Koppes Plants is a family owned and operated business that was founded in 1949 by the late Max Koppes. Max was a pioneer at every level in the production and distribution of strawberry plants worldwide. He was instrumental in the use of polyethylene plastic as a mulch in the field. He developed corrugated strawberry trays and plastic baskets to hold fruit, and he was an avid promoter of fresh strawberries as a cancer fighter and as an aid in preventing heart disease.
Max also pioneered the selection of varieties that are extra compact (slightly over half the size of standard dormant bare root plants). The smaller size not only makes for ideal bedding plants, but freight costs are greatly reduced. He called these varieties “Crown Root starts,” which also came to mean plants that were free from crown freeze damage and disease tolerant.
Location has a great deal to do with Koppes’ claim. Our nursery is located in the foothills of the Yosemite Valley in California’s Gold Country, in 80 feet of pure glacial sand. This allows for maximum drainage. In this ideal soil and with temperatures not going below 20 degrees F, the plants cannot be damaged by crown freeze. Once the plants have been harvested and packaged, the boxes are shipped by refrigerated truck to our storage facility in Watsonville, California where they are kept dormant at 28F degrees until shipped out. We are able to ship healthy, dormant strawberry plants almost twelve months out of the year. As Max always said, “For the luxury of tasting really sweet strawberries, you must grow them yourself from special garden varieties developed with the idea of flavor and natural sweetness in mind.”
Koppes Plants is now owned and operated by Pat Coash, Max Koppes’ nephew. Pat is a graduate of New Mexico State University with degrees in Finance and Agriculture. Pat moved to California after graduating in 1988 and began working the business with his uncle. Pat learned everything about the strawberry plant business from the ground up and is proud to carry on the tradition of Max Koppes and Koppes Plants.
At Koppes Plants we are dedicated to providing the highest quality strawberry plants at the lowest possible prices to the bedding plant industry. We encourage our customers to offer suggestions about our service and products, and we are happy to provide information and help solve problems.