2018 Strawberries.

[mrsbusy]

Earth girl Jen - I would get some runners now and get them going for next year. I picked about 2lbs this evening - they are a late variety 'Florence'. I put in 10, this is the second year and the crop is prolific. I was a bit slow giving them some water; I also put in 30 other plants, 20 early and 10 ever bearer - they all cropped very well for a short time - we ended up giving a lot away to neighbours and family. I think they were a better flavour but they also benefited from plenty of rain followed by sun. So I find that 40 plants is plenty for us and the birds have plenty too - I haven't netted them.

[monkeyboy]

I think we need more plants too. I think we've managed about six strawberries to date. That's off three plants. They're growing but just very slowly. This is the honeoye variety that I bought from Homebase. I originally wanted Cambridge Favourite and thought I'd picked it up. It wasn't until I arrived home and had a look that I realised my mistake.

[Earthgirl Jen]

I think we need more plants too. I think we've managed about six strawberries to date. That's off three plants. They're growing but just very slowly. This is the honeoye variety that I bought from Homebase. I originally wanted Cambridge Favourite and thought I'd picked it up. It wasn't until I arrived home and had a look that I realised my mistake.

Just a thought monkeyboy but dobies are doing an offer on strawberry plants at the moment F1 ones that are supposed to produce all throughout the season. I succumbed today, ( i was actually looking for a particular variety of lettuce my Dad enjoyed on holiday) postage is £4.99 but that still works out at just over a £1 per jumbo plug, 18 plants 3 different varieties...

[monkeyboy]

Just a thought monkeyboy but dobies are doing an offer on strawberry plants at the moment F1 ones that are supposed to produce all throughout the season. I succumbed today, ( i was actually looking for a particular variety of lettuce my Dad enjoyed on holiday) postage is £4.99 but that still works out at just over a £1 per jumbo plug, 18 plants 3 different varieties...

I think the issue will be space. The current strawbs are in this trough: clicky are I put in three plants. I'm not sure how many plants I can fit, or how much space I will need for a decent harvest of strawberries.

[Earthgirl Jen]

I think the issue will be space. The current strawbs are in this trough: clicky are I put in three plants. I'm not sure how many plants I can fit, or how much space I will need for a decent harvest of strawberries.

That's up to you, how much do you like strawberries?

My problem is that the strawberries I inherited with this garden all fruited within a matter of weeks in June and that was it! The blackbirds have all lived in this garden much longer than me so knew exactly what they were after... lol...

If you're short of space, how good are you at DIY ? My other half (who isn't,he won't mind me saying this) made this for me this year. I stapled old compost bags to the inside and planted 22 plants in it! It cost him a full morning and us a box of screws.

DIY Strawberry Pallet Planter | Home Design, Garden & Architecture Blog Magazine

The plants arrived today:



Nice healthy little plugs actually, they have the promise of fruiting all summer so I planted them into 3' pots straight away to grow some nice new roots while I figure out what to do with them next.

ps. If you've put 3 strawberry plants into that size container they are going to want watering everyday and feeding once their roots have filled it x

[Chris11]

A few people have mentioned buying more plants. Is that really necessary unless you want new or different varieties?

It's so easy to grow new/additional plants from the runners produced from your existing plants.

[4Shoes]

It seems the secret to extending the season is to grow runners every year. The Runners will tend to crop Early, Mid and late season (Honeoye - Cambridge Favourite - Florence) . I've found that you do get distinct cropping with 1st year runners, but found the following season that they all tend to merge into one. Perhaps this is because the plants are bigger and crops overlap more weeks.

I have also a few perpetual strawberries. I read that you need to cut off the runners and half the fruit / flowers early season to force them to produce a bigger crop late season. Think this would be easier done on "table top" growing system

[Potstubsdustbins]

Today I had my first Malwina, a late cropper it has only just started to fruit and I have to say what a lovely juicy tangy taste it was. The lady actually gave me half a berry saying "try that it's lovely" what she doesn't know it will now be a race to see who gets to them first.

[4Shoes]

Just watched Beech Grove Garden - was on my PVR - Jim McColl was saying that they used to burn the straw at the end of season, stripping the plants of any leaf, and in essence forcing it to provide a 2nd crop around September. Perhaps not this year with everything so dry

[4Shoes]

2 strawberries.

What did one strawberry say to says to the other.

If we hadn't been in same bed we wouldn't be in this jam now .