Tristar Strawberry Plant

Thank you for your question. There is a great deal of truth to that. When you pinch off flowers, you direct all of the plant's energy to growing the root system. The bigger and stronger the root system is, the bigger your fruit will be, and you will also have more of it.

The pot is filled with soil and the roots are already established. You have to wait a couple of weeks for the bare-root to get establisehd after you plant them. In the end, the bare-root plants are a much, much better deal.

Yes, Tristar produced a very good crop of sweet berries during their first summer and well into fall. When I first planted them last spring, I kept the buds picked off for a while, to allow the plants to grow and become established. I also removed all the runners. The berries were a big hit with the neighbor kids!

Sure! You can grow them in a trash bag full of potting soil if you want to. Strawberries are very, very easy to grow. As long as they get full sun and the right food, you'll have more strawberries than you know what to do with. :-)

Strawberries need at least 6 hours of full sun a day to produce a decent crop. Depending upon how shady your yard is, you may get some berries/they may be small. If you have a sunny space but just don't have ground to plant them in, strawberries grow beautifully in containers. :-)

It's possible your soil could be TOO acidic. Strawberries like a soil pH of 5.5 to 6.5, which is slightly acidic. We suggest you do a soil test to see what you have. If the pH is lower than 5.5, sprinkle a little granulated lime on your soil, wait a few weeks and test the soil again.

I got my first Tristar plants in 2018. When I read the instructions for the berries, they told me to cut off the blossoms the first year to allow the plant to produce a good root system and upper plant. Although it breaks my heart to cut blossoms off any plant, I did cut them off carefully with my hand pruners for most of the Summer. Late in the year, I left some on and they produced some tasty berries. They have filled in the raised bed and this year I will not remove any blossoms. I liked them so much that I planted 50 more plants in another bed this Spring and they are all producing leaves and look great.

Yes, they are helped by a mulching for the winter.

Mine are planted in a raised bed but they have a fairly shallow root system - 6 to 8 inches should be adequate - I've not done hydroponic gardening . . .

We would recommend mulching and covering with a fabric tarp if your area gets very cold.