Certified Grape Rootstock - Asparagus Rootstock
FAQ's
Only The Finest
Strawberry...Grape...
& Asparagus
Rootstocks Available
Q:
I just planted some patio strawberries and after the second week after the roots took hold and started growing I fertilized them. My leaves and flowers are curling up and looks like they are dying. any tips will be appreciated. How often do you need to water and how much sun do they need.
A:
It sounds like
you may have over-fertilized and burned the plant. There isn't really
anything you can do to reverse this that I know of. Strawberry plants
like good deep watering cycles but not overwatering. The roots if overwatered
will actually try to grow away from the source of water. Also from a disease
aspect water is a natural vehicle for disease and to have water standing
for a period of time is very detrimental to the plant.
As far as sun the more the merrier. Top
Q:
What Varieties Should I Plant?
A:
If you are going
to grow strawberries in a coastal area to be sent to main metropolitan
areas for sale, we recommend you grow Camarosa or Chandler in the more
southern areas. In the northern areas varieties like Selva or Seascape
would be best.
If your fruit is going to be sold in local markets two varieties stand
out, Chandler for the more inland plantings and Seascape which can be
planted in the warmer areas and yet will still produce fruit. Oso Grande
would be another good choice for it's sweetness and size. Top
Q:
How Should I Prepare My Land?
A:
Start by cultivating the soil, then take samples to get an analysis done. When you have received the results fertilize for the necessary nutrient adjustments. When you have your soil prepared you will then need to think about fumigation if you are growing commercially. It is recommended that you use a methyl bromide - chloropicrin mix. These are broad spectrum fumigants that will kill nematodes, soil insects, weeds and other diseases that you may have in your soil. If you are a home grower I would recommend using Round-Up in the late summer early fall and then in the spring before planting to kill weeds. You could also get some soil sterilization if it is warm enough in your area by covering the plot with clear plastic and let the sun kill what weeds you may have. Top
Q:
Why are My Leaves Turning Purple?
A:
The reason for purpling of leaves is usually caused by an infestation of spider mites. You can look under the leaves for the tiny mites and the fine webbing they produce. Another possibility for purpling are deficiencies such as magnesium and potassium. These will affect more the outer edges of the leaf. Top
Q:
What about Fruit Splitting and Malformation?
A:
The most common cause of misshapen and split fruit is large temperature changes. These mostly occur from day to night. The plant has a hard time adapting to these changes and hence split fruit. Another cause is rain damage, this can not only damage the young petioles but also hamper pollination which will cause misshapen fruit. Top
Q:
I have about 4-5 dozen strawberry plants in my garden that now have huge healthy leaves . I have pinched off the early blossoms to promote a more hardy yield. I decide to do this until May 1. At the beginning of the month I fertilized them. Now I have runners every where and not a signal blossom. Do I remove the runners or leave them? Will I have berries this year?
A:
I am assuming that you planted these in March or April of this year. It is a good idea to remove the first emerging blooms so that the root system can mature enough to support a large fruit set. However by continuously removing blooms you may have unknowingly changed the plants physiological makeup to a runnering cycle, which at this time of year with expanding day lengths, may be tough if not impossible to change.
There are two things that you can do. One, allow the plant to runner freely and possibly later in the year have some fruit and a lot of ground cover. Or two, you could cut the runners all off and if the variety is a day neutral type it will hopefully set the plant into a fruiting cycle. Top
Q:
What is the minimum quantity that I can order?
A:
Our normal pack is between 1000 and 1500 plants per carton. The cartons size is 1'x2'x1' (2 cubic ft.).
Q:
How do you germinate strawberry seeds? any special tricks?
A:
Probably lots of special tricks.
Each seed on one
berry can be night and day different than the next. There is no way of
telling if the seed will even resemble the plant it was taken from or
germinate at all. That is why strawberry nurseries grow and propagate
plants a different way. We have the same nuclear stock that we go back
to year after year. This stock we allow to runner in what is known as
a heat chamber(temperatures above 100 degrees F for a period of four to
six weeks before extraction{meristem} to kill any viruses present). We
then take the daughter plants from the nuclear stock and meristem them.
Meristeming is taking the smallest growing point out of the plant and
growing it in a medium in a test tube. From there, when the plant is mature
enough to transplant, we plant it in a sterile vermiculite and allow it
to mature even more in a mist chamber. Then it goes into our screen houses.
This plant will then runner having as many as 1000 daughter plant per
one plant(depending on variety). These are the plants that are increased
once more for commercial sales and for our own planting stock.
Strawberry plants are a very complex beast when you get right down to
it. If you are doing anything but just seeing what you might get if one
of your seeds do germinate, I would recommend getting your plants from
a certified grower of strawberry plants. Top
Q:
At times when I go to a restaurant here in the Sacramento area they serve cabernet grapes on the side as a decorative finish to their dishes they serve -- my wife and I always like that -- I grow some muscat grapes here at my home and I wanted to get a cabernet grape vine to grow in my yard. I have had a difficult time trying to find a source where I might buy a cabernet grapevine to grow in my yard -- can you give me any suggestions -- do you know of any resources.
A:
Concerning the bearing wood I would recommend that you get in touch with someone like Duarte Bros. Nursery at www.duartenursery.com. They produce the finished rooted, grafted stock. Top
Q:
Could you help me out ? I planted 10 asparagus crowns late last summer. All 10 came up. I was told to let them grow and not cut them the first year. They are bushed out and falling over. There stalk is half the size of a pencil. Some plants have a new chute growing beside the existing stalk. Do I stake them up or cut them back ?
A:
You really don't need to protect every fern that comes up, there will be another to take it's place in no time. If you want to clean up the stalks that have broken it really shouldn't be a problem for the plant. Top
Q:
A friend of mine would like information on purchasing white asparagus root. She wishes to grow it. Can you give me purchasing information?
A:
There are certain varieties of asparagus that are grown as "white asparagus", one of which is Larac, a French variety. You do need to know though that "white asparagus" is grown white through cultural practices, it is not a varietal trait. How this is done is by keeping the spears buried under dirt until large enough to cut. The absence of sunlight does not allow the spear to green, thereby giving you "white asparagus".
We grow, for the most part, UC157 variety which is the most widely used commercial variety grown here in California. Top
