Garden Club: How to Grow Your Own Strawberries

Strawberries are one of the easiest fruits to grow at home. Here at the Orchard Training Garden Club we would recommend growing these whatever the space you have to you, as the crop is really lovely. Whether you have a greenhouse, vegetable patch, hanging basket, pots on the patio or even a simple window box, strawberries are incredibly rewarding to grow.

Now is the time to start planning your strawberries. I am planning, this year, to grow a selection of different strawberries - so we have a little trickle of berries over the season. It is hard to manage a glut in June when learning is so full on and supporting those in school and taking exams.

Once that has been done you can spend time in your garden on world book day reading. If you pop into the library first you can look for books where strawberries (The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and Big Hungry Bear by Don Wood) or where gardening is the main theme (The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett).

Don’t forget to write up what you have done in your diary.

How to Strawberries

(with thanks to my local Garden Centres NVQ learners who helped put the following info together for us)

When to plant Strawberries

The best time to plant up is the end of March early April or in October to allow them to bed in over the winter. The spring planted ones will be ready to be picked in about 12 weeks so form June, July and August. Our young learners love growing them as they are so easy and your soil will support them as long as it is well-drained and fertile.

Strawberries love the sun and prefer to be sheltered from the wind. If you know you have a frost pocket avoid planting them there. Also avoid areas that have had potatoes, tomatoes and chrysanthemums in the last 2 seasons.

How to Start

Dig over the area and remove any weeds in February and add some organic fertiliser or well rotted manure. you can start with pots ask at the garden centre for the best compost of the strawberries.

You can plant in lines with the plant 35cm apart in the row and the rows 75cm apart. we have planted the strawberries along the path so they can be picked early. Plant with the crown at the soil level. You can cover them with a net, because ours are grown in with the flowers so I don't. But I do tuck straw under them as the berries ripen but take care for the red berries not to be standing out to obverse.

During the grown season, I water the plants every 2 weeks with a tomato feed. IF the weather is hot I water frequently from the water butts.

How to Grow in a Basket

Baskets allow you to keep the strawberries to be kept out of the way of the slugs and snails (and and mice or rats), a 30cm basket will take 3 to 4 strawberry plants, remember to check the water regularly and feed every 2 weeks.

Growing Strawberries from Seed

If you are over 12, green fingered and a long-standing member of the Orchard Training Garden Club, the next challenge would be to try growing strawberries from seed, this gives you many more options to grow unusual varieties that look beautiful as hanging baskets. Strawberry seeds will take up to a month to germinate with the first fruit appearing the following year.

As the summer passes you will need to keep on top of the weeds. As the runners appear in June and July, you can carefully life up the small plant let and settle in to a pot with compost, then peg down the baby plants. Dont allow more than 5 from any one 'mother' plant. Once they have established you can cut the training stems, and you can plant them in a new area or swop them with your study buddies.

Picking Strawberries

Check your strawberries in the morning, make sure they are not resting on the soil, being nibbled and have straw under them to help them once they start to turn red. Once they are red, pick carefully to avoid damage and eat as soon as possible.

What to do to look after your plants

Protect from birds with netting.

Check leaves for powdery mildew which looks like a white powder means you need to water the soil and not the plants more.

Grey Mould looks like a grey fuzzy mould on the buds, leaves, flowers or fruit, if you find this dig out the infected plants straight away and throw out, don't compost the plant as this will spread the problem around.

If you see purple or brown spots with a yellow ring on the leaves, cut the infected leaves off and make sure more air gets around the plants.

any little notches on the edge fo the leaves and damage to the roots will be by the vine weevil, their larvae are white with brown heads. Ask at your local garden centre for the best treatment.