Strawberries in the garden
16.4 years ago indoor growbox, strawberries
Strawberries thrive here in the Pacific Northwest but this year the June bearers almost missed their month this year with some of the erratic weather we have had during the past couple months. Last year I planted about a half dozen June bearing plants in the holes of the cinder blocks that surround my raised bed. We got enough strawberries to keep our oldest daughter satisfied for an occasional snack but still had to supplement from the grocery store to satisfy her strawberry habit and with the rising produce prices I let the let some of the runners spread to their neighboring cinder block holes and some cases transplanting the start to a more appropriate location. A couple months ago I also planted some different varieties of Everbearing strawberries to provide fruit throughout more of the summer.
The normal life cycle of a strawberry plant is 3 years. The first year will consist of plant growth where you should see a decent number of strawberries but not as much as the second year. My second year plants are about a foot tall and have dozens of large strawberries growing on them. I have been cutting any runners that shoot out to allow the plant to spend its energy on those delicious berries. The third year the plant’s production will be less and will be spending more of its energy on its runners which is a good time to let those runners turn into new plants and let the cycle repeat. After the plants have finished producing this is the time to fertilize with a balanced fertilizer (10-10-10) otherwise this can lead to excessive leaf growth and less production. Fertilizing at this time will also give the plants the chance to store some much needed energy over the cold winter and have a good head start for the following spring.
Now this morning my oldest daughter was tired of picking strawberries sure it had nothing to do with her picking two and a half pounds of strawberries at Harvold Berry Farm the day before.
Tags: cheap, outdoor plants, strawberry plants, vegetables
16.4 years ago
One of my uncles owns a huge strawberry operation and all reports are that it’s a bumper crop this year with very large and very sweet berries. I hope you have a good crop, too!
16.4 years ago
Last year I planted about a half dozen June bearing plants in the holes of the cinder blocks that surround my raised bed. Strawberries?I never thought of that! I put nasturtiums and sunflowers in my cinder block holes-Hmmm maybe if i make some new raised beds?
16.4 years ago
nancy,Seems they are consistent enough that our strawberry purchases have slowed down, but might be the strawberry picking traumarobj98168,In some ways I would like to top them with wooden planks to have a place to sit/knee but where would I put my strawberries? 🙂