Tips on Growing Strawberries,

Raspberries and Currants

Strawberries Fragaria

Rose Family

Perennial

June Bearing

Everbearing

Day Neutral

•

Strawberry Growth and Development

• Strawberries begin to grow at temperatures above 40 degrees

• Strawberries need adequate water during fruit formation

• Remove flower bracts first year

Roots

Shallow most contained in the top 6” of soil

Trim to 4” before planting

Avoid cultivation around the plants to prevent root injury

Crowns

• Short stem where leaves develop at nodes or auxiliary buds

• When planting do not cover crowns

• Environmental factors like day length and temperatures influence the development of auxiliary buds.

• The buds of June bearers develop into runners during the summer’s long 14-16 hr. days. Once the days grow shorter buds no longer form runners.

Flower Stalk (Inflorescence) • Formed at the tip of the crown (terminal inflorescence)

• Flower has 5 petals, stamens (male part), pistols (female parts)

• Stamens bear pollen that must be transferred by bees

• “King” berry is followed by the primary flower that opens first

• Secondary, tertiary, and quaternary flowers open in sequence.

• Fruit set between 18-30 days from flowering

• Environmental Factors: Wet weather. Below freezing temps

Soil Type • Deep well drained soil, preferably sandy loam, well

supplied with humus

• Clay soils may induce root diseases

• Improve soils by using green manure crops

Ph 5.5-6.5

Rotations

• Do not plant strawberries after raspberries, alfalfa,

potatoes, peppers, eggplant.

• Fungus diseases black root rot, vertically wilt will

transfer and build up in soil.

Soil Preparation Two Years to Prepare

Main Objectives:

1) Destroy as many weeds as possible

2) Add as much organic matter as possible. Applied in Fall

Grow green manure first year (rye, buckwheat, etc.)

• Green manures will increase tilth

• Increase micro organisms to provide a slow release of nitrogen and trace elements

Planting Strawberries

Spring Grown Strawberries

• Bare root plants come early in spring

• Must be kept in cold storage until ready to plant

• Plants take one full year to establish before

bearing high quality fruit

Matted Row System

Plant every 2’ in row with Rows 3’ apart

Spacing allows daughter plants (runners) to fill space

while keeping an aisle for harvest

Fan roots out in hole so that top roots are well

covered

Don’t bury the Central bud

Hill System • Plants are set 12” apart in raised beds

• Remove all daughters (runners). Allows mother plant to develop more

crowns and flower stalks

• This method produces premium fruit but demands more labor

• During the first 2-3 weeks of growth, planting should be weeded, then

bed should be mulched

Spaced Row System • This system limits the number of daughter plants that grow

from a mother plant

• Plants are set 18”-30 apart in rows 3’-4’ apart

• Runners are pulled or cut from the mother plant

• Higher yields, larger berries, fewer disease problems.

More labor required.

Fall Planting • Planting in fall will provide high quality

marketable fruit the following spring

• Saves Time in the field

• Fall strawberry planting are done with plugs vs. bare root

Advantages of Fall Planting

• Plugs don’t have to be planted immediately or put into cold storage

• Strawberry plugs only have a loss rate of 1-2% compared to 15-20% for bare root

• Plugs are easier to plant because they have a root ball

• Plugs can establish easier than bare root

• Plugs take less watering to establish

• You can start picking in the spring

Frost = wind speed below 10mph Air

temperatures above 32 degrees

Frost/Freeze = Wind speed below 10 mph

Air temperatures below 32 degrees

Freeze = Wind speed above 10 mph Air

temperature below 32

Radiational Frost

• Caused by rapid radiational loss of heat

• Two Types of Frost

1. Hoar Frost or White Frost-results when atmospheric water vapor freezes small crystals on solid surfaces

2. Black Frost- has few or no ice-crystalsbecause the air in the lower atmosphere is too dry, sometimes called a dry freeze. It will always be a killing frost

Natural Factors that Counter Act

Frost

• Winds greater than 5 mph (slows radiative cooling

of solid objects)

• Cloud cover (acts as a blanket over the earth,

slows the cooling rate) in most cases hoar frost

will not occur on cloudy nights

• Surface air temperature above freezing

• Dew Point temperature in mid 20’s and lower

• Drier Soil Conditions

Natural Factors that Favor Frost

• Clear Skies

• Surface Air Temperatures 32 degrees or

below

• Dew Point temperature in upper 20’s and

lower 30’s

• Soils containing abundant water

• Calm winds

•

Frost Protection

• Floating Row Covers-be sure to remove

covers so strawberries can get pollinated

• Over head irrigation

Weed Management

• Plastic Mulching System

Mechanical Weeding

• Rototilling

• Tine Weeders

• Flex-Tine Harrow

Manual and Physical Control • Handweeding-in row

• Straw mulch-in aisle

• Weed pressure increase with age of the bed

• Choose shorter fruiting rotations by turning the bed under after 2 yrs.

Pest Control

• Scouting Program with regular monitoring helps to determine both pest pressure and presence of beneficials

• Once pressure reaches the economic threshold control actions are necessary

• If biological controls are to be used, they must by used before pests reach critical levels.

