Anita's Garden
  • About
  • Blog
  • Newsletters
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January 2022
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January 2021
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March 2020
    • February
    • January
    • December
    • November
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
  • Contact Me

strawberries

9/19/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Since the beginning of September, I have been feeding our strawberries with Yates Thrive Strawberry and Berry Fruit Liquid Plant Food every week.  They’re looking very healthy and many of the plants have developed flowers.  Today, when I was walking around the garden, I even noticed some green berries that had developed.  It won’t be long before I have to cover the patch with bird netting!
​
We grow strawberries every year and really look forward to harvesting them in early summer.  This year, I decided to devote even more room to growing strawberries.  Normally, we have just a row or two, but I created four rows in the area we usually use to grow potatoes.  To prepare the soil, Felia (the wwoofer who was staying with us at the time) and I worked in lots of compost and sheep pellets.  As I needed lots of plants to fill the space and individually potted plants from the garden centre can get expensive when you’re buying so many, I purchased quite a few bare-rooted plants from a commercial strawberry grower in Katikati back in May.  They are all “Camarosa”.  These plants occupy three of the four rows.  The other row contains runners from my plants from last season,  mixture of “Camarosa” and “Pajaro”.  Awapuni also gave me a complimentary bundle of “Ventana” strawberry plants to apologise for a mix-up with an order, so I used these plants to fill any gaps in the patch.  I have never grown this variety before, so it will be interesting to see how these plants perform, not that I’ll probably be able to tell them apart from the others as I forgot to label them!

Once the plants were planted in the patch, I mulched around them with pea straw which I found on special at the Warehouse.  I read somewhere that commercial strawberry growers use black plastic and make holes to plant the strawberries, but I was concerned that the strawberries might get burnt on very hot days.  Next year, I might use black plastic for one row as an experiment. I do use black plastic for planting melons, with very good results as it increases the soil temperature considerably.  I know it’s not great for the soil, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices in order to succeed in the garden.

The key to growing great strawberries is lots of sunshine, water and regular feeding.  Don’t forget that birds also love strawberries, so make sure you cover plants with some netting to prevent them from being eaten before you can pick them!  Obviously, pick berries as soon as they have ripened to encourage further fruiting and avoid being beaten to it by the birds!

After the strawberries stop producing fruit (for me, this is usually after Christmas), you will notice that the plants produce runners, which are new strawberry plants that are connected to the parent plant.  Let these develop and by autumn, when you’re starting to think about tidying the patch for the following season, you will have new, free strawberry plants!  All you have to do is snip them off from the parent plant.  Normally strawberry plants lose their vigour after their second season, so it might be worth investing in some new plants to complete your patch if you don’t have enough runners and your parent plants are past their prime.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • About
  • Blog
  • Newsletters
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January 2022
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January 2021
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March 2020
    • February
    • January
    • December
    • November
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
  • Contact Me