Our strawberry plants looked to have a fine crop, but the strawberries just never matured properly - and seemed to drop off. I wasn't sure whether this was some insect or possibly the heavy rain - but very frustrating.
A friend has suggested that it could be the dry weather & the plants not getting enough water & dropping the crop as self preservation (we only get to the allotment once a week).
Has anyone else encountered this problem and is it likely just to be the amount of watering we can give them?
The plants are getting quite old now (older than 3 years) - so I presume I should replace them.
When is the best time to grow from the runners & plant them out?
Welcome to A4. Are you going to take runners from your own plants or buy in some new ones. My plants are just starting to produce runners. So now is a good time to start filling some pots. I use 1ltr size ones and fill with a good compost. They seem to like a lot of feeding and watering. I pin them down onto the pots with hair pins.
Then I plant them out in September, the pots should be well full of roots by then and feed them some more. This time next year they should then be starting to have a few fruits.
Are your strawberries netted? If not I would suspect birds have pillaged your crop, they are inclined to eat the ripe fruits and peck off the unripe ones leaving them on the earth with a bit of stem intact....I learnt this lesson the hard way....! Strawberries do not usually drop a crop if dry, the fruits just shrivell and go hard.
Appart from lack of water and feed strawbberry plant are past their best after the third year.
If you dont feed or water them they do what they have to do to survive and that is drop the fruit to feed the plant..
As sugested start planting the runners into small pots. If some have already rooted then label the old plants so they can be dug out and allow the young plants to grow on.
I generally agree with Digeroo & Dave
Having said that I never water my plants ( unless they are in pots) I feed with a general fertiliser just as the new leaves are showing in spring, hand forking it in between the rows ( I weed at the same time) and that's it till harvesting time.
This is what I picked today and I get at least one of these punnets every day from around 80 plants!
(http://i1346.photobucket.com/albums/p697/scotia10/July%202013/Allotment/P1200473_zpsa24e70dc.jpg) (http://s1346.photobucket.com/user/scotia10/media/July%202013/Allotment/P1200473_zpsa24e70dc.jpg.html)
I agree with the maximum of three year for plants!
I generally take runners every other year and replace around a third to half my stock.
This means I always have first, second and third year plants on the go every year.
Usually the first years plants are a bit shy of fruit but the second & third year are usually abundant with fruit!
When I remove the third year plants I dig the bed and add copious amounts of manure as this has to last for two to three years!
This is one of the reasons I do not need to water my plants, and when you think of the amount of water they have had for the last eighteen months it is not surprising I don't water!
This link will show you how to take runners;
http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Strawberry/Strawberry/strawberry.html (http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Strawberry/Strawberry/strawberry.html)
and this link will show you how I grow them;
http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Strawberry/Strawberry.htm (http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Strawberry/Strawberry.htm)
I was likewise disappointed. I netted some promising plants with developing fruit, and came back 2 weeks later (lots of visitors and impossible to escape) to find fruit vanished and leaves drooping.
I'd tell visitors they'll have to come to the plot and help out....
many thanks for your feedback all.
I think it is time to abandon the current stock and try again with the runners
The stawberries are in a fruit cage, so not birds, so I do suspect it'll be the lack of water.