General Information
Strawberry plants are of the genus Fragaria, grow close to the ground and produce trifoliate leaves from a central crown. A strawberry plant should produce a good crop of fruit for 2-3 years, although with a good home, they can last 5 or even 6 years.
They present white flowers with yellow centres, which mature into the bright red strawberry berries which are great from jams, preserves, juices, baking, ice creams or just eating! They produce fruit from June until August, depending on the variety, and early flowerers may need protection from frosts.
The plant sends out new growth in the form of runners, where a new plant forms on the end of a stem from the mother plant. These runners can be removed to encourage more generous fruiting. If left to runner, a row of strawberry plants will create a good covering of strawberry plants within a bed. Runners can be carefully dug up and moved to a new site during the winter months if required (but varieties marked with a * cannot be propagated for sale without a license).
We plant our own high grade healthy runners each spring. These runners become the parent plants, as they go on to produce their own runners throughout the summer months. These are lifted from our fields and despatched direct to our customers from mid-late October through until April or May (depending on the season). We offer a wide selection of strawberry varieties for you to choose from, each with their own set of characteristics. Your choice of variety will be affected by your preferred fruiting season, the location and site, taste, and any other varietal characteristics that may catch your eye. See the Plant Varieties page for more information.
|
|
Planting
LOCATION AND SOIL
Strawberry plants will do best in a sunny location, sheltered from strong winds. They prefer damp but free-draining soil. It is best to keep new spring growth protected from late ground frosts, so a higher area within your garden may be favourable. Try to plant on clean ground which has not grown strawberry plants for several years. We also recommend that they are not planted in soil that has recently grown potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, as these can carry verticillium wilt in the soil, although nowadays it is possible to select varieties which are resistance to this. To avoid wireworm and leatherjackets, we also recommend not growing strawberry plants in straight out of grass. Strawberry plants can also grow well in raised beds, containers, and baskets, provided the soil deep enough and is moisture levels are carefully monitored.
PREPERATION
We recommend that you plant the strawberry plants into a well prepared, weed free bed, dug down to at least a spade's depth. Ideally, this should be done about a month before planting, and supplemented with of plenty of well rotted manure or compost.
PLANTING METHOD
Dig a hole in this loose tilth and spread the roots against one side of the hole ensuring they are vertical and not curled up. Pull the soil back against the roots and firm down very well with your feet to ensure firm placement without air around the roots. It is very important that the crown lies at ground level after firming, with no roots exposed, but leaving the crown still clearly visible (soil about half way up the crown). Plant the plants 18 inches (45cm) apart with rows 3 feet apart (90cm). If dry, water them well until established. Keep weeds away by hoeing, but make sure the soil always remains just up to the crown on the plant.
|
|
Fruiting and Cropping
FLOWERS AND RUNNERS
Depending on your season, the earliest strawberry varieties can crop outside from about the third week in June, and the latest until about the second week in August. You can bring forward the cropping dates by growing under protection in a greenhouse, polytunnel or fleece.
Your strawberry plants should produce both flowers and runners (the new plant growth). It is fine to let the plants flower in their first summer whether planted in the autumn or spring before, provided the plant is doing well. It is better to take off the flowers if the plant is struggling, for whatever reason. We recommend removing the runners from the plants in the summer as this should produce stronger plants and bigger fruit. You may however decide to let the plants runner into a "matted row" where you can root 6-9 runners per plant which will bring you fruit next year. Please note that under the terms of the Plant Breeders Act 1964, many of our strawberry plant varieties (marked* in our shop) should not to be propagated for resale without a license.
POLLINATION
Strawberry flowers need to be insect pollinated. If the plants are being grown under protection, it is important to open them up during at least some of the day to allow insects in. Problems may also occur in wind-prone locations where insects prefer not to visit, so we recommend that you plant your plants in a sheltered location for the best results. Sometimes poor pollination can create misshaped fruits. The flowers will need protection from any hard frosts.
FRUIT PROTECTION
Birds can be just as keen to eat your strawberries as you are. The plants can be covered with light netting secured over the fruiting plants, or you may prefer to invest in a fruit cage. To prevent the strawberries coming in contact with the soil, straw or another protective covering can be laid along the ground under the when the first trusses are formed.
|
|
Pests and Disease
Strawberry plants can be damaged by slugs, capsids, aphids and red spider mite, leather jackets and wireworm. Some varieties can be prone to powdery mildew and botrytis. Verticillium wilt, Crown rot, Red core are all soil borne diseases, but by buying from our Ministry Certified stocks, you will not be importing these onto your ground. Occasionally these can be already in your soil which is why it is best to grow strawberry plants on clean ground, particularly where old diseased plants have been recently removed.
|
|
Feeding and Watering
Whilst establishing (3 weeks or so) the plants could benefit from some extra watering, especially if there hasn't been much rainfall. After this, and under the normal conditions that the British summer offers, further watering should not be needed, perhaps until fruiting time when some extra water may again be beneficial. It is best to spread well-rotted compost around the plants in the spring, or if you prefer to feed, use a medium phosphate high potash fertiliser. We don't recommend too much nitrogen as this can sometimes create more problems than it can solve. Seaweed liquid fertiliser sprays, garlic sprays and compost tea are all beneficial.
|
|
