Most varieties of strawberries produce runners (long stems) which produce plantlets along their length.
select-strawberry-runner
* These runners will sap the energy from the mother plant, and are usually cut off as soon as they are seen.
* But some growers allow them to grow and root between the plants, so that a continuous mat of strawberry plants is formed.
* The runners may be used to propagate new strawberry plants.
The Elsanta table top strawberries planted earlier this year have produced delicious, tasty strawberries in 60 days.
strawberry-60dayElsanta
Intensive strawberry growers can buy strawberry plants which have been ‘programmed’ to be ready in a certain number of days. The young plants are frozen for a certain length of time depending on when they are required to be ready. These plants were called ‘60 day strawberries’, which means that they will fruit 60 days after planting – and they did!
ElsantaStrawberry60day
The strawberry variety Elsanta suits intensive growing, and are the most widely grown variety in Europe. The intensive production involves growing the plants through polythene and feeding them through the water pipes.
These Elsanta 60 day Strawberries are very good quality, and they have not been treated with any chemicals:
The Elsanta 60 day strawberries, planted on table tops this year, will produce more strawberries next year.
Now strawberries are coming to the end of their fruiting season, a few of the new strawberry runners can be allowed to develop. These can be used to plant a new bed. Click the links below for more information:
Strawberries grown in pots are sometimes sour. This is due to the kink in the stem which forms when the stem falls over the sharp edge of the pot.
ripe-strawberry-Symphony
To prevent the stems from kinking,wide round pipes can be placed either side of the pots, so that the strawberries gently hang down. If the growth just drops down (& possibly kinks the stem) the strawberries are sour. So it is vital for the round pipe to allow the stems to gently curve over – to stop the strawberries going sour.
ripening-strawberries
Strawberries grown on the ground often have straw under them. This keeps the berries clean, but it also helps the stems hang gently down. This is probably why the strawberries are not sour.
Strawberries came top of the voters favourite fruit award in the Gardeners’ World Awards 2009.
Strawberry Irresistible is one of the sweetest strawberries ever!
irresistable
Strawberries came top of the voters favourite fruit award in the Gardeners’ World Awards 2009.
Show off your garden mini berries by adding this sauce to icecreams, sponges, or your favourite deserts.
Ingredients for mini berry sauce:
How to make mini berry sauce:
Latin Name of Strawberry.
Common Name: Wild Strawberry
Latin Name: Fragaria virginiana
Family: Rosaceae
The commercial strawberry grown in the garden is a hybrid, Fragaria × ananassa.
This hybrid was produced from a cross between plants of two strawberry Fragaria species, Fragaria chiloensis and Fragaria virginiana.
Mulch soft fruits with organic matter.
A mulch is something which covers the ground completely, in a thick layer, without any gaps.
mulch-on-raspberries
Organic matter is stuff which was once alive, such as:
* lawn clippings
* straw
* farmyard manure
* wood chippings
The benefits of mulch are:
* stops the soil drying out
* gives nutrients to plants
* encourages worms
* reduces weeds
* keeps the soil an even temperature
* saves work
Applying mulch to soft fruits now will improve the yield of berries in the summer.
This is a bad year for slugs on strawberries.
slug-damage-on-strawberry
The slug population has exploded in the ideal conditions provided by the wet conditions last summer & this spring.
To reduce slug attacks on strawberries:
* surround the strawberry row with oyster grit, or a similar medium,
which the slugs do not like to cross.
* place ’slug pubs’ amongst the rows. These are small containers of
beer which the slugs drop in to.
* leave grapefruit or orange skins in the row, which will attract
slugs, & pick the slugs out every day & destroy.
* purchase a pyramid slug trap
* elevate the strawberry plants on poles which the slugs cannot
climb – see table top strawberries.
* click the link for more info on slug control
slug-eaten-strawberry
Slugs can devastate the strawberry crop, so it is worth taking time to
control the slugs, using a number of different methods.
Table Top Strawberries planted in York on August 1st have grown well.
table-top-strawberries
The strawberry variety nearest the camera is Darsilette. This is an
early variety. The other variety, Darselect, is a mid-season, main-crop
strawberry.
The cold-stored strawberry plants arrived with good roots and crowns,
but no leaves. As soon as they were planted into warm, moist peat they
started to produce leaves. They have been kept moist and sprayed with
soluble feed. In the six weeks they have been growing they have been
de-flowered twice. They should produce a 60-70% yield next season.
TableTopStrawberries
These table top strawberries are showing great promise just six weeks
after planting.
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