I have some strawberries in pots from runners pegged down last year, i was thinking of planting a couple in the greenhouse bed to see if i could get some early strawberries :D :D
will this work as i think i remember reading somewhere that they don't fruit in their 1st year.
Hi
Can I gate crash your thread?, as i was about to start a similar one :). I have strawberry plants that I grew from seed last year , i have planted a few up into my raised bed, and wanted to plant some in the green house too, should i let them fruit this year :-\? (assuming they surrive the carnage to their roots trying to get them out the pots :-[)
Pakaba
I assume you are talking about summer fruiting rather than perpetual fruiting strawberries. I believe that summer fruiting prefer planting in august/september. They are happy to be planted in spring but you should remove blossom on first year. I think 'once upon a time' the preference was not to crop in the first year even if planted in august/summer, but as beds are normally kept for about 3 years, it is now decided best to crop all years. I hope this is of use and accurate, I have been reading on the subject recently for my own plot. Please correct anyone if its all rubbish! :)
If they rooted well last year, they should bear fruit this year. I wouldn't move them into the greenhouse yet, let them stay outside until mid/end March, then bring them in.
For everbearers, or perpetual varieties, you can (if you want) take the first flowers that appear off, they will then flower again a few weeks later and therefore give you a later crop. I have never bothered removing flowers, and always have had good crops from runners rooted the previous summer.
Not sure about seed - the only strawberries I've ever grown from seed are the tiny alpine ones, they fruit the first full year too (i.e. sown last year and plant has developed).
No problems Hijack away the more the merrier ;D
Yes i was talking about summer fruiting ones, thanks for the advice ;D ;D ;D
Mine are summer fruiting ones too ;D
I didn't know there were any others that were edible or worth growing for their fruit. ???
Thanks for advice
Pakaba
Thanks again for the above advice another quick question about strawbs
what is the best way to feed them? was thinking about forking in some well rotted manure around them to keep them going ???
I had 10 newcomers? last year and they fruited fine hope they are OK this year. Is potash the best fertiliser?
Well rotted manure will help. Strawberries do well if you apply a high nitrogen feed when growth re-starts in spring, tailing this off towards the end of spring. Potassium will aid the flowering and fruiting, so increase feeds containing potassium from late spring.
Soil pH 5.3 - 6.5 is optimum, they don't like it too alkaline.
The other important point, is that they need to be kept well irrigated, they really don't like being starved of water - this can be a problem when they are grown in containers.
Thanks for that will dig in the manure & get some feed as i do love a good crop of strawbs