A Couple of Q's - Strawberries, Also Flowering

[Helgalush]

Hi

Sorry to be a pain and sorry if I am asking questions that have already been asked. Have tried searching but its late and I have a lot going on and just thought it would be easier to ask the questions in one place, so hope peeps can help me.

Strawberries - my seedlings are about an inch high at the moment, came out of the propagator, and are now in my warm and sunny porch still in their module trays....what are the next steps and when? They look too small/fragile to pot in to something bigger yet...

Flowering - I keep reading that people have flowers on certain veggies and in some cases this seems to be good and in other cases this seems to be bad and people need to remove flowers...can anyone tell me why, and which ones? I am feeling quite confused!

I also have a question about Lavender but think I will put that in one of the other sections.

Thanks in advance if anyone can help me.

Helen

[Two_Sheds]

keep potting on your strawbs as and when they need it (ie once the roots show at the bottom of the pot).

I don't have flowers on any of my veg yet, so I don't know which ones you mean?

[Lovely Helen]

I'm not far off novice myself but thought I'd answer what I know

Beans and Peas - need to flower so the pods can develop

Courgettes - have male and female flowers - they are both needed for pollination but Pippa Greenwood said in this month's GW magazine that she removes the male flowers (they look more stalk like - the female ones have little courgettes forming behind them) after a day - I have never done this before but will try it this year.

Tomatoes flower in trusses and need to do this to get fruit - my mum always taught me to only let 5-6 trusses set into fruit on each plant so I remove new sets of flowers after this 5-6 trusses are setting fruit.

Strawberries need to flower to produce fruit as does all fruit. On some new fruit bushes however you remove the flowers in the early years to make sure they concentrate on establishing as a strong plant rather than putting all their energy into fruit - I have done this with my blueberry bushes last year and think I need to do it again this year.

The bad flowers I know about are when something has gone past it's prime - onions, shallots, lettuce are the ones I know on this one.

Hope this is helpful - I'm sure there are people who know loads more than me who will help you further.

[Helgalush]

I'm not far off novice myself but thought I'd answer what I know

Beans and Peas - need to flower so the pods can develop

Courgettes - have male and female flowers - they are both needed for pollination but Pippa Greenwood said in this month's GW magazine that she removes the male flowers (they look more stalk like - the female ones have little courgettes forming behind them) after a day - I have never done this before but will try it this year.

Tomatoes flower in trusses and need to do this to get fruit - my mum always taught me to only let 5-6 trusses set into fruit on each plant so I remove new sets of flowers after this 5-6 trusses are setting fruit.

Strawberries need to flower to produce fruit as does all fruit. On some new fruit bushes however you remove the flowers in the early years to make sure they concentrate on establishing as a strong plant rather than putting all their energy into fruit - I have done this with my blueberry bushes last year and think I need to do it again this year.

The bad flowers I know about are when something has gone past it's prime - onions, shallots, lettuce are the ones I know on this one.

Hope this is helpful - I'm sure there are people who know loads more than me who will help you further.

Thank you - thats just the kind of explanation I was looking for. I didnt even know that some had male and female flowers!! Should have paid more attention in biology classes!!!

Do strawberries need to be left to establish themselves or will I be able to let them develop in to fruit this year? Sorry for all the questions, I am so novice and only have a couple of books. Did try searching the internet but am quite frazzled at the minute so thought I would take the easy option and just ask on here!!

One of the reasons I ask is because I see there are threads or posts that say something along the lines of "oh no, my x is flowering", which led me to asking why this was bad, I am guessing it is too early or something for the fruits/pods?

I also just wanted to know which plants it is bad for them to flower full-stop and you have answered that above for me!

Thanks

Helen

[Helgalush]

keep potting on your strawbs as and when they need it (ie once the roots show at the bottom of the pot).

I don't have flowers on any of my veg yet, so I don't know which ones you mean?

Thank you. I think they may need a little longer in the pots they are in but they seem to be doing well and then I can pot them on. I have several seedlings (about 8!) in each cell - do they need thinning out or are they ok to be in 'clumps' like this?

Thanks again