. Flavor will be more important when I start backcrossing into other varieties. So I’m a long way from completing this project. But if you’re just trying to get your sugar levels up in a grex, it may be a useful contribution now.
Note that everbearing refers to plants that produce two small crops per year–one in the spring and one in the fall. Usually the fruit yield of June-bearing varieties exceeds that of both crops of everbearing varieties put together. Day neutral varieties are better in this regard, but there are fewer varieties available. I’d refer to this article for explanation: What are the differences between the different types of strawberries? | Yard and Garden
I have a neighbor who told me her Quinalt everbearing strawberries produce way more fruit over the course of the summer than any June-bearing strawberries ever have. So which type produces more may vary according to climate.
Her strawberries fruit continually from early May through early October. There aren’t two separate crops – it’s a steady stream of handfuls of strawberries all summer, every day.
It’s probably worth adding that her strawberries are planted in very rich soil that is well-irrigated and frequently amended with new loads of manure from her horse.
I’m certainly not going to argue with someone’s success or the particular fit of a plant to one’s particular garden. Long may she enjoy good harvests and happy eating.
In general, though, WSU, who bred Quinalt, doesn’t recommend it anymore because
The total fruit production in controlled trials across the country does not equal the fruit production in June-bearing varieties.
In some climates there is a trickle of berries outside of the two major production periods, but is not high enough to justify the labor and handling costs of commercial harvesting.
New Day Neutral varieties not only bear more fruit, but do so more consistently, and in more places.
Obviously, gardeners and small markets are where everbearing varieties have thrived–places where even small harvests are useful, and out-of-spring-season berries are welcome. With the coming of day neutral berries, I wouldn’t spend any time on them myself, since these new ones will do better for most people.
Everbearing varieties may be of continued interest in cool climate and mild summer areas, but much of the country can’t get much yield out of them. As always–I’m not trying to shut down any particular variety or type of project, just point out challenges and limitations that may apply. Where I live sweet cherries grow and produce effortlessly (if you can figure out what to do about the wasps that infest them). Most of the country can’t get much fruit from the Bing cherry variety I have in my backyard, but that doesn’t mean I’m not glad it was bred anyway.
Cool, that’s very useful to know! It does sound like day neutral is a highly desirable trait. I assumed, before you started talking about this, that day neutral and everbearing were kind of the same thing. It sounds like they’re essentially an upgrade, and it sounds like I should keep an eye out for day neutral varieties!
