Common questions
Author: Noel Vock & Neil Greer, Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries
Runners
Where do I get strawberry runners?
Buy runners from one of the runner suppliers in Table 1. These runners are grown on runner farms where special efforts are made to keep the plants free from diseases and nematodes.
Table 1. Strawberry runner suppliers in Australia
Runner supplier
Queensland Sweets Strawberry Runners
www.sweetstrawberryrunners.com.au
Red Jewel Strawberry Runners
www.redjewel.com.au
Victoria Toolangi Certified Strawberry Runner Growers Cooperative Ltd
Shane & Kerri Perry
469 Kinglake Road
TOOLANGI VIC 3777
Ph: (03) 5962 9443 Ph: (03) 5962 9220; Fax: (03) 5962 9416
Tasmania Tasmanian Highland Strawberry Runners
www.strawberryrunners.com.au
Loyetea Strawberry Nursery
c/- J. Cox
1033 Upper Natone Road
NATONE TAS 7321
Ph: (03) 6436 2106; Fax: (03) 6436 2208
How do I grow my own runners?
We don’t recommend that you grow your own runners because it is difficult to produce disease-free runners on a fruit producing farm. Instead, buy your runners from the runner suppliers listed in Table 1. It is also illegal to produce runners from Plant Breeder Rights varieties even if these runners are for your own use.
Money
How much fruit should I get from a plant and what price can I expect?
You should get two to three punnets (500 to 750 g) of marketable fruit per plant per season (May to October) from most varieties. This assumes an average planting density of about 40 000 to 45 000 plants per hectare. Under high levels of management some varieties have yielded four to six punnets per plant. New growers should aim for the lower figure first. Where plant densities are higher, yield per plant will be proportionally less.
Price trends start at about $2.00 to $2.50 a punnet in May when fruit is scarce and hard to produce, and generally decline to 50c to $1.20 a punnet at the peak of the season in August/September. Higher prices are always paid for large fruit of premium quality. Small or medium sized fruit is always at the lower end of the range and may be difficult or impossible to sell when the market is well supplied. Fruit of low quality is difficult to sell at all times.
How much money can I make from strawberries?
If you get two punnets of fruit per plant and an average price over the season of $1.25 per punnet, you should expect to make about 40 cents per plant after production costs. This assumes that casual labour is used for all harvesting and packing and the grower supervises the operation. On smaller farms, the grower would do much of the picking and packing, thereby increasing the per plant return. The cost of the grower’s own labour is not included in the calculation.
Hydroponics and organic growing
I’m thinking about growing strawberries using hydroponics. Where do I start?
Hydroponics is complex and much less forgiving than growing plants in the ground. We recommended that you read and research the subject thoroughly before you start. We also recommend that you engage a hydroponics consultant to guide you through the early stages.
How much money can I make from hydroponic strawberries compared with strawberries grown in the ground?
Recent evidence suggests that you can make similar money out of the same number of strawberry plants in hydroponics as you can in conventional ground culture. The costs of setting up the hydroponics system are greater and the yields are lower, but the savings in labour and other costs compensate, so that you should come out about even.
I want to grow strawberries organically. How do I go about it?
We suggest you first read as much on the subject as you can and talk to growers who are using organic growing methods. Next work for an organic grower, or even a conventional strawberry grower, for a season or two. Contact organic producer organisations for information and details on the certification processes for organic growing systems. Organic growing systems are not as well developed and you should expect lower yields and quality compared with conventional growing systems.
