Strawberries

[Elderflower]

In my allotmentI planted a new strawberry bed for this year which had a brilliant crop. However, the whole crop was stolen, progressively as it ripened! (By human thieves, other creatures wouldn`t have made a neat discard pile of the few sluggy ones!)
I want to bring them home to my back garden, which is really too tiny for a bed so I plan to put the plants into containers. So - -
a) When and how do I move the plants?
b) What soil/compost do you think I should put in the containers?
I`d be really grateful for advice.

[David]

I'm sure the experts will give chapter and verse on this but just to let you know that I grow strawberries on racks against a wall in growbags, four to a bag. Works fine and the leaves and fruit soon cover the racks.

Hope this helps

David

[Primrose]

David, as a matter of interest, how long do you leave the plants in the growbag as I know strawberry plants normally last for two or three years? Do you replant them every season or simply keep them in situ for 2 -3 years and add liquid fertiliser on a regular basis?

[Beryl]

We had a talk by a local fruit grower 'Fruit for the small garden' and he recommended using pallets cut in half with grow bags. 3-4 plants each bag.
Kept the fruit off the ground and away from slugs etc.

When we have had thieving on the lottie we are all in agreement that it is usually someone on the site.

Beryl.

[vivienz]

Hi Elderflower,
I moved my strawberries the other way - from growbags to the allotment. Fortunately, we don't suffer too much from theiving, but when I had the plants in growbags we got really bad infestations of vine weevil. I cleaned off the survivors & planted them in open ground and they didn't suffer from that particular pest again. The fact that they were all done for by mildew this year is beside the point!

[Elderflower]

Thanks for your replies folks, but can anybody tell me when I should dig up the plants from the bed and if there`s anything particular I should do to them?
Sorry if I`m being dim!

[Primrose]

I would think that now they've finished cropping (even if you were unlucky enough not to enjoy any of them) they can be dug up now and replanted. The only important thing is to ensure that they're well watered into their new surroundings until they restablish themselves. So if you're about to go on holiday for a couple of weeks when they'll be neglected, I'd wait until you return and do it then.

[Elderflower]

Thanks Primrose, not going away until September so I`ll make a start now!