I have a four-bed rotation for my veggies, but read that I should rotate my strawberry bed every 3 years. Any suggestions what I can rotate it with? At the momment they are in a large bed I am planning to grow asparagus, rapberries, rhubarb and other permanent crops in. How do other people rotate their strawbs? Also, would you recommend ever-bearing varieties, or those with a shorter season?
Lowlander
Rotating strawberries
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Hi Lowlander,
Strawberries usually have a semi permanent position and are generally lifed at four years. When the plants have come to the end of their productive life it is usual to replace the plants and create another bed for them elsewhere so they are in the rotation that should suit you.
By a four-bed rotation I take it that you rotate bed by bed over four seasons?
For example; year one potatoes and then year five would be the next time you plant potatoes again?
Because I have the room I create a new bed with new plants the year before I grub out the old bed but this may not be possible for a lot of people.
So when the old bed is grubbed out the new bed is or,
should be, producing well.
JB.
Strawberries usually have a semi permanent position and are generally lifed at four years. When the plants have come to the end of their productive life it is usual to replace the plants and create another bed for them elsewhere so they are in the rotation that should suit you.
By a four-bed rotation I take it that you rotate bed by bed over four seasons?
For example; year one potatoes and then year five would be the next time you plant potatoes again?
Because I have the room I create a new bed with new plants the year before I grub out the old bed but this may not be possible for a lot of people.
So when the old bed is grubbed out the new bed is or,
should be, producing well.
JB.
I remember reading somewhere that if you are starting a new strawberry bed that you should not plant where potatoes or tomatoes have been grown in the previous year. Apparently they are much more susceptible a serious disease called Verticillium Wilt which affects all these types of plants.
John
John
The Gods do not subtract from the allotted span of men’s lives, the hours spent fishing Assyrian tablet
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning Werner Heisenberg
I am a man and the world is my urinal
Thanks for the advice. Yes my veg beds rotate over four years, so a semi-permanent stawb plot wouldn't fit easily into that rotation - I had also read that they should not be grown where potatoes have grown.
All I was wondering was - is their anything else semi-permanent that I can swap the straws with when the time comes? For instance are there things that do not need to be rotated annually that I could grow for three years in place of the strawberries when I move them to another bed? And then swap back again later.
All I was wondering was - is their anything else semi-permanent that I can swap the straws with when the time comes? For instance are there things that do not need to be rotated annually that I could grow for three years in place of the strawberries when I move them to another bed? And then swap back again later.
Lowlander
I am putting strawberys in the end of my beds(approx 5 plants per bed)after potatoes have been harvested and grubbing out before preparing the bed again for the next rotation of potatoes ( 4/5 year rotation), i have not heard of the problems in planting strawberrys after potatoes, with approx 22 beds this should give me quite a lot of plants.
I intend to plant differing varietes to give a longer croping season
I am putting strawberys in the end of my beds(approx 5 plants per bed)after potatoes have been harvested and grubbing out before preparing the bed again for the next rotation of potatoes ( 4/5 year rotation), i have not heard of the problems in planting strawberrys after potatoes, with approx 22 beds this should give me quite a lot of plants.
I intend to plant differing varietes to give a longer croping season
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Primrose
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lowlander - I have exactly the same problem as you. Due to lack of space in my back garden veggie plot, I have turned one border in my front garden over to strawberries and this is their third year. I have absolutely nowhere else I can put them so am on the horns of a dilemma. Do I get one more year out of them next year then dig them up and have no more strawberries, or go on manuring their bed and see how long they last. Is there anybody on here who has kept a permanent strawberry bed going for more than four years and if so, do the yields decrease steaily each successive year?
Hi Primrose,
Some years back I had a heart attack and after that it meant that gardening was out of the question and all my rotations went to pot for a couple of years.
I can tell you that after four years the yield and size of strawberry falls off quite dramatically without strict attention.
Prior to the HA I had planted the follow-on crop and the difference between the two was really dramatic.
Oh how I wish I could send you some land by Email as I have simply got too much to look after!
If you could give your bed a two year break would be helpful. Now I do not know how many plants you grow but is it possible the grow for a couple of years in pots and plant up again after that. I think that you could place the pots on the ground where the previous crop grew without any compromises. The only snag to that is pots are very easily removed from a front garden!! This is only a thought as to try and overcome your dilemma.
JB.
Some years back I had a heart attack and after that it meant that gardening was out of the question and all my rotations went to pot for a couple of years.
I can tell you that after four years the yield and size of strawberry falls off quite dramatically without strict attention.
Prior to the HA I had planted the follow-on crop and the difference between the two was really dramatic.
