Pathetic misshapen strawberrys

[Marb67]

Well more woes in my small garden. I have a few different varietys of strawberry, some a hear old and some bought new this year from Aldi. The Aldi plants were srong and healthy but fruit from nearly all plants bar the odd one has formed misshapen, twisted, small, some flowers just go brown and die as well as almost split in half berrys. All in all a very poor crop from a lot of plants in various pots. :-(

[marchogaeth]

Are they Malwina? They are prone to strange responses to aphid damage http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...tml#post863330 .

[gardening_gal]

A deficiency in calcium and/or boron can be to blame for misshapen strawberries. Is the soil old? If the plants are in pots it's possible the soil is depleted perhaps.

[Bigmallly]

Sommat is wrong wi' your garden Marb.............Nobody can be so unlucky.

[Bill HH]

This is clearly witchcraft, have you annoyed any neighbours? particularly any who are old ladies with extraordinary long noses? I have heard of spells such as "May your strawberries wither and die"

or perhaps change of soil is needed

[Marb67]

They are all in pots. Some different compost. Some compost bought from local nursery and they sell the professional nursery compost that they use themselves. It's not a garden centre, they grow all their own plants. I had some decent crops last year so no idea why. It's almost like an elastic band has been put around a lot of them and caused them to grow almost split in 2.

[Hazel at the Hill]

My guess would be that it's a pollination problem.

[veggiechicken]

Or a watering problem. We've had a long dry spell, then a deluge and some of my strawberries couldn't cope with all the extra water and have split their skins or bulged.

[WendyC]

Sommat is wrong wi' your garden Marb.............Nobody can be so unlucky.

As Bigmallly said you have been very unlucky this year. (and last if I remember rightly) Do you know any successful gardeners who live near you and have similar growing conditions. Perhaps invite them round to see if they can shed some light on any underlying issues?

[noviceveggrower]

Did they get caught by a late frost?
I missed a couple of plants that peeped under my fleece and the strawberries off them were a bit funny looking.

[Scarlet]

Have you got any photos.....?

[Mr Bones]

Could it be big swings in day/night temperatures combined with dry spells followed by plenty of water. Quite a few of our strawberries this year cat-faced (looked like miniature boxing gloves) despite the soil being rich with with home-made compost etc. The plants themselves looked great but the fruits were somewhat distorted. Maybe it was a pollination issue .

[Florence Fennel]

Mine have been smaller than usual this year. They are not old plants and the soil has been enriched, so I'm inclined to blame the weather and I think you should too.

[Marb67]

Here are the pathetic fruits. As you can see there is a visible ring that has been nibbled at closer inspection by yet another pest in my small garden. Soul destroying :-(

Don't know why the photos posted upside down as I uploaded them the right way up from my iapd.

[WendyC]

What does grow well in your garden? Have you considered asking a successful gardener who lives near you to have a look and see what the underlying issues might be? Difficult to assess virtually. VC suggested an allotment - have you considered whether you might be more successful there?