Another strawberry thread.....are my ones ok?

[Cosmo and Dibs]

Are my young strawberry plants ok? They are very young, and have been in the container for 10 days:


I have been covering them with bottles, but I have just put fleece on them until they are used to the outdoors.

Do I just need to be patient?

[evie451]

these are tiddlers aren't they! i have always bought plants and take care of the runners to expand my stock. Half a dozen from Aldi last year are now 30+ plants! I am growing some alpines from seed but they don't look like this at all. My experience of the lovely straw is they are very hardy, love a good freeze over the winter and are pretty hungry plants.....so maybe the protection was the problem? honestly i don't do anything to mine at all unless i take them into the greenhouse to force them the first year. Where did you get them? were they from seed?

[glut]

I have only had strawbs the last 2 years and like evie451 have just grown them on from a couple of bought plants, so I really don't know much at all, but yours do look a bit pale and leggy. I'd tend to agree with evie451 and maybe give them a bit more light and air. I am sure someone who knows much more will be along soon though!

[Cosmo and Dibs]

I got them from PoundLand (!).

There are only two actual plants- the middle one is a stem that broke loose in transit. I'm hoping it will root?

The stem on the far right looks terrible close up; all brown and thin. Should I cut the dead stems off on strawberry plants?

I think the others are settling in as there are some very, very small seedlings popping their heads up over the soil! Is this to be expected

[evie451]

well i have just given all my strawberries a haircut! getting rid of the old growth etc not sure if its absolutely necessary but the plants look better! mine are either 1yr old plants or last autumns runners though.....

my plants are 4 different varieties and they all grow the same way from the centre of the plant with a furled up leaf which is of variable size from about 2cm to maybe 4 or 5cm this unfurls first then the stem slowly extends out and so on! yours don't look like this but it might just be the photo, maybe its different from seed? not much you can do i suppose except wait it out and see what happens, and at worst Aldi/Lidl usually do a 3 variety pack of 6 for a £5!

[Elliesmummy]

i got my plugs from wilkinsons,
4 for £1-50, all doing well so far.

i did try growing from seed but wasnt very successful.