This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Strawberries
Kelsbels
Posts: 54
in Fruit & veg
i have dreams of growing an abundance of strawberries this year but unsure where to start!
what are the best varieties?
do I start from seed or buy plants, if plants when should I plant them?
I've got raised beds, 12" deep, would they be ok in amongst my other veg in there or do they prefer their own space & how much space??
thanks in anticipation of strawbs all summer!!
0
Posts
Its best to get virus free plants from a good supplier. Plant at 12to 18inch spacing in a bed on their own . Dont forget to net against the blackbirds.
Ken Muir at honeypot farm has a good reputation for strawberries.
If its at all possible plant them in the ground rather than pots, ive done both, and unless you are willing to totally pamper them, they always do much better in the ground
I dont net mine, but the blackbirds here seem to prefer chips anyhow
Youve timed it well, you will be able to buy bare root ones now which are cheaper than potted ones, they look dreadful when they arrive, but will grow away like no ones buisness when the spring comes
Brilliant, thanks guys, some more Internet shopping for me!
Plant a variety of plants, so you get summer long fruiting from the different types. My biggest success was starting alpine strawberries from seeds. They just kept fruiting and fruiting, and the taste was amazing.. like an entire strawberry of flavor concentrated into a tiny berry. They rarely made it into the house.
Anyone ever grown those egg sized ones? I wonder if they have any taste?
If you want strawberries this year then best buy plants.
There are lots of different varieties. A selection which fruit at different times will prolong your strawberry picking season. Check the ladels when you buy.
June-bearing strawberry varieties usually produce large strawberries over a period of 2 to 3 wks around June time
but you can also get early season, midseason, and late season which will prolong your harvest through July.
Then there is everbearing strawberries which aren't but will produce two harvests each year one in Spring and one in late Summer although there are a lot less strawberries in late Summer.
Grown strawberries for years and bought two plants each of four new and different varieties in 2013, two of which were Cambridge Favourite and Pegasus can't remember the other two. The aim was to prolong the harvest. Would recommend these two, ever so tasty and produce large fruits.
If you opt for alpine strawberries, these varieties produce smaller fruits and don't put out runners but self seed. You can also get white alpine strawberries.
Wouldn't recommend you grow strawberries with other veg because they will put out runners and like their own bed. Having said that if space is limited they'll quite happily grow under fruit trees and bushes providing it's not too shadey.
I had to net mine. French blackbirds must be greedier than yours. I grow a variety too.
Personally I would find it hard to manage the strawberries if they were growing amongst other veg. They become quite large plants in the summer with lots of runners and I also have to net against the birds. Doesn't solve the problem of the short tail voles which burrow their way up from below - but they do much less damage than birds.
Mine are planted at 18" spacing. I would always buy plants rather than growing from seed - we have a good farm shop which sells a wide variety of strawberriy plants for less than a pound each. I am happy for someone else to do the initial work!
Thank you all, fab advice as always!