FAQ's The following subjects are just a few that have come up. Rather than form them as questions we have grouped responses to various subjects Seeding to First Fruit Alpines produce fruit about 4 months from seedling. Renovation Unlike garden strawberries, alpines don’t need to be renovated or renewed after 3 years. You may want to divide them after 2-3 years though to produce more plants and to give them some room. I grow in containers for several reasons and after a couple of years there is no more soil left and it’s difficult keeping the media moist during the summer so I divide them and repot. Plant Nutrition Recommendations for nutrition for garden strawberries would be the same as for alpines. I’m not in the business of recommending products like fertilizers but I can tell you what I use. I started using worm castings and brewing a tea using worm castings. I do offer samples of this product with some basic instructions for brewing at www.castingstea.com. My old standby fertilizer is an organic one called “Holly-Tone” made by Espoma. It’s carried by many garden centers. I apply Holly-Tone using directions on the bag in the early spring when I take the straw off the plants. After the first “flush” of berries have been picked I give them another application. I use the castings as a supplement to the Holly-Tone to add beneficial bacteria to the soil and the tea applied to the leaves to give suppression of insects and diseases, usually on a monthly basis. I have a small worm farm to produce the castings but I am not yet self-sufficient – I still have to purchase castings from someone else. Soil/Media Strawberries are acid loving so soil pH might need to be adjusted. I shoot for a pH of 6.5-5.8. The Extension Service in your state can help you with soil samples and the analysis if you need it. Variety Suggestions If you are looking for reds, ‘Mignonette’ is the tastiest in my opinion but not the best producer. ‘Alexandria’ produces better. I don’t have as much experience with the Fragolas but they taste good and seem to be good producers. If you’re looking for a yellow fruit which the birds don’t like, ‘Yellow Wonder’ is a good variety and it’s as productive ‘Alexandria’. Yellow Wonder is becoming my favorite overall variety because I like the fruit from this variety, it’s productive, and the birds leave them for me to pick. I don’t have much experience with ‘White Soul’ but it’s the only white that I offer as a plant. Pollination Alpines are self pollinating so you don’t have to worry about cross pollination unless you’re saving seeds. You can get fruit from one plant and it doesn’t matter if it is pollinated by another variety just to get fruit. You will get a few fruit in the late spring but when it gets hot the pollen isn’t active even though the plant will continue producing flowers. In the fall when temperatures cool the fruit will set again and you’ll get another crop. The second year begins the real productive period for alpines. Shipping Strawberry Plants To avoid having the plants sit in a warehouse or truck over the weekend, we ship on Monday’s and Tuesdays. We have been usingonly by priority mail almost exclusively. Priority mail get to the farthest points in the U.S. from here (in Delaware) in 3 days max. The plants are well watered the day before shipping and should not dry out during the time they are on the road.