How To Grow Delicious, Irresistible Strawberries!

 

May is a good month to start planting strawberry plants. The varieties we tend to grow such as Seascape, Pajaro, Chandler and Camarosa are short day varieties. This means they should be planted during May, June and July and that fruiting will usually commence approximately 4 months after planting. If they are planted too late, i.e. closer to the longest day (December), they will tend to produce an abundance of runners instead of fruit. A variety that has had much success with gardeners in Wanganui has been Camarosa. This strawberry produces large firm berries with a medium-red colour. The flavour is excellent and the fruit is relatively resistant to wet weather.

 

There seems no limit to how and where strawberries can be grown, and they are fairly fool proof that anyone can plant them and be rewarded with fruit!

They can be grown in old car tyres where the heat of the tyres hastens ripening. This method keeps the fruit off the ground and subsequently clean from soil. They can be grown in hydroponics, in glazed or terracotta pots, specialist herb/strawberry planters. They are an edible option to grow in a hanging basket or they can fit in the herb garden. Some grow them along the edge of a vegetable garden and others will dedicate a spot to mass produce their favourite berry!

 

The biggest factor to growing good strawberries is site selection. The plants need a sunny position and a well drained soil that has good structure.

 

When planting strawberries the garden the addition of compost or broken down animal manure will help improve soil structure and by bulking up the soil can give height that will aid in good drainage.

 

A popular technique of strawberry growing is mulching. Mulching the soil surface between plants will prevent weeds, maintain an even soil temperature and prevent moisture loss in summer. A mulch will also help to keep the fruit clean. Suitable mulches include straw, sawdust, pine needles, pine bark or wood shavings.

 

The traditional and very effective method of growing strawberries is to cover the raised mound with black polythene plastic or weedmat making a small slit for each plant. The black mulch attracts heat increasing soil temperature making fruiting earlier and the fruit clean from dirt.

 

Many will grow strawberries in pots and containers of various forms. If you are planting strawberries in pots make sure you should use a good quality potting mix and mix in strawberry fertiliser to ensure strong, well producing plants.

 

Strawberry plants will produce significantly more fruit if they are watered and fertilised regularly. A fertiliser that gives good results is Tui Strawberry fertiliser, it is blended with the appropriate proportions of NPK and trace elements.