LOCAL STRAWBERRY GROWERS SAY THIS YEAR'S OUTLOOK GOOD

Area strawberry growers say the outlook for this year's strawberry crop is good, but they need more sunny, dry weather and warm nights between now and mid-May to help the berries grow and mature.

"All of our early variety strawberry plants are loaded," said JoAnn Illers of Illers' Strawberry Farm south of Jackson.

"This year's crop will be about the same as last year," she said. "The plants came through the winter and early spring just fine. We only irrigated the berry patch three times last winter to protect from frost, which really wasn't necessary. So far this spring we've had some good growing weather."

Illers expects the early variety of strawberries will be ready for picking around May 16.

Jack Smart, director of Mid-America Teen Challenge Center on Oriole Road north of Cape Girardeau, says the early variety strawberries on the four-and-one-half acre strawberry patch should also be ready around May 16.

Smart said: "They're coming right along. The buds started blossoming about 12 days ago. We've had pretty good growing conditions so far. We'll start picking a little later than normal this year, but not nearly as late as last year, when the cool, damp weather in May delayed the ripening process."

Illers said the start of last year's strawberry picking season was delayed by cool, damp weather in early May, and ended earlier than normal because of more rain in late May 1993. She said, "We had two good weeks, then the rains came in late May, and that ended the season."

Illers said at this stage of growth the strawberry plants need lots of sunny, dry days and warm nights to produce large, red, ripe, juicy strawberries.

"If it's too wet the plants and berries are susceptible to mold and other diseases," she said. "We'd rather have it too dry than too wet. We can always irrigate the berry plants when needed, but if the weather is too wet there's not much you can do."

Illers said workers were busy last week planting a new strawberry patch next to the existing patch.

She said: "About every five years we plant a new berry patch. After five years the yield of the berry plants in a commercial berry patch begins to decrease but our cost of production remains the same. The home backyard strawberry patches are not like that; they can be used indefinitely."

Smart said Teen Challenge replants about one to one-and-a-half acres of new plants in its five-acre patch each year to maintain high volume.

Smart said growing strawberries for sale is almost a year-round job. He said: "The only time we're not in the berry patch doing something is from December to March. During the spring months we make sure the plants are watered and watch out for frost or freezes.

"Most of the work takes place after the berry season, between June and August, when we thin out the plants to make room for new runners. The fruit bud that will turn into next year's strawberry is produced by the plant in the fall. From mid-December to March we cover the plants with straw and leave them alone until March."

Illers features pick-your-own strawberries or pre-picked berries. Teen Challenge sells only pre-picked strawberries.