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#1
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tasty strawbs
Why were the strawberries i tasted down the lotty last night so sour?
They are quite old plants, and it has been incredibly dry. And it is a slightly neglected / weedy bit of ground. Do i need to replant them all or can i just rescue the flavour with watering? sarah |
#2
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#3
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On Tue, 21 Jun 2005 14:44:49 +0100, Janet Baraclough
wrote: In the circumsatnces I wouldn't bother with the usual method of getting new plants, which is by rooting some runners from your own crop. Just in case they are diseased or not a good strain.. Prepare a new strawberrybed in a different area, well dug, compost or manure added, and see if you can beg some healthy runners from another allotmenter who has a tasty strong crop. Is there any particular reason to generate new plants from runners rather than from seed? At present I have a fairly healthy crop of poorly fruiting strawberries (most in their first year, a few in their second) if I propogate from those using runners when should I do that? JB |
#4
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The message
from JB contains these words: On Tue, 21 Jun 2005 14:44:49 +0100, Janet Baraclough wrote: In the circumsatnces I wouldn't bother with the usual method of getting new plants, which is by rooting some runners from your own crop. Just in case they are diseased or not a good strain.. Prepare a new strawberrybed in a different area, well dug, compost or manure added, and see if you can beg some healthy runners from another allotmenter who has a tasty strong crop. Is there any particular reason to generate new plants from runners rather than from seed? Runners are foolproof to grow, will be identical clones of the plant they came from, and will fruit well in two years from now. Have you bought strawberry seed? Never seen or tried that. If it's seed saved from a modern hybrid fruit, it won't all come true. At present I have a fairly healthy crop of poorly fruiting strawberries (most in their first year, a few in their second) if I propogate from those using runners when should I do that? They don't crop very well in the first year anyway. You need to cut off all the runners from each plant to save it's strength for fruiting next year, so reduce the number now, but let one or two per plant grow on for propagating. Keep an eye on the remaining runners. They will develop leaves and start rooting into the ground where they lie. In a few weeks when they have a little bunches of roots just dig them up with a trowel, trim off the umbilical cord , and line out the new plants where you want them to grow. If you do that in July they will be well established before winter. Janet. |
#5
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The message
from Janet Baraclough contains these words: In a few weeks when they have a little bunches of roots just dig them up with a trowel, trim off the umbilical cord , and line out the new plants where you want them to grow. I have major problems with slugs and mice so I leave some plants for them but for myself I have a strawberry tower to keep the fruits away from beasties. I made this from a piece of 6" plastic drianpipe and a flat bottomed bucket such as a cattle lick (Farmers throw these away when finished). Method: Using a hole cutter make holes in the drainpipe at varying intervals so that plants will not obstruct each other. Upend bucket, sink slightly into ground for stability and half fill with gravel. Insert pipe end into gravel so that it stands upright. Put a smaller pipe into the drainpipe and fill around it with soil of your choice. Pack down and remove the inner pipe. Fill resulting hole with gravel to enable watering (alternatively fill inner pipe with dry, coarse sand and then remove pipe). Insert plants into holes and water in. Fill bucket with water to prevent invasion by mice and other beasties. The result has been plenty of sweet berries and less foliage than when the roots are free to run iin the open ground. | | | | | | Pipe | | | | | ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬| | | bucket filled with water | | -------------- -- Cheers, Compo - Caithness |
#6
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compo writes:
I have major problems with slugs and mice so I leave some plants for them but for myself I have a strawberry tower to keep the fruits away from beasties. I made this from a piece of 6" plastic drianpipe and a flat bottomed bucket such as a cattle lick Using a hole cutter make holes in the drainpipe at varying intervals so that plants will not obstruct each other. Upend bucket, sink slightly into ground for stability and half fill with gravel. Insert pipe end into gravel so that it stands upright. Put a smaller pipe into the drainpipe and fill around it with soil of your choice. Pack down and remove the inner pipe. Fill resulting hole with gravel to enable watering (alternatively fill inner pipe with dry, coarse sand and then remove pipe). Sounds like my flower tower. Six columns of 0.75" holes making up a triangular grid, plant a lobelia plug in each (takes about 150 plugs) and stand in a big pot which can either have more lobelia or a contrasting flower. I find running a length of sprinkler hose (the stiff black variety) up the middle before filling the tower is better than trying to use gravel or sand. Lead it out through a bigger hole below compost level and up to the side of the big pot, Hozelock one way connector on the bottom end and a marble forced in the top and watering is just a case of clipping the hose on, turn the tap on for a minute and you're done. I mix slow release fertiliser granules in with the filling to avoid having to feed, they'll cover a summer nicely and the whole tower can be swapped for the winter version with just four columns of holes at a wider spacing filled with winter flowering pansies. Anthony |
#8
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