Strawberries.. Seed Compost... A. Marigolds.

Hi All. This is the second year of my new strawberries and wondering how do you tidy them up ready for the growing season. It does seem from what I have read you need to pull off all the old dead leaves and create a space around new growth. Trouble is just pulling off dead leaves does not always work as sometimes you tend to pull up a new baby strawberry runners.I does seem it is going to be a long job carefully pulling of dead leaves that are loose and then cutting off all other dead leaves and runners that are brown & dead.
I got some seed compost left over from last year in the shed which has been kept dry.I know compost will last almost forever but not sure about the nutrients in the bag if they have a shelf life? My instinct is to buy some new seed compost but again how long has it been stored?
Last but not least I am going to grow african marigolds from seeds this year. Done normal marigolds and was wondering if there is any type of growing medium they prefer or I can make up?
Thanks for any info.

 

Hi,

Yes ,pulling the old leaves is more prone to distrubing the crown, we always just cut things off, typically gathering them up as a handful and giving them a trim across the top.
You do not need to be that fastidious, its just to help keep the crowns /new growth clear of old mouldy leaves.

As long as that bag of compost smells and looks ok it should be fine.
Any signs of white or grey theads/mould, then throw it on some bare garden soil.

Seed compost has very little nutrient in it, thats why along with it being finer milled and added sand its different from standard compost.

Marigolds, they grow in anything in our experience, so seed compost will be fine to start them off.

 

Hi ricky101. Thank you for your advice and sorry I have not got back to you sooner'. I have chopped strawberries across the tops and this does seem to be the best way forward. The new growth is too small to be damaged by the haircut. Once this was done it opened up space & light to the new growth.
I used last years seed compost and I have 50 a.marigolds in the spare room window cill and they are starting to come through now, well at least 30 ish so fa.r The 50 in greenhouse with a small 50 watt tube heater are still not breaking through yet.