Topic: What and when do you feed strawberries

[Digeroo]

I fed my blood fish and bone last year but I think I gor rather too much leaf.  Though did have lots of tasty strawberries as well.

[5rod]

hi all
i feed mine potash every two weeks when flowers start. ;D ;D
works great for me
                      5 rod ;D ;D

[star]

I fed BF&B and had a great crop....the only productive thing in the garden last year. Then the strawbs got devoured by vine weevil  >:(. I lost most of them grrr

[antipodes]

I got some proper strawberry feed, it's like a powder (dunno what it's made of exactly). It said put it on when they are flowering. Seemed to work for me! Maybe you put it on during the leafy period instead?
I must give my strawbs a trim this weekend, now that the big cold spell is subsiding. They are all shrivelled up poor dears but in a week or two, they are bound to be starting to regrow again. I usually attack them with scissors, cut off all dead leaf growth and then brush down the bed (it's on plastic) with some twiggy branches to clear them off.

[grannyjanny]

You've answered my question, thank you. I was wondering when to give them the chop ;D.

[antipodes]

grannyjanny, I trim them about now because after that they start to grow again and i am always afraid that I will accidentally snip the new crowns. It has worked in previous years so I am sticking to it!
I am pleased that i chopped down my rasps just before the big cold snap though! Now they will be just right to start growing again, temperatures here are above zero today,

[gavinjconway]

grannyjanny, I trim them about now because after that they start to grow again and i am always afraid that I will accidentally snip the new crowns. It has worked in previous years so I am sticking to it!
I am pleased that i chopped down my rasps just before the big cold snap though! Now they will be just right to start growing again, temperatures here are above zero today,

My rasps are cut to about a foot ... should I cut them lower now. I dug them up from various places on the new plot and re-planted them in first week of November...

[Digeroo]

I am lucky I do not have to give mine 'the chop'.  It is the one and only benefit of the muntjac.  The nibble the leaves all winter.  I thought it was a bad things and netted mine last winter.  But people who had theirs well chewed off got fantastic crops of strawberries. 

I am told that some commercial growers send in herds of sheep to do the job.  apparently removing all the leaves helps remove diseases as well. 

When the weather warms up then the nets will go back on to allow the new growth to begin.  If I lay the nets on the ground the deer nibble the leaves through so they all have to be suspended about 6-8 inches off the ground. 

Last year I covered about 6 plants with 5l bottle cloches and had crops about 10 days earlier from those plants. 

[shirlton]

We feed ours with potash along with the rest of the fruit in the spring

[alexE]

I feed mine with fresh double cream around about Wimbledon time

(sorry, couldn't resist  ;D)

seriously I generally use wood ash but only put the plants in this year so will see how many take (moved them from another plot to underplant my fruit bushes)

[antipodes]

My rasps are cut to about a foot ... should I cut them lower now. I dug them up from various places on the new plot and re-planted them in first week of November...

That sounds all right to me gavin, I wouldn't cut them more than that.