There are two ways to respond to an unpleasant situation. One is to get angry or despair that what’s happening is outside your power. The other is to treat it as an opportunity to learn something new. It was the latter response we chose after this month’s heat wave destroyed much of what we were growing. There was, of course, anger and despair but those passed as we started plotting our next steps to avoid a repeat of the devastation.
Good luck! Looking forward to reading reports on how the experiments work out.
It's really too hot here (central Texas) in Summer for strawberries, but one year I tried planting them under a large Elm tree, figuring the shade would mitigate the intense heat. They survived but only produced rather small berries. I suspect they needed more direct sunlight.
Maybe with smaller shade trees, the sunlight can be actively adjusted with judicial pruning...
When I was a kid we had a great strawberry patch, but that was in northern Virginia...
Thanks, Jeff! We already put a shading net over one of the strawberry beds. It does help. During flowering and fruiting season, it's not too hot yet, so that shouldn't be a problem. The problem is keeping them alive until autumn, I realise.
Good luck! Looking forward to reading reports on how the experiments work out.
It's really too hot here (central Texas) in Summer for strawberries, but one year I tried planting them under a large Elm tree, figuring the shade would mitigate the intense heat. They survived but only produced rather small berries. I suspect they needed more direct sunlight.
Maybe with smaller shade trees, the sunlight can be actively adjusted with judicial pruning...
When I was a kid we had a great strawberry patch, but that was in northern Virginia...
Thanks, Jeff! We already put a shading net over one of the strawberry beds. It does help. During flowering and fruiting season, it's not too hot yet, so that shouldn't be a problem. The problem is keeping them alive until autumn, I realise.
That makes sense. I may try again using your methods.
There's something about strawberries that says "Home" like no other fruit. Childhood memories, I guess. I'll report on progress.