• Resource: Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection www.pestbulletin.we.gov

Insect Pests • White Grubs are larvae of May and June beetles and other

scarabaeidae beetles

• Control:

• Don’t plant into freshly plowed sod.

• Late summer plowing will destroy many larvae, pupae, and adults

• Milky spore disease bacteria

• Beneficial nematodes

Lygus Bugs or Tarnish Plant Bug Lygus lineolaris

• Adults and nymphs suck sap from the plant and inject toxic saliva.

Causes deformation of the fruits called cat-facing. • Adults hibernate under leaves, stones, or bark. Lay eggs on

herbaceous stems such as cover crops. Use caution using living

mulches in strawberries

• No native natural insect enemies identified.

• Biological Control: Beauveria bassiana fungus

“Cat-Facing” Results of TPB

infestation on Strawberries at

flowering •

Other Pests

• Slugs-specifically during a wet season

• Birds and Chipmunks-if real persistent use bird netting

• Suspicious Humans- Often found in the strawberry patch

during peak season. Look for red splotches on face and

hands. When caught in the act cheeks are often round and

bulged.

Disease Control

• Use Crop Rotations

• Compost

• Resistant Varieties

• Planting Certified disease free plants

• Don’t over water

Anthracnose

• Disease produces rust color throughout crown and stops plants from growing

• Forms lesions in fruits

• Most noticeable during summer dry spells

Botrytis (gray mold) • Grows in cool damp weather

• Can spread through picking

• Pick off infected fruit and put in aisles

• Straw mulch helps

• Mowing leaves down after fruiting helps

Leaf Spot • Can be caused by several different fungi present in

the soil

• Spread by splashing water

• Harbored by dead leaves/plant debris

• Good sanitation for prevention

Powdery Mildew • Fungal disease of the foliage, flower, fruits

• Prefers moist conditions

• Sulfur is an effective control

• Milk has been used effectively

Biodynamic Prevention

• Spray Equisetum tea to prevent fungal

diseases

• Collect equisetum in June, dry, and use to

make tea. Bring to a simmer for 1 hour to

extract the silica. Dilute 1-10 with water.

Spray in a fine mist on plants.

Post Harvest and Handling • Strawberries must be picked and handled carefully by

putting right into pint or quart containers that you will be

selling in

• Fruits must be firm, well-colored, free from rot

• Can hold for many days with proper cooling

• Forced air cooling is most commonly used

• High humidity is essential without wetting fruit

Marketing Strategies

• U-pick

• U-pick 4 me and U

Cost Analysis for Strawberry

Production

Resources

• ATTRA – Applied Technologies for Rural

Areas www.attra.org

Raspberries Rubus idaeus

Family: Rosaceae • The Greeks were the first to cultivate raspberries, “idaeus” comes

from growing on the slopes of Mnt. Ida

• The English name comes from an old English term “rapis” refers to slightly hairy or rasping surface of fruit.

• Wild black raspberries or “black-caps” are escapees from cultivation

• Hybrids of the raspberries and blackberries are loganberry, tayberry, tummelberry, boysenberry and youngberry

• All bramble fruits are of the Rubus species

Botanical Aspects of Raspberries

Plant Life Cycle

First Year

• Canes grow gut do not produce fruit

• Called Primocanes

Second Year

• Canes produced last year bear fruit and die

• Called Floricanes

*Primocane fruiting brambles are the exception

Bramble Life Cycle

•

Primocane Fruiting First Year

• Canes grow and produce fruit on tips of cane in late summer to fall of first year

• Usually pruned in winter to ground

Second Year

• If canes are not pruned in winter, fruiting will commence

in spring from mid section down

• 10% of total yield

Climatic Requirements

• Fruit buds form in autumn under low

temperatures and short day length

• Red raspberries can tolerate –20 degree F

Types of Raspberries

Summer-bearing raspberries have a typical biennial

life cycle of a bramble, they bear fruit from late

June-Aug of their second year.

Primocane-bearing types such as Heritage are the

exception, they bear fruit during the first year.

Also, called Ever-bearing they will fruit again in

the spring, on the buds below that fruited the

previous fall

Site Selection

• Good air circulation

• Good water drainage

• Protection from prevailing winds that cause

desiccation and winter kill.

Soil Preparation

• Deep fertile soil

• High in Humus

• pH of 6.0-6.5

• Avoid growing where other fruit have been grown to prevent disease spread

• Avoid following solonaceous crops (verticillium wilt)

• Follow soil preparations for strawberries

Plant Cultivar Selection

• Find cultivars that work best for your conditions

• Acquire plants from a certified grower to ensure disease free plants

Planting • Living buds are near the root and should not be buried.

This is your new growth.

