Thursday, May 14, 2009

Strawberries on Steroids ?

The strawberries plants and leaves are huge!!! Not sure what has them so excited except the warm weather. The fruit is just starting to form and it looks very promising. Last year we had some weeks when we could harvest one collander of berries each day. Oh Yea!!! (That's the bottom of our dwarf Washington navel orange tree in the back of the photo)

Any advice for dealing with strawberries that touch the ground and rot or get eaten by insects? Would straw stop it? Please leave a comment if you know. Thanks!!
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5 comments:

  1. PJMay 14, 2009 at 10:50 PM

    No idea on how to fix ones that touch the soil, usually i just move them around so they are hanging over the edge of the pot, but I guess that doesn't really apply here. Anyway they look really healthy, enjoy the spoils!

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  2. Mr. H.May 14, 2009 at 11:31 PM

    A raised bed and straw work really well for keeping mold issues in check. The trick is to keep your berries well watered but not have them sitting in wet soil, a slightly raised bed helps with this and the straw not only keeps them away from soil bacteria but also helps keep the soil from loosing to much moisture.

    Your strawberry plants look exceptionally healthy, we struggle with ours getting enough direct sunlight.

    Mike

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  3. L. D. May 15, 2009 at 12:43 AM

    When I visit strawberry picking farms, the plants are planted on an elevated row of dirt. Then the row one walks in has straw lining it and the straw goes up under the plant where the berries are hanging. As a kid on the farm my parents kept their flat beds covered with loose straw all around the plants but sometimes the berries would just rot because the bugs or ants would open them up by eating on them. It was the insects more than the soil that made them go bad.

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  4. MelissaMay 15, 2009 at 8:10 AM

    I have a patch of June bearing strawberries that are growing huge! Maybe I should put straw under them now while the leaves and berries are standing straight up, that way when they start getting heavy and laying down they will be more protected. I'm also thinking about sprinkling ash and coffee grounds to keep the slugs out.

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  5. KaraMay 15, 2009 at 9:08 PM

    I don't know much about growing strawberries, my daa' does a little. Growing up we would always go to the local strawberry farm, we still do, they taste amazing. It was the last thing J and I did together before he left. :-) Your plants look nice so far. -- There was not a chance to buy the plants today. :-( Hopefully tomorrow, am very excited !

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