Strawberries

[Wesley]

'Sup guys, I just recently aquired some strawberries and was wondering if you guys had any growing suggestions and "how tos". Thanks for the help!

~Wes~

 

[glider14]

they are like weeds in good soil...spreading by roots and such. if there are no strawberries on there now then ur not getting any until next year. depending on where you live your going to want to over winter them by putting mulch on them.
Alex

 

[jimscott]

Yeah... what I did was buy the dozen that comes in a box and prepare the soil for planting. That year's flowers I cut off. And that year's runners are limited to one runner/plant from a given runner, per plant. The next year I create another patch, doing the same. The first year's plants I allow to flower and pick the berries. And again I limit each runner to just one plant. The third year I repeat the process. In the 4th year, the first year's plants are tilled under and another patch is created. And so on and so forth.

 

[tiffneycase]

I find mine do best in a sunny location, i try not to water the tops of the leaves when its super hot i've had them burn.sometimes i water at night. i think consistancy keeps the soil evenly damp i try to water everyday on hot ones and every otherday on cooler days. i have them in a planter box raised up off the ground maybe ten inches its about a foot and a half in width and about 8 feet long with a soil depth of about 6 to 8 inches~ i have berries just finishing from a second year growth. i put a tarp down first and then a good out door potting soil such as whitney farms ~ i sometimes add coffee grounds, if you have a snail problem i've found that cans of stale beer keep almost all of them away. i also have nasturtium flowers mixed in.
good luck Wesley
if your just looking to plant one or two small plants i would say plant them in a plastic pot vs clay ~ even though those strawberry terra cotta vessels are made for such ~ i find they dry out and really need a good soaking daily in the summer.

 

[jimscott]

Quote[/b] (tiffneycase @ July 16 2006,1:22)]if you have a snail problem i've found that cans of stale beer keep almost all of them away.

I was having a slug problem and I tried all sorts of suggested remedies. Never went out of my way to buy beer before, so doing this for the first time flet strange. Since we also had cats, we had softfood cans that were only gong to be recycled. so I filled those with the beer. The slugs drowned, just like aphids in overfilled CP pots.

I've also tried other suggestions - diatomaceous earth powder, Snailrid, copper wire tied to the flowers and along the perimeter, and a recipe that is a cheaper substitute for beer - bakers yeast, sugar, and water.

 

[tiffneycase]

bakers yeast , sugar and water i too have more often available than beer ~ i'll try it ~ maybe i can treat the snails to a beer after work on fridays ~ i don't drink myself, hmmm all those snails seem to have a little smile while looking at me belly up ~ & all this time I thought they were saying thank you.

 

[jimscott]

Heres' a thought... esgargot!

*mental image of soused snails*

 

[Wesley]

Thanks for the help guys. Greatly appreciated.

Ah yes, the drunken snail trick. The only downside to that is emptying all the cans. yuck. Salt sprinkled on the snails works well but is tedious and I never feel like slug/snail bait/poison works.

 

[seedjar]

I'm new to strawberries, but I inherited some from the previous tenants of my new place. I have a strawberry patch in a small bed that's being absolutely decimated by slugs this year, and it's in a shady spot where the berries aren't too productive; regardless, it manages to push up two leaves for every one the slugs eat. I'm also blown away at how drought-hardy they seem. The bed was built by the previous tenant here and a lot of the soil has eroded out of the sides, so the already quick-draining soil doesn't hold water much at all. The strawberries seem unaffected. It may be the shade but they're the last thing on that side of the house to wilt when I forget to water. So what I can tell you is that once they get started, there's no worrying about the plants themselves. Getting fruit may prove to be a different matter.
I think I'm going to dig them up and move them to the sunny side of my house once I clear out the yard. I don't mind losing the season - I can cope with one less berry a week in my diet. And anyways, I accidentally got acephate on them today so I won't be wanting to eat from those plants any time soon.
As for slugs, the traps work for the yard but if you plant in containers, copper stripping is a godsend. Just get the real deal and not the foil, because the foil wears off pretty easily. You might as well be setting out traps or poison every week the way that stuff lasts. Or, as it seems here, just leave a patch of strawberries easily accessible - they're the only thing the slugs chew on at this place.
Best luck,
~Joe

 

[Rubra]

Quote[/b] ]and a recipe that is a cheaper substitute for beer - bakers yeast, sugar, and water.

Cheap beer! awesome!

If I ever live in a place with slug problems I'll just get geese.