strawberry murderer!

[Vince G]

Yep that's me!

Even if we say so ourselves, Mrs G and I are pretty decent allotmenteers and most things we try and grow work well. However if there is one thing I've never been very succesful at it's strawberries. I cannot seem to get them going from the outset. I have just ordered some bare root plants from Parkers and would like to know what people do with these when they arrive - do you pot them up or do they go straight in the ground?

Those dead looking leafless bare roots I receive through the post never seem to come alive no matter which option I go for. I even tried a raised bed a while back but still they didn't thrive. The only vague success I have had was with hanging baskets in the polytunnel. I have nice soil at the lottie, free draining but with plenty of compost. My proposed new strawb bed is in full sun but can easily be shaded.

I grow raspberries, blackberries, blackcurrants, pinkcurrants, gooseberries, a dwarf mulberry and even blueberries and lingonberries in a specially prepared ericaceous area.......so every soft fruit under the sun, but I just can't crack strawbs, which are supposed to be really easy.

All advice from experienced strawberrians gratefully received.

[Plot70]

Buy a punnet from a supermarket and save some seeds.
I got a few going like that some years ago.
Save runners from the best plants.
I adopted some with my plot and the supermarket ones are in the garden where they do not grow as well.
Have you tried scrounging some runners from other plot holders?

[Nicos]

Well - congratulations!…they are pretty tough plants to kill!
It might be worth covering them in fleece for a few weeks after you plant them out just to bring them on a bit? Alternatively pot them on in the polytunnel for a few weeks before planting them out.
You are planting them the right way up aren’t you Vince?

Having said that, I’ve never had 100% success rate from bare rooted.
Have a look at this….
” Planting at the correct depth is important – if the crown is planted too deeply it will rot, if it’s planted too shallowly the plant will dry out and die”
from…https://www.rhs.org.uk/fruit/strawberries/grow-your-own
( a photo on there would have been helpful wouldnt it?)
My guess is planting depth could be your problem.?

This link has a diagram and other useful info….
https://extension.unh.edu/resource/g...ies-fact-sheet

[Vince G]

Haha you did make me laugh there Nicos - planting the right way up!!

I think I'll go for the option of potting them on and putting them in the poly for a couple of weeks. They can keep the bargain dahlias company that I just had to tag on to the same order. No will power.....

[Nicos]

^^^^ te he…good for you!

[It never rains..it pours]

Do you soak them before planting ?, If not may help, seems to for me

[ameno]

Where have you been buying the bareroot plants from? It may just be that they've been really poor quality, and may well have died no matter what you did.

[Vince G]

Haha you did make me laugh there Nicos - planting the right way up!!

I think I'll go for the option of potting them on and putting them in the poly for a couple of weeks. They can keep the bargain dahlias company that I just had to tag on to the same order. No will power.....

Well it seems a week or so in the polytunnel has given them the nice warm start inlife they needed!

[Nicos]

Nice looking plants there Vince! Well done matey!

[Muddy_Boots]

I got ten bare root plants end of last year and straight away planted them in a plastic window box shaped planter correctly up to the crown using old used potting compost from my hanging baskets with a sprinkle of growmore just to pep it up, watered them in and left them outside over winter in a sheltered spot just below my kitchen window in the back garden.

They woke up and have all gone mad growing leaves and flowers and I've now noticed the start of fruit appearing today, never had success planting them in soil as the slugs or birds usually got at them before I could these planters have got copper tape around them to stop the slimers from climbing to get at the fruit and being portable I can move them to net them over to stop the birds getting fat on my labours.