• Set plants in rows

• Raspberries will “sucker” sending out canes from the roots

• Set plants 2’ apart with 6-8’ between rows

• Mulch will increase suckering

Alleyway Management • Establish cover crops in your alleys

• Non-invasive sod forming grasses such as bluegrass,

fescue, perennial rye

• Legumes such as red clover and white clover

• Alleyways need to be mowed

• Raspberries that sucker can be mowed down or rot tilled

Pruning • Remove all flora canes that are dead or

diseased

• For June-bearing varieties, prune to 3’

• For Fall-bearing varieties, prune down to

ground

Trellising • Really dependent on varieties and cultivars

such as black berries or other tall types

Weed Management

• Intercropping cover crops would have to be

researched

• Using light leaf mold mulch

• Hand pulling tall weeds that out compete

with raspberries

Fertility Requirements

• Avoid high levels of phosphorous especially if considering

chicken manures will cause zinc deficiencies

• Nitrogen is essential.

• Compost/Manures/plant based nitrogen sources

• 50% of nitrogen from manures is available the first year,

the rest becomes available in subsequent years.

• Composted manure well finished will spread more

uniformly instead of in clumps

Nutrient Deficiencies • Boron = high pH

Symptoms include die back and failure for bud to break

• Magnesium = high potassium levels accompanied by low

calcium

• Symptoms include chlorotic looking leaves

Diseases

• Use good practices

• Sanitation

• Keep plants in good vigor with weed

control

• Manage moisture

• Use resistant varieties

• Incorporation of compost

Verticillium Wilt

• Can be transmitted through the nightshades

Anthracnose • Red-purple lesions on canes

• Turns pale gray or brown later on

• Will dry and crack and die

• Tip die back on growing tips

• Small purple brown spots on leaves

Cane Blight

• Usually associated with wounded or damaged canes

• Wilt and die during the season

• Purple, black, brown lesions on the floricanes

• Canes become brittle and often break at the lesion

Gray Mold

Raspberry Leaf Spot

• Commonly mistaken as anthracnose

• Not as severe

Powdery Mildew

Viral Diseases

• Viral diseases are more damaging

• Will limit yields and longevity of planting

• Most common include raspberry mosaic,

leaf curl, tomato ring spot

• If a problem relocate planting

Insects

• Aphids

• Sucking and vectoring insects will cause leaf curl and distortion.

• Insecticidal soaps

Japanese Beetles

• Chew leaves high populations can desiccate

a patch.

Asian Beetles

• Eat the fruit in the fall

Harvest and Handling

• Raspberries are highly perishable

• Pick into ½ pint containers to avoid

“stacking” fruit too deep

• Place a damp paper towel on bottom of

containers to keep berries moist especially

if storing in walk-in cooler

Marketing Options

• U-pick

• Raspberries are very labor intensive

• High value $2.75 ½ pnt.

• Organic Berries are in very high demand

• Direct marketing = highest return

• Mechanically picked fruit is sent the processors

• Berries are considered a neutraceutical, high in nutrients and phytochemicals puts them in the super foods category

Currants

Ribes rubrum

Family - saxifrageceae

Species: Red, Pink, White Belong to European species (R.

rubrum, R. petraenum, R. sativum Black Currants (R.

nigrum)

Related Species: Gooseberries, Buffalo currant

Physical Description • Currants in our region grow to about 3-4’

• Currant natural habitat is woodlands, moist areas, along stream banks,

can tolerate open areas

• Multiple stemmed clump

• Best grown in humid regions where winters get cold zone 3-5

Flowers • Flowers have drooping clusters (racemes)

• Berries grow in clusters like grapes

• Currant Flowers are found at the base of one-year old stems and spurs

on older stems

• Appear in early spring

Pruning Currants

• Required for good yeilds

• Remove wood more than 3 yrs old

• Thin younger wood

• Resulting bush should have 3 upright canes and on each 2

and one year old wood

Planting Currants • High in Humus/Organic Matter

• Add compost to site or in planting hole

• Add some wood duff or leaf mold to hole

• Plant bushes 3-4’ apart in a single row

• Rows should be 6-8’ apart for air circulation

• Plant just above crown to promote branching

• Tamp soil down around base of plant and water

• Cut canes back to 2/3 of their original size

Care and Culture

• Add compost each year around base of bush

• Currants can be mulched but don’t put mulch right up to the base. This will keep rodents from chewing the canes in the winter

• Water frequently by using drip lines along the row will allow for frequent and deep watering practices

Pests and Diseases Leaf Spot

• Small circles with gray centers

• Leaves turn yellow and drop

• Can cause premature defoliation in summer

Powdery Mildew

• White moldy growth on leaves and stems

• Makes abnormal leaves and stem tips

Insects

Aphids

Suck on the underside of leaves

• Cause reddish brown discoloration and crinkling

of leaves

Currant Caterpillars

• Chew on leaves and defoliate

• Hand picking

• Possibly BT (Bacilus thurengensis)

Harvesting

• Pick currants by harvesting the whole fruit bract.

• Put directly into the container you will sell them in

to avoid over handling

• Pint or quart containers are a good size

• Put in cooler with lids

• Will stay for a week or so at 50%

• Berries are only producing for about 3 weeks

• Productive bush = 3-4 quarts

Value Adding

• Jams

• Juice

• Marketing directly $2.50 pnt