Strawberry season has started to kick into high gear on the Central Coast (at least until this spell of rain), and inevitably comparisons arise of fruit sizes. The posting of a 154 gram fruit by the CalPoly Strawberry Center on their Facebook page prompted a local breeder, CBC, to forward me the picture posted below of a substantially larger fruit from their program weighing 194 grams.
That's close to a half a pound people. For perspective, I weighed an apple (yes, I do eat fruit other than berries) and it was only 150 grams.
Just a note on the rain. I spoke with someone earlier who will make a media appearance today, but yes rain will damage a lot of fruit. Many of our varieties tolerate up to a quarter inch before exhibiting water damage, some up to a half an inch. Don't forget too that a week of free moisture is going to really kick up the Botrytis counts, which weren't low to begin with. Hopefully a lot of you growers and managers have had the foresight to put up some sprays to protect that bloom, maybe even bringing out the good stuff from the back of the barn - don't forget to mix it with a good spreader sticker too.
Never a dull moment here in Berryland I tell you.
