strawberrys in a grobag?

[grogirl]

hello all  :). i have just bought some bare rooted strawberry plants form ebay on a bit of a whim.....looking ahead to warmer days :)! (25 for £6.50 delivered, is that reasonable?) anyhow i had this idea of growing them in grobags, what do you think? is this appropriate? also will they survive if i put them out in the garden now or will they get frost damaged? thank you in advance, gg x x

[grogirl]

[jennym]

Seems a bit early for any reputable grower to be sending out bare root plants. In my garden it's too cold and wet at the moment to put new plants out directly into the soil, I put mine in in the autumn. Your garden may be more sheltered - it's not the frost so much that affects them, but they don't like being waterlogged and frozen when they are tiny. You can probably plant out around March. You could grow them in grow bags, but you'd probably only get 2 or 3 plants in one bag (they need about a foot apart) and you'd have to feed and water, and grow bags dry out so quickly. Perhaps temporarily put them in a grow bag, then plant them out when the weather isn't so bad.

[OllieC]

I tried them in grow bags this year and got one strawberry out of 6 plants (3 per bag) in the first year (variety Enorma). Now, I'm pretty good at growing soft fruit having worked on a fruit farm for 5 years (although it was mainly picking fruit, I did & saw & spoke about lots of other stuff). I've cut them back, fed them & shall report back on year 2 but am not holding my breath...

On a more positive note, you should at least end up with plenty of runners to plant out in a permanent patch.

Good luck!

Ollie

[tim]

?

[grogirl]

 thank you for your replies. were hoping to move house mid summer so can't really justify planting them out in a patch, i was hoping we could take them with us! i may use the many many morrisons buckets i have insted?! however that pic is amazing tim! i presume that was a grobag or similar, i was planning in constructing some sort of table for them too, out of some old freestanding shelves, i think i deffinatelly will now ;D. thank you for your helpfull replies, regards gg x x

[supersprout]

MT - is that a grobag on a shelf, or a box?
lovely pic - I don't grow strawbs cos they are messy - this looks neat!

[tim]

Can I answer for MT??

Made up 8 of these for grow bags with 2 plants each.

Saved my back - & put the slugs off!!

[Debs]

ingenious Tim  ;)

[supersprout]

wow! :o :o 8)
thank you tim
one you prepared earlier? ;)

[grogirl]

wow  ;D that's perfect! just what i wanted! just got to persuade mr gg to get the hammer out  ;D  thank you! gg x x

[Deb P]

Can I answer for MT??

Made up 8 of these for grow bags with 2 plants each.

Saved my back - & put the slugs off!!

Hmmm, seeing this ingenious device I feel there may be very soon be some benefit being married to a carpenter after all..... ;D ;D

[OllieC]

Hi Tim

Is that in year 1? Very impressive, I got lots of greenery but little else. Also, do you know the variety please?

Ta

Ol

[tim]

May seem stupid, but I can't remember!! And it could be misleading to guess.

[real food]

I have been having great success growing Strawberries in a box above ground. Here is an extract on the subject from my forthcomming web site.
STRAWBERRY
I find that the so called perpetual fruiting varieties, (actually usually three flushes of fruit), are better value, than the traditional single flush types. As you are growing your own, you can pick them when they are really red and properly ripe, with a wonderful aroma. The plants are easier to protect from slugs, snails, mice and birds, if grown raised up some 60cms (2ft) above the ground in old fish boxes or similar boxes, or even 60 litre grow bags. Grow 8 to 12 plants to a box and arrange the fruiting shoots to hang over the edge of the box. This technique is particularly worthwhile when growing “perpetual fruiting” varieties, as it is easier to provide protection against birds and rain, using netting and polythene, and extend the fruiting period as much as possible. Providing you have deep boxes, say 30 cms (12 ins), they do not seem to dry out too fast. Try filling the box with old grow bag compost (not from tomato plants), for the bottom half to provide a moisture reservoir, and then fill up to the brim with sieved compost or soil. Feeding with tomato fertilizer gives good results, as it has a high Potash content.
This is the way that they are now growing Strawberries commercially, in polytunnels, with the strawberries at waist height, even providing Bumble Bee mini nests for pollination. In your allotment, just make sure that the Bumble Bees can gain access to the flowers, to do their work.

[grogirl]

i like the idea of fish boxes, will have to scout around and see what i can get hold of, thank you gg x x

[cambourne7]

HI

I planted my strawberry plants in an old wheelbarrow http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/cambourne7/P1010007.jpg

As i though the metal would put the slugs off.

Cambourne7