Strawberries

Anyone growing strawberries this year?

I've ordered some Marshmallow plants and am planning to put most of them in my second raised bed. I've already sown some poached egg flowers for company.

I haven't done strawberries before (beyond impulse buying one at the garden centre a few years back and watching my daughter obliterate every fruit the second it appeared) and don't want to make any glaring errors.

 

Yes I am ,don't ask which ones they are though, as I have no idea. I took some runners from my Dad's a couple of years ago and each year I replace them with new runners. They are very yummy though. I grow about 10 plants each year and they all go into their own hanging basket...this is the only sure fired way I have found to keep slugs/bugs and birds from demolishing them before we get our chance.!!

 

Strewberries are straightforward. Just plant them and wait.

If you want to do a bit better: weed, or sow something weed suppressant. I use white clover, so it feeds them. Feed, e.g. with coffee grounds. Suppress slugs - you can buy protective sheets our cut a hole in a piece of sandpaper. Personally, I think that the expense of a twice yearly dose of nematodes is well worth while.

Cover some of them with a cloche, so some crop early, or use a range of varieties. The plants get tired, so after a couple of years renew them by making sure the runners take root - you can put out little pots for them to start in.

Good luck!

 

Hi @Arlandria - do you mean Marshmello strawberries from marshalls? If so, you're in for a treat - I found them easy to grow, and produced the most wonderful flavoursome large fruit - great for eating but so productive that I used to make lots of jam too. Since I have moved house, I need to get some more plants - and you have now reminded me to order Marshmello again.

 

Top tip: mulch under the developing fruits with dried grass clippings from cutting the lawn, to prevent the strawberries lying on soil which can damage the ripening fruit.

Break up eggshells into tiny pieces and scatter liberally around the plants to deter slugs. The hate the sharp edge.

 

Yes definitely a good tip, that's another reason I use hanging baskets... they hang over the edge and keep off the damp soil.

 

Yes those are the ones! My daughter eats HUGE quantities of strawberries so the more productive, the better. I might get a look in

The only option I had for ordering this year was a set of 30 plants, so I'm going to be filling every container I have handy with them. I do have an old strawberry planter and a hanging basket handy, but I think it'll be strawberrypalooza! It'll be fun to see where they do best, I do love the idea of having tons of hanging baskets spilling over with strawberries. Plus then maybe the kid wouldn't help herself before they're ready...!

 

I inherited a load of strawberry plants on my new allotment which are looking good. When feeding them though with say a tomato feed can I just pour the feed over the plants with garden can, or do I need to be careful about just getting it into the soil around the plants

 

Try and pour it around the plants and not on them.

 

This has been a really helpful post, my wife loves strawberries but wouldn't touch them when I grew them at ground level, i ordered some marshmello last night and will grow them in hanging baskets am I right in 3 plants per hanging basket?

 

I grow strawberries in ground, quite many berries this year, and because of dry weather not bothered by slugs and woodlice. But it's so disappointing with varieties. I expected home grown Elsanta to taste better than bought in the shop. Nope, not better. Then I bought Senga Sengana in September, but got berries one to one Elsanta shapewise and tastewise now. So unhappy, emailed seller, not response yet.
I've grown some alpine strawberries from seeds this spring - maybe those get to produce smth delicious.

 

I dug up some young plants that had found there way into my veg plot from next doors runners. I made a tiered planter for them and they are starting to fruit. Yesterday I noticed that a couple of the plants are producing runners. Do I leave these or cut them off? I presume that comfrey feed is OK for them?

Rusty

 

If I never see another strawberry plant this year I'll be happy! Knackered my back again yesterday re-siting ours!!!

Yes rustyroots, comfrey feed would be an excellent feed (it's what ours get).

 

Depends on the size of your basket really. I only have one per small (ish) basket.

 

These are really good tips. Thank you. My strawberries seem to have runners growing off them. Do you have any recommendations as to the best time to deal with them?