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Strawberries

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My cheapy strawberries from the GYO have been in the ground about 2 weeks and are starting to flower already? I've never done Strawbs, is this normal? My Alpine Strawbs have been in the garden, in pots, for weeks and whilst healthy are not flowering or anything yet and I didn't expect them to be. Any advice folks.

I got the Calypso ones not those advertised and they did say not to remove runners or suckers as they will fruit on those as well, if that makes sense

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I haven't bought any strawberries this year. Previous years I grew them in strawberry pots in the herb garden but I have visions of chooks eating every berry so I'm waiting until I can get plants in to the veg patch which the girls don't have access to.

 

Although there is a plant growing from seed in the gravel of the herb garden. I'll keep an eye on it...

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The great thing with strawberries is that you can buy 'early' , 'mid-season' and 'late' ones. If you mix these into your beds you can have strawberries fruiting for nearly six months ! Your's are probably an early variety that are kicking in with the (short-lived) warm spring weather.

 

The other thing to consider is that some strawberries do well in one type of soil and not in others. I have tried a few and find that Cambridge Favourite are best for my soil, which is sandy rather than clay. Need to experiment with different ones (try and get runners for free from friends) and then the ones that do well - propagate from them. The best way to do this is put your favourite plant in the middle of a good sized bed after fruiting and feed it a little (tomato feed is good). Then over the next few week it will produce DOZENS of little strawberry plants of the perfect variety for your garden.

 

Where the little plants form, bury the runner from the main plant end so that the root can form more quickly. then in a couple of weeks you will be able to scissor cut the runner, lift the plant and put into a pot ready for transplanting the following spring. Keep doing this for a couple of months - I took 15 plants off one main strawberry plant last year.

 

They will fruit well the next year, even better the next, but by the fourth year you should take your favourite plant and propogate again as they get tired by their fifth year.

 

Oh, and the other thing you can do, if you have a green house, is stick a few of your favourite type in the green house for early strawberries.

 

Good luck. I am experimenting with gooseberries this year, looking forward to a nice gooseberry tart in summer.... mmmm.

 

(Check out my website for other tips if you fancy - http://www.geocities.com/stinkycabage - which has other tips)

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I've got strawberries in hanging baskets this year. I've tried them in the past in the ground, but never actually got any fruit, kids, slugs or birds always beat me to it :roll:

Can't remember what varieties I've got, about 3 different ones so I can see which are the most successfull, or taste best, but the flowers look quite pretty in the basket, and I've got several, still green, fruits developing. Maybe this year I'll get to eat a home grown strawberry :)

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Kate A

 

We have new pear trees so I can't really say but we had one with lots of little fruitlets - they all dropped off while we were on holiday due to the hot weather I think. I couldn't ask our Chicken Sitter to water fruit trees as well as look after the chickens and water in the polytunnel :cry:

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