Strawberries in greenhouse

Discussion in 'NEW Gardeners !' started by Mitch66, Jun 26, 2021.

  1. Mitch66

    Mitch66 Apprentice Gardener

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    Hi all new gardener here, I have 11 what look like healthy strawberry plants grown from seed in pots in greenhouse with lots of runners shooting off which I have removed & replanted most to give the mother plant more chance, to date only one plant has just started to flower around 5 or 6 buds, I feed them with plant feed once a week & keep them watered from the bottom, what am I doing wrong ! or what can I do to help them, Thanks in advance
     
  2. pete

    pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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    When did you plant the seed?
     
  3. JWK

    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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    Welcome to the forum.

    Are you using a high potash feed that encourages flowers and fruit?

    They need to be well watered and plenty of sunshine, they won't do well in shade

    In my experience strawberries do better outside a greenhouse where they may be too hot. What temperatures are you getting?
     
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    • Mitch66

      Mitch66 Apprentice Gardener

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      Hi Thanks for the reply, I understand that they do well outside but as I dont have the space read that they can also do well in pots. The feed is standard tomato feed, 3 cap fulls per gallon aprox once a week. I keep the trays with water in so they can draw up what they need, the top inch of soil/compost is moist but not saturated
      They get plenty of sunshine, at the moment temps are low to mid 20s & between 10 & 15 overnight, (last couple of weeks).
      I just thought it was odd that one is doing great 5 or 6 flowers & early fruit but the others nothing just great foliage & plenty of runners. they are all in the same position & watered/fed the same.
      I did read somewhere that new plants may or may not produce in there 1st year but maybe better at year 2 when the roots have had chance to become more established.
      Perhaps been new to this I am being a little impatient. built my greenhouse last Autumn so this is the 1st tester. I also have a dozen tommy plants which are starting to flower & 6 sweet chilli bell pepper plants which are a little slower growing but seem to be doing ok.
       
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      • JWK

        JWK Gardener Staff Member

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        It sounds like you are doing it right. Maybe there is some variability due to the seed, so your new plants are not identical. Did you collect the seed yourself?

        I think you are doing pretty good to get new plants from seeds so quickly. I have only ever started new plants by rooting the runners. These take a couple of years to be productive.
         
      • Mitch66

        Mitch66 Apprentice Gardener

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        I bought the seed in packet, I`m only a novice, sowed end of march, transferred to pots in greenhouse mid May when they were 2 to 4 leaves, so maybe i need to be patient, I have taken the runners & re planted these for next year, maybe I will be more successful then, If I get an improvement I will post this on here.
        Thanks for your support
         
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        • JWK

          JWK Gardener Staff Member

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          You are right, patience is needed. Please keep us posted.
           
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          • Mitch66

            Mitch66 Apprentice Gardener

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            Ok further to my previous messages almost all my strawberry plants are now flowering with what looks like tiny yellow strawberries in the middle, I have 3 questions ( I know I`m been greedy) for anyone with more experience than myself.
            1 some of the yellow small fruits are going dark in colour after a week or two, I have pinched the petals off, is this normal. I understand they will change colour but not dark brown surely.
            2 I snipped of the runners & replanted a few weeks ago they are now growing well & also starting to flower. I thought that I would not see anything from these until next year.
            3 How do I care for all of these plants over the winter.
            Thanks in advance
             
          • WeeTam

            WeeTam Total Gardener

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            Cut the flowers off those new plants. The plant needs to concentrate on bulking up to help it get through the winter.
            Young strawbs are tough in winter,dont allow to get sodden or dry out either.
             
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            • Mitch66

              Mitch66 Apprentice Gardener

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              Thanks for the advice, Ok I will do that, I just wondered if they would survive frosts etc. they are in the greenhouse, they are in small 3 inch pots at the moment, would you suggest re-potting to larger pots then just keep them moist
               
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