Topic: strawberries

[demelzah]

which type of strawberries should i buy and should i get bareroot, runners, pot plants?
i will be growing them outside on the allotment and they are for the kids to eat.

[poppie1]

i'm no expert,but i put a dozen last year in a strawberry pot/herb pot and done well with them(these are coming on well,but a bit windswept).i have a little one who loves strawberries and being outdoors,so purchased another dozen today at aldi £2.99 for 6 good strong plants.

[allaboutliverpool]

Cambridge favourite are a reliable bet. Some of the newer varieties yield more. or are neater but the flavour is often somewhat insipid.
Whatever you grow will taste better within an hour of picking because you can allow the fruit to get really ripe and sweet before picking which commercial growers cannot do as the fruit becomes more fragile the riper it gets.

If you want fruit this year, go for pot grown and propagate from runners for a bigger feast next year. Last year I harvested 18.2Kg of stawberries.

My early plants under cover are in flower as you can see on :-

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Allaboutallotments/140595012660360?v=wall

[jennym]

This time of year isn't the best to be putting in strawberries. Autumn is best of all. Mine are already in growth and showing signs of flower buds, and I expect to be harvesting from end of may onwards (only 8 weeks).

You could buy some pot grown plants - but do check they have been pot grown, the soil around them should be firm and the pot should be full of roots by now. A proper garden centre might be your best bet, not the likes of B&Q, Lidl or Homebase who won't have the quality of plant you need for fruiting this year.
But... easier still is to buy online from the likes of Ken Muir who have what are called cold stored plants, these will fruit this year if you order them right now. I show a link but am sure if you google there will be more folks selling these.
http://www.kenmuir.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=80_117_204

[vicki.m]

I bought 1 strawberry plant from homebase this time last year, I got 2 strawberries from it. I potted up all it's runners and have 6 now but whether I get more fruit this year remains to be seen.

[kt.]

At this time of year I would go for pot plants.  You will stand a better chance of getting fruit.  In November |I purchased some runners mail order.  They all seemed dead on arrival and are now in my compost mix.......   I have 12 pot plants made from runners last October that will be going in the ground next week.

[Fork]

This time last year I bought some strawberry plants from Aldi...I put them staright into the ground and fed them well...they produced a great crop and produced lots of runners which I have transplanted.I put some well rotted manure around them in November and they are looking very healthy now.I expect a bumper crop.

I also put some of the ones I bought from Adli on containers...these also cropped very well but not as good as the ones in the ground.

[tombrew]

best varieties(for flavour and reliability) are --  gariguette,maras de bois,hapil (ken muir)  -- korona (lidl -- now) 

   Tom

[zigzig]

The fact is that home grown British Strawberries are the best tasting you can get.


Pick them when they are ripe and enjoy.


Certainly there are better times to plant but what ever you can get. For now, grow them and enjoy the fruits.

Take cuttings then from the best for next year.

If you get too man yfruits. Make jam or freeze them 

Frozen British strawberries revived in   a  jelly are lovely over winter. Forget those rock hard tasteless Spanish ones.

Strawberry plants are very hardy. They survive  bad weather and terrible drought. However, they appreciate '''tender loving care'''' too.


Enjoy your fruit

[Digeroo]

I think that the taste of strawberries must vary from person to person.  For me Mara de Bois and Gariguette are far too sweet and mushy.   I like them crunchy and acidic.   I like Marvel Marvel but it does not seem to produce runners.  Cambridge favourite good as well.

Bought some Spanish ones this week called Sabrosa and they were remarkably tasty.  Bought some others called Spendour and I do not think they had any taste at all.

[powerspade]

I grow Royal Sovereign for taste

[bazzysbarn]

I have know idea what mine are called. They all came from plants i had over 25 years ago in my garden before i got married!
They crop early and make a lovely jam if theres a surplus!

[demelzah]

would potted plants from mail order be ok as i have a £20 tesco voucher that i want to you

[ripley]

Has anyone grown white strawberries. A guy was supposed to be getting me some seeds but he let me down at the weekend :'(

Any info on where I can get some plants or seeds would be great.

Thanks ripley

[detailista]

I have just received some white strawberrry seeds from More Veg. 

http://www.moreveg.co.uk/shop/page/98?shop_param=

I've been really happy with my seeds from there, and cheap postage too - free over £6 order if I remember rightly.

[ripley]

Thank you so much for the link.

An order will be going in tomorrow even though I promised no more seeds.

thanks ripley