Oh how I wish I could send you some land by Email as I have simply got too much to look after!
If you could give your bed a two year break would be helpful. Now I do not know how many plants you grow but is it possible the grow for a couple of years in pots and plant up again after that. I think that you could place the pots on the ground where the previous crop grew without any compromises. The only snag to that is pots are very easily removed from a front garden!! This is only a thought as to try and overcome your dilemma.
JB.
Hi Lowlander,
With twenty-two beds could you grow one end of the bed and then plant the other end of the bed for the follow-on crop. There can be a number of ways you can manage that and in the end who knows you may become an expert juggler.
Seriously though, although I plant up the follow-up bed the year before I grub out the four year old but this is not written in stone and I am sure that if you grub out in the late Autumn and plant-up the other end of the bed the following spring everything will be fine.
I have rightly or wrongly taken that you plant only one end of the bed at present?
JB.
With twenty-two beds could you grow one end of the bed and then plant the other end of the bed for the follow-on crop. There can be a number of ways you can manage that and in the end who knows you may become an expert juggler.
Seriously though, although I plant up the follow-up bed the year before I grub out the four year old but this is not written in stone and I am sure that if you grub out in the late Autumn and plant-up the other end of the bed the following spring everything will be fine.
I have rightly or wrongly taken that you plant only one end of the bed at present?
JB.
This is only my second year on this allotment, and I have only just got it all cleared from a few years of abandonment. I have divided the main part into four areas, each with three raised beds, which I am using for the four-year veg rotation.
The other area, which is quite big, I plan to plant fruit and asparagus etc. The only thing on it at the monment are the strawberries - they are a couple of years old, brought from my old allotment and moved about a couple of times as I cleared this new allotment, and they could probably do with replacing soon, although I have runners potted up to use.
I think the only solution is to take one of the veg raised beds and use it to plant a new strawberry bed, and put whatever veg would have gone in there into where the strawberries are now. Then in three or years, I will switch it all back. Take a bit of juggling but it should work.
Anyway, thanks for all the advice
Lowlander
The other area, which is quite big, I plan to plant fruit and asparagus etc. The only thing on it at the monment are the strawberries - they are a couple of years old, brought from my old allotment and moved about a couple of times as I cleared this new allotment, and they could probably do with replacing soon, although I have runners potted up to use.
I think the only solution is to take one of the veg raised beds and use it to plant a new strawberry bed, and put whatever veg would have gone in there into where the strawberries are now. Then in three or years, I will switch it all back. Take a bit of juggling but it should work.
Anyway, thanks for all the advice
Lowlander
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Primrose
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Johnboy - thanks for your advice. We've just returned from a few days in Sussex and whilst visiting our favourite farm shop, noticed that their PYO strawberries were growing in long rows but planted in growbags, rather than directly in the ground. That gives me the idea that perhaps next year, as I have literally nowhere else to grow my strawberries, maybe I should do the same thing, i.e. remove the plants and plant new ones in the grow bags,which are then located in the border. I doubt whether the growbags would have enough nutrients to last more than one season but at least it might give my border a rest. I shall ponder this one! (And yes, I wish you could fax me down some land. The frustration of having too little is as great a challenge as having too much!)
Hi Primrose,
Certainly grow bags could be the answer to a maidens prayer but I doubt that there is enough nutrition for one year let alone two. I know this means using chemical feeds but I think Chempak Formula 4, used at all times, could be the answer.
I think if you feed on a regular basis especially in the second year and may be even a third or fourth year just so long as you provide the nutrition.
JB.
Certainly grow bags could be the answer to a maidens prayer but I doubt that there is enough nutrition for one year let alone two. I know this means using chemical feeds but I think Chempak Formula 4, used at all times, could be the answer.
I think if you feed on a regular basis especially in the second year and may be even a third or fourth year just so long as you provide the nutrition.
JB.
Interesting ideas.
I too have not managed to incorporate stawbs into my rotation, but a germ of an idea has taken root.
I have 10' by 4' beds which give quite a wide central path, in fact I recently measured the width of the lottie and found it to be wider at one end which means I could have longer beds or a wider path down that end.
I reckon I could add a narrow strip at the end of a number of beds and have a mini rotation running seperately from the main rotation.
I think I will go and lie down now, my head hurts!
I too have not managed to incorporate stawbs into my rotation, but a germ of an idea has taken root.
I have 10' by 4' beds which give quite a wide central path, in fact I recently measured the width of the lottie and found it to be wider at one end which means I could have longer beds or a wider path down that end.
I reckon I could add a narrow strip at the end of a number of beds and have a mini rotation running seperately from the main rotation.
I think I will go and lie down now, my head hurts!
WigBag