Strawberries

[NOTACLUE]

Hi all new to the veggie world, a bit of advice please, just been given some strawberry plants, what`s the best thing to do with them, should i put them straight into the ground and cover or put into pots for now and leave in the greenhouse. ??? ???

[NOTACLUE]

[Tee Gee]

put into pots for now and leave in the greenhouse.

A lot depends upon what size & state they are in.

My suggestion would be to pot them up and coddle them a bit then plant them out when the ground warms up.

I shall be taking delivery of fifty new plants next month and this is what I will do.

[Lauren S]

Tee Gee, what variety have you purchased and from whom?
Thanks,
Lauren  :)

[morton]

Contrary to popular belief strawberries do not like heat but they need bright light. Don't let them get too hot and dry if you store them in the greenhouse as it will encourage red spider mite.
Strawberries do, however, like a good frosting. Anybody that pots some up and puts them in their greenhouse for an early crop will always let them get frosted first.
My advice would be to get them out as soon as possible after first acclimatising them and for the best crop always plant them out a stride apart.

[Tee Gee]

Tee Gee, what variety have you purchased and from whom?

Elsanta & Ostara from van Meuwen

Contrary to popular belief strawberries do not like heat but they need bright light. Don't let them get too hot and dry if you store them in the greenhouse as it will encourage red spider mite.

I agree with you Morton but this is one of the reasons I stated.....depends upon what size they are.

My advice would be to get them out as soon as possible after first acclimatising them and for the best crop always plant them out a stride apart.

Again I agree but the reason I am going to treat mine as I mentioned is; I expect mine to be plug plants and as I don't expect a crop from them this year I have decided to coddle mine.

If they come as 'big' plants then I will re-consider.

Strawberries do, however, like a good frosting. Anybody that pots some up and puts them in their greenhouse for an early crop will always let them get frosted first.

I agree again but I would have preferred delivery in Oct/Nov ( I ordered them in Sep) for this very reason, but I am at the mercy of the suppliers I am afraid.

The reason I have had to purchase is I am replacing my whole stock. The stock I have (or had) is over twenty years old.

Can't complain I guess I got my moneys worth.

[Cuke]

The old owner of our plot must have been a bit of a strawberry fanatic, there must be around 100 plants in two patches!  :o

Now I love 'em too, but to be honest where they are currently doesn't really fit in with my plans so I'm wondering how sensative they are to being uprooted and moved and when's best to do it?

[jennym]

If you are quick, Cuke, you can do it now. As long as you don't have really frozen ground, they move quite well while they are dormant. They don't want to go into sopping wet ground either, so bear this in mind.
Best time really is autumn, then they can get their roots established after the move and before winter.

[manicscousers]

hiya, notaclue..welcome to the site..we've still got about 12 runners we took off the plants last year..we've planted all the ones we need in the ground, these are going in buckets.. :)

[Thegoodlife]

cuke, could do with around 10 plants if you have any spare ;D as i moved mine when i first got my plot must have got them at the wrong time as ive now only got 4 left out of 50.

[NOTACLUE]

Thanks for all the advice i have CAMBRIDGE FAV, FLORENCE, RHAPSODY AND CALYPSO EVERBEARRER, got them £6.60 for 12 plants off e-bay got 3 fruit trees from the same farm for £30.
Great to be on board been in the background looking in for a while.

:D

[cornykev]

Welcome to the nuthouse Notaclue, I suppose you will be changing your name as the season goes by: first to     Gettingthehangofthisnow  then   blimeythisiseasierthanIthought  then  shitwhyareallmyplantsdying  then  hangonI'mbackontrack  then  didIreallygrowallthisfromseedonmyown  then finally  I'mansweringthebloodyquestionsnownewboy.  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[delboy]

See how inventive the peeps on here are...?

[loopyloulou]

yay! this is my 1st post and im a newbie too, nick names cos i am and ive got 2 kids who will be erm, helping, and wanted 2 start "helping" even b4 we signed the agreement for the allotment, which we did this afternoon! hurrah!!!
we were given some strawberry plants in the autumn and planted them in the borders at home, for all the neighbourhood cats to erm, toilet, on so now i was thinking after weve dug the plot a bit could we move them? theyre not big plants but ive no idea on variety and they didnt fruit last yr, they came from a massive patch of them so not a clue on age of said plants either, were kinda hoping for the best!!!! what if anything can i feed the poor lil things to help them? my son is desperate for a massive row of berries and i just dont have a clue!!! many thanx in advance! ;D oh and anybody tried the alpine strawberry seed kits from the 99p shop??? again my sons desperate for them, bless, and i know theyre usually sweeter than the proper sizeed strawberries, tho if i move the other lot i might keep the alpines for the garden in a pot to hopefully avoid the cats attentions (tho whats the betting theyll spray it for me instead???) many thanx again, lou x

[manicscousers]

hiya, loopie and welcome to the site, very apt name for here..we're still planting up strawberry runners from last year into pots, we've run out of room in the plot..trouble is, I don't think we'll get much of a crop this year..feeding them, I think that's a bit later on, no doubt someone will turn up in a mo and tell us..oh, yes, congrats on getting your allotment  ;D

[cornykev]

Hi Loopy, as the Scousers said you should fit in alright with that name.  ;D ;D ;D

[loopyloulou]

cheers guys :D the kids are sooooo excited about the allotment theyre going to drive me completely totally and utterly insane, it was freezing too today! glad u like my nickname tho, lol, had it yrs, and it suits!! :D

[Pesky Wabbit]

I bought a few strawberry plants, £1 a piece, from B&Q last April.  I put them in tomato grow bags on a table and got an oK crop without any feeding.

Back in Sept I took 3 or 4 ruuners from each plant and now have loads. These too will go into grow bags sometime next month.

Last years lot will get a weak tomato feed every two weeks from Spring (when they kick into growth) right through to July (fruiting time).

Year 1 - 1 plant for £1.
Year 2 - 1+4 plants
Year 3 - 1+4+16 plants
...

[Weed-Digga]

Loopyloulou,
Hi and welcome, people on this site are so helpful, we have been given loads of advice and we seem to learn something new all the time.I bought an Alpine Strawb kit from the 99p store, good germination so far, but they are still tiny little things so I'm not sure how they will progress, but then again 99p is not too much to give them a go, is it?

Weed-Digga

[loopyloulou]

i think ill indulge the cherubs then, they adore strawberries! and aparently the ones in the garden arent enough! tho i know next door have alpines maybe i should creep... they dont eat them they just cant b bothered weeding them out...then again the 99p shop seems far far easier!!! anyhoo glad 2 know theyre growing, that can be the kids project foir half term, spot the baby strawberry plants! tho the problem will be persuading them that they cant go down the lotty straight away and they dont have strawberrys straight away either.... :D

[Weed-Digga]

Loopyloulou, just a thought, the base of the kit doesn't have holes in it so you can't water it from below - by standing it in water - does that make sense? If I had realised I would have made some holes and stood it in a tray as you can easily 'drown' such tiny seedlings by watering them from above. I will make holes in the bottom part of the Rocket kit I got when I am ready to sow them.

Weed-Digga