Kitchen Garden Forum

After last week's frost, I noticed today that the central part of my strawberry flowers has gone black. A bit of quick research on Google suggests that this is Black Eye, and that the affected flowers will not set fruit.
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/pro ... px?PID=470

I don't know what variety my strawberries are, but they have flowered much earlier than usual this year because of the weather conditions.

What I was wondering was, if I remove all the affected flowers - which is most of them - do you think that the plants might flower again this season?

Black eye is usually caused by frost damage - we have had it lots of times on strawberries and the produce more flowers whether you remove the blackened flowers of not. Plants produce flowers to set seed and if fruits don't form the job isn't complete so they will try again - just like they do when you dead head!

Have some fleece ready - double layer if possible - if frost seems likely again. I covered mine when we had that really keen frost the other day and even the fleece was frozen stiff in the morning, but the strawberry flowers were all OK.

If any do get frosted I just nip the black ones off and they keep on flowering.

Thanks for your answers, Glallotments and Plumpudding.

As these are quite a late variety (usually!!!), this is the first time I have had this problem in 12 years!

It's good to know that they will reflower.