Strawberries

[Sophie94]

Hi 
I'm new to gardening and had bought a Strawberry plant from Dobbies around Easter time. My strawberries have began to appear and one in particular has got started to show some red and is bigger than the rest. I'm just wondering when you know it's actually ready to eat? I've attached a picture below of what it's like at the minute. Any advice will be greatly appreciated

[flynch]

It'll be uniformly red when ripe

[burnie]

Same colour as your finger nails lol.

[Jay22]

^^^Sophie is definitely new to gardening with beautiful nails like that!

[Nicos]

Hi there, and welcome to the Vine!
Well done so far on nurturing your strawberry....Just hang on a few days....if it's outside, try and protect it from birds and slugs...you don't want them to get at it before you!!!

[Sophie94]

Hi there, and welcome to the Vine!
Well done so far on nurturing your strawberry....Just hang on a few days....if it's outside, try and protect it from birds and slugs...you don't want them to get at it before you!!!

Thank you I have it in my greenhouse at the minute but I have wee bags tied around where the strawberries are growing to avoid any little bugs getting the first nibble

[Sophie94]

^^^Sophie is definitely new to gardening with beautiful nails like that!

Hahaha , you can tell I don't do much housework 😋

[Sophie94]

Same colour as your finger nails lol.

Hahaha , I've changed the colour since then but I don't think it'll be too long until it's ready 😄

[Artisan]

This is also the first time I have grown strawberries. My plants were planted in my patch this time last year. My strawberries are doing well and I have had some nice sized fruit off them so far. But, and there always seems to be a but, some of the fruits are small or misshapen. I have straw around the base of each plant and the patch is covered by bird netting. Can anyone tell me how to get a uniform growth of the fruit?

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

Greg, unfortunatly you can't, a plant is a plant and will give you what it wants, but good "Husbandary" with regards to watering and feeding helps!

[Losos]

Greg, unfortunatly you can't, a plant is a plant and will give you what it wants, but good "Husbandary" with regards to watering and feeding helps!

Yes absolutely, nature always throws up a few odd ones (Esther Rantsen made a TV career out of mishapen fruit & veg )

Also agree about watering and feeding, if you are in the Eastern side of the country you will almost certainly need to water your plants frequently.

[Artisan]

Thank you. It's good to be reassured that your not doing it all wrong

[Jungle Jane]

I think the odd shaped strawberries are ones that aren't pollinated,they look a bit screwed up. Sometimes the flowers are difficult for insects to reach.

Edit to add I've removed the odd strawberry leaf before,so all flowers are visible

[Artisan]

Thanks. That makes a lot of sense. A bit short on me little Bees then!

[Artisan]

Strawberies - A Feast For Local Wildlife?

As I said in my previous post, this summer is the first time I have grown strawberries. I started picking them about a week ago from my three plants. I have had plenty of fruit for my wife and myself with plenty more to come. One small problem I am having is that some of the fruit has been partially eaten. Only the odd one or two. I have straw around the base of each plant with supported bird netting over all three plants. I have also applied Slug pellets around the plants for good measure.

Could the nibbling of the fruit be my local live-in mice and vole community? We also have a resident Stot but I think he is more carnivorous then herbivorous.

The pleasures of living in rural Devon have some draw-backs but fortunately we are not bothered by the rabbits or the deer (Yet!)


Now I am not that mean that I don�t want to share the fruits of my hard labour with my little furry friends but unless they start paying I will have to do something about the problem. If anyone is having a similar problem then perhaps they could give me some tips on stopping their little nashers chewing on my Strawberries. After all you wouldn�t get this at Wimbledon would you!