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Strawberries

eeceeteeceet Posts: 13
in Fruit & veg
Hi,f my strawberries started flowering. I bought them bare rooted about a month ago. Do I have  to remove the first flowers? I remember reading this on a gardening site. Is this time to start feeding these strawberries with tomorite as well? (I know that's tomato flood)

Posts

  • PurpleRosePurpleRose Posts: 538
    Leave the flowers on. Once the petals fall off what is left is the strawberry which will grow and ripen.  

    Yes, when flowering feed the plants. I use tomatorite about once a week to two weeks. This year I could not get tomatorite so scattered some fish, blood and bone.
  • eeceeteeceet Posts: 13
    Thank, I know how strawberries will grow. The website said, to strengthen the plant and to help it establish its roots it's  best to pinch off the first few flowers so it can focus on those things. Is it recommended? We would like to have strawberries this year :)
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    The usual advice is to remove from young plants in the first season, to allow them to bulk up, but IME, you can get away with it. You could always leave one or two plants, depending on how many you have.
    If they've been well prepped in the ground, you don't have to worry too much. I use tomato food now and again for mine, but not all through the year, and not once they've fruited. 
    Are they in the ground, or in pots?
    You can use a general feed like B,F&B as already mentioned, and you can do that each year in spring too.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • eeceeteeceet Posts: 13
    They are in pots and the plants themselves aren't huge. Will they bring many strawberries or I shouldn't expect too much from them? I think they are everbearing varieties
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I thought they looked quite small  :)
    I wouldn't expect too much from them this year. You could leave them to get on with growing,  take the flowers off some and leave a couple to see what happens. 

    I'm afraid I found the everbearing ones anything but. I got rid of mine, and went back to taking runners off all my Elsanta ones, and another one I have, which grow like mad. I grow mainly in pots, but I didn't find they [everbearing]  performed very well at all  :/
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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