By Clint Thompson
Strawberry harvests are supposed to not start in North Alabama until the second week of April. But weather conditions were favorable for bloom and fruit development in December, according to Eric Schavey, regional Extension agent in Northeast Alabama.
It is now a concern for the region’s producers about what it means for those plants next spring.
“We’ve had perfect conditions for strawberries. I had a strawberry grower the other day that said he went out and picked half a gallon of strawberries. We had those three weeks, four weeks where we’re upper 50s at night and 76, 77 (degrees Fahrenheit) during the day. It’s perfect strawberry weather,” Schavey said. “Day length is right, just like it would be in March or April.
“When you go out and pick half a gallon of big strawberries, that’s a big deal. How much energy are they pushing, and what do I need to do? Do I need to go out there and pull them all off? That’s what I recommend myself; I really don’t want them doing that,” Schavey added. “I really wish it would put that (energy) into crown development instead of trying to fruit. I don’t know if we’re going to have to change our fertilizer regime here coming into spring; if we’re going to have to push them a little bit more. It could be an issue.”
Schavey stresses the need for temperatures to stay cold for prolonged periods of time. It would enable the strawberry plants to go dormant like they would be accustomed to at this point in the season.
“If we could get a week where it would stay in the mid-30s for the high and get these plants to go dormant, it would really benefit us,” Schavey said.