Encouraging strawberries to flower
Last post 24-06-2009 10:52 PM by hydropiper. 1 replies.
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22/06/2009 02:12 PM
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- LisaH
- Sheffield
- 22 Apr 2009
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23
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I have some strawberry plants that I planted up from bare root (Elvira - I used those as they are supposed to be early croppers and I thought that would be great for school). The plants themselves look great - really healthy and green with lots of good leaf growth (my ones at home seem to be very tasty to greenfly but the school ones seem aphid free). The only problem is the lack of flowers. Is the problem that they were bare rooted plants and they are likely to do better next year, or is there something else I should be doing to encourage flowers?
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24/06/2009 10:52 PM
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- hydropiper
- Cardiff
- 23 Jun 2009
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60
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I would persevere with the strawberries. It's actually important to stop them flowering in the first year after planting by picking off the flowers. I know this seems mean, but it encourages the plant to form a good root system rather than putting all it's energy into fruiting. Perhaps someone realised this and picked the flowers off for you?? But whatever the case so long as they are not obviously diseased and the plants were from a reliable nursery, you should get a crop from them next summer. Just keep them well watered during these hot spells!! If they don't seem to be flowering again next year feed them with tomato feed or home made comfrey feed, these are both high in potassium and encourage flowers and fruit to form. Another tip is just before you pick the strawberries stop watering them for a day or two. This will concentrate the flavours in the fruit making them taste less watery and more strawberryey!!
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