Growing Strawberries

[Kendy]

Having recently acquired my plot, I have ordered some strawberry plants which should be delivered this week.

Can anyone recommend the best way they grow these please.  I was thinking on top of some sort of material will holes in for the plants to go through but being porous to let water through (so not black plastic) ?  Or would straw be better or even strawberry mats (seen these in catalogues but not in the garden centres) ?

Any advice gratefully received.

[Kendy]

[jennym]

Whatever you do with coverings, it's advisable if planting strawberries at this time of year, to water, water, water. They really do suffer when the soil starts to naturally dry out in late spring/summer,
My strawbs are open grown with no covers around them. They are planted in autumn, and by the summer of the second year have formed a mat of new runners which covers the soil anyway. They get dug up and replaced in the fourth year anyway.
You can buy perforated black plastic sheeting or landscaping fabric which will let water through, or you can use (free) corrugated cardboard cut to shape, which is extremely effective at keeping the weeds down and will biodegrade after a time. IMHO the strawberry mats are a bit of an expensive gimmick, but some use them and get pleasure from them so each to his own. You can use straw, but would need plenty of it, and it can blow about.

[longlad]

alot of the mats keep slugs and snails away but straw gives them some where to hide

[floraldi]

Mine are in a tall black plastic pot from Morrisons (they sell them cheap). This is the second year and I have noticed they had quite a lot of fruit on them. Last year I scrunched some plastic and tucked it under the fruits. I didn't get any snails in there. Maybe the pot was too tall to climb up ;)

There is absolutely nothing like home grown strawberries and the other night I was day dreaming that there was someone nearby with a large crop and from whom I could buy pounds of them. Not likely is it?

By the way the commercial growers have not got enouigh people to pick them and they say a quarter of their crops will be left in the fields.

[loopyloulou]

never underestimate how high a slug or snail can and will climb.....they had no problem climbing up the 10ft tall keria....

[kt.]

You can use straw, but would need plenty of it, and it can blow about.

Last year I used straw for the first time.  Never again.  Slugs & snails had a field day.  Hiding amongst it and nibbling more fruit each day.  When I realised what was happening - I removed the straw, and they never got too much of them after that.  I got more crop to harvest without straw.  My strawberries are in raised beds if that makes any difference;  Personal preference though.

[Crystalmoon]

I bought some cheap black weed suppressant fabric from Wilkinsons & nemaslugged underneath it, then planted second year strawberries bought from local farmers market through it.  I use chalk organic anti slug stuff around the edges of the bed (it dries out slug/snails underneath so they cant travel over it). Then I covered with pvc tunnel (March), I uncovered beggining of May & replaced pvc with netting. I have had zero slug problems sofar & even had some lovely ripe fruit.

[antipodes]

I used microperforated plastic, it works quite well. But bindweed manages to get around them anyway  >:(
Before planting I buried loads of kitchen waste under the strawberry bed! This year I gave them a little feed as they flowered and will do so again this weekend.