[AJ]

Had good strawberries this year but want to beat those slugs next year with my 2 yr old plants.They were certainly not sluggish when it came to having a snack . Has anybody tried making up troughs or something similar that leaves the fruit dangling that has worked. I found the straw worked well keeping the moisture in the ground but also gave some good cover to my little buddies. Guttering to me seems not to have a good volume of soil and also there would be the watering problem. If, and i say if, we got sweltering weather would i have plants drying out quickly. I am away from home from early morning til about 7 in the evening each working day.

[tippben]

I grow them in hanging baskets: three plants to a basket. That works. I did try in pots as well, but blooming vine weevils put a stop to that.

[AJ]

hi there Tippben

I use 30 plants which give a good volume of fruit on a weekly basis. I suppose if they got a good watering first and last thing during hot weather I might be ok.

Did you get good size fruits. I must say i was really happy with the size, quality and quantity I got in this my first year with my 2 yr old plants.

This might seem like a silly question but is it because the baskets are obviously up high that vine weevils cant get to them.

What did you plant them up in, ie compost or something else.

When would be a good time to dig up my one year old plants which I am using to produce runners only this year and plant them up into baskets.

And one last question if I may, do you still get the same 4 year shelf life from a plant as you would if they were planted in the ground.

Regards

[tippben]

I don't have as many as you due to lack of space. With fresh compost each spring, and a bit of seaweed feed and tomato feed, they do crop well, and last as long as they should. There are a few less fruits than planting in the ground, but also there is no slug/snail problem, so it evens out. I take runners each year, so I rotate the plants on a three year basis. The baskets are handy, as I can move them around, and never forget which group of plants is which. If I had a bigger garden, I'd try a rotary washing line set in concrete, and grow them on that!

[AJ]

Evening again Tippben

The problem I have is one of too much space. trying to keep on top of things is a nightmare, work and bad weather being the main culprits.Like the idea of knowing which plant is which for certain, noted mine as I planted them but then did I get the runners right last year, hmmmmmmmmmmm, I think I did .

I found honoeye, darselect and elsata to be my best quality croppers. Red gauntlet, symphony, cambridge and albion not as good.

Ok, I'm definately going to give the baskets a try next season.

Many thanks for the help.

[tippben]

Can't comment much on varieties. I grow "Steve's Strawberries", a gift from a friend. He's over 80, and can't remember what they were, or even where he got them. The original plants were bought in about 1970(ish). Tasty though, so I'll keep passing them around.

[AJ]

I just happened to be in homebase one day and saw the strawberry plants and thought to myself which will I buy. Ended up buying a tray of each. Will grow them on for another year before settling on which ones I keep and which ones